[Tagging] Mapping autonomous regions

[Paul Johnson]

We need to come up with a better way to map and tag autonomous regions, 
particularly in North America.  The talk page for the boundary= suggests 
that an administrative boundary is not the right tag; and I couldn't 
disagree more.

As a Cherokee, I find boundary=indian_reserve and boundary=native_nation 
to be intrinsically racist. While admin_level=1 is probably not right, I 
believe First Nations lines are administrative boundaries, the 
admin_level=* of which must reflect the degree of sovereignty agreed upon 
by treaty between the nation in question and the United States (or other 
potentially subjugating force). For example, the Cherokee Nation would be 
admin_level=2, whereas The Confederated Tribes of Grande Rhonde would be 
somewhere closer to the 3-5 range, and even smaller nations that got more 
heavily screwed over by the United States might fall in the 6-8 range. 
Yes, I realize this means Canada and the US and their member provinces, 
states, ridings and counties, would get turned into swiss cheese by most 
renderers, but are we looking for a map that looks like every other map, 
or a map that is accurate and objectively reflects the ground and legal 
truth?