Well, he could play a North-American native if no one else drops out, they're not impossible to play thanks to the way their reform government mechanic works. Nations like Iroquois are doable.
Edit:
Also, another question what settings are we going for for the game?
I know normal difficulty/no bonuses/historical lucky nations is a given, but I mean these:
Dynamic province names (my suggestion would be yes)
Locked ledger (we did this last game, was very good imo)
Only host can save
Editable save