Medicine Line

English

Etymology

First known attestation from 1880 where the term was described as being used "because no matter what [the Indians] have done [committed crimes] upon one side they feel perfectly secure after having arrived upon the other".^[1]^[2] A synonymous term which was attested earlier is medicine road from 1869 and ostensibly a calque of a Sioux term transcribed as "pejuta canku".^[1] Unrecorded use of the term or a similar one may date back more than a century earlier than the first attestation.^[1] See also medicine (“protective charm among the Native Americans”).

Proper noun

the Medicine Line

(informal, Canada, US) The Canada-United States border; the 49th parallel north: a circle of latitude that is 49° north of Earth's equator.

Usage notes

Primarily used in the context of discussions of Native Americans or First Nations people.

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 LaDow, Beth (2002) “The "Melting Pot of Hell"”, in The Medicine Line: Life and Death on a North American Borderland‎^[1], Routledge, →DOI, →ISBN, →OCLC, pages 40-41
^ L. N. F. Crozier (1880 December) “Report of Superintendent L. N. F. Crozier”, in Sessional papers of the Dominion of Canada: Third Session of the Fourth Parliament‎^[2], volume 3, Ottawa: MacLean, Roger & Co., page 33

[LaDow-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 LaDow, Beth (2002) “The "Melting Pot of Hell"”, in The Medicine Line: Life and Death on a North American Borderland‎^[1], Routledge, →DOI, →ISBN, →OCLC, pages 40-41

[2] L. N. F. Crozier (1880 December) “Report of Superintendent L. N. F. Crozier”, in Sessional papers of the Dominion of Canada: Third Session of the Fourth Parliament‎^[2], volume 3, Ottawa: MacLean, Roger & Co., page 33

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