Misplaced Pages

Native Americans in the United States: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 20:44, 14 October 2008 edit204.77.34.157 (talk) →Barriers to economic development← Previous edit Revision as of 08:28, 28 December 2024 edit undoQEnigma (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers2,918 edits CorrectionNext edit →
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Indigenous peoples of the United States}}
{{Infobox Ethnic group
{{pp-pc|small=yes}}
|group = Native Americans<br/>and ]
{{pp-move}}
|image = ]]]]]<br />]]]]]<br />]]]]]<br />]]]]]<br />]]]]]<br />]]]]]<br />
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
|caption = Collection of Native American Images
{{very long|date=October 2024}}{{Infobox ethnic group
|population = '''American Indian and Alaska Native'''<br>'''One race''': 2.5 million<ref name="census-OO">U.S. Census Bureau. (2001–2005). '''' U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2007-05-23.</ref><br>'''In combination with one or more other races''': 1.6 million<ref name="census-OOb">U.S. Census Bureau. (2001–2005). '''' U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2007-05-23. "In combination with one or more of the other races listed." Figure here derived by subtracting figure for "One race (American Indian and Alaska Native)": 2,475,956, from figure for "Race alone or in combination with one or more other races (American Indian and Alaska Native)": 4,119,301, giving the result 1,643,345. Other races counted in the census include: "White"; "Black or African American"; "Asian"; "Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander"; and "Some other race." </ref>
| group = Native Americans
|regions = {{flagcountry|United States}}<br/>{{smaller|(predominantly the ] and ])}}
| image = Indigenous Americans by county.png
|languages = ]<br/>]
| image_caption = <div style="text-align: center">Proportion of Native Americans in each county as of the ]</div>
|religions = ]<br/>]<br/>Sacred Pipe<br/>Kiva Religion<br/>Long House<br/>]<br/>]<br/>
| population = '''Alone (one race)'''<br />{{increase}} '''3,727,135''' (])<ref name="Native Population 2020">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/race-and-ethnicity-in-the-united-state-2010-and-2020-census.html|title=Race and Ethnicity in the United States|date=August 12, 2021|publisher=]|access-date=August 17, 2021}}</ref><br />{{increase}} 1.12% of the total US population<br /><br />'''In combination (])'''<br />{{increase}} '''5,938,923''' (])<ref name="Native Population 2020"/><br />{{increase}} 1.79% of the total US population<br /><br />'''Alone or in combination'''<br />{{increase}} '''9,666,058''' (])<ref name="Native Population 2020"/><br />{{increase}} 2.92% of the total US population
|related = ]
| popplace = Predominantly in ], the ] and ], with smaller communities in the ] United States.
| region1 = {{flagicon|California}} ]
| pop1 = 631,016
| ref1 = <ref name="Native Population 2020"/>
| region2 = {{flagicon|Oklahoma}} ]
| pop2 = 332,791
| ref2 = <ref name="Native Population 2020"/>
| region3 = {{flagicon|Arizona}} ]
| pop3 = 319,512
| ref3 = <ref name="Native Population 2020"/>
| region4 = {{flagicon|Texas}} ]
| pop4 = 278,948
| ref4 = <ref name="Native Population 2020"/>
| region5 = {{flagicon|New Mexico}} ]
| pop5 = 212,241
| ref5 = <ref name="Native Population 2020"/>
| languages = ''']''' <br /> ''']'''<br />(including ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ]<ref>Siebens, J & T Julian. ''Native North American Languages Spoken at Home in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2006–2010''. United States Census Bureau. December 2011.</ref>) <br /> ''']''' <br /> ''']''' (extinct) <br /> ''']'''
| religions = {{plainlist|
** Predominantly Traditional ]s, unique to specific tribes or bands<ref name="pritzker331">Barry Pritzker, ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples'' (Oxford University Press, 2000), 331.</ref>
* ]<ref name="pritzker331" />
* ], denomination dependent on tribe
* ]
* ]
* ] (mostly in ])<ref>Barry Pritzker, ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples'' (Oxford University Press, 2000), 335.</ref> }}
| related-c = {{plainlist|
** ]
** ]
** ]
** ]
}} }}
}}
{{Native American topics sidebar}}


] tribe by ], now on display at the ] in ]]]
'''Native Americans in the United States''' are the ] from the regions of ] now encompassed by the ] ], including parts of ]. They comprise a ] of distinct ], ]s, and ]s, many of which survive as intact political communities. There has been a wide range of terms used to describe them and no consensus has been reached among indigenous members as to what they prefer to be called collectively. They have been known as '''American Indians''', '''Amerindians''', '''Amerinds''', '''Aboriginal''', '''Indians''', '''Indigenous''', '''Original Americans''', '''Red Indians''', or '''Red Men'''.
'''Native Americans''' (also called '''American Indians''', '''First Americans''', or '''Indigenous Americans''') are the ] of the ], particularly of the ] and ]. They may also include any Americans whose origins lie in any of the indigenous peoples of North or South America. The ] publishes data about "American Indians and ]", whom it defines as anyone "having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America ... and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment".<ref name="US Census Race definitions">{{cite web |title=About the Topic of Race |url=https://www.census.gov/topics/population/race/about.html|access-date=2024-06-29 |publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref> The ] does not, however, enumerate "Native Americans" as such, noting that the latter term can encompass a broader set of groups, e.g. ], which it tabulates separately.<ref name=uscb>{{cite web|title=U.S. Census Bureau History: American Indians and Alaska Natives|url=https://www.census.gov/history/www/homepage_archive/2021/november_2021.html|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=30 July 2023}}</ref>


The ] from 1492 resulted in a ] because of ], including weaponized diseases and biological warfare by colonizers,<ref name="Alibek 2004 pp. 3–8">{{cite journal | last=Alibek | first=Ken | title=Smallpox: a disease and a weapon | journal=International Journal of Infectious Diseases | publisher=Elsevier BV | volume=8 | year=2004 | issn=1201-9712 | doi=10.1016/j.ijid.2004.09.004 | pages=3–8| pmid=15491869 | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=":7">], ''CW Journal'' (Spring 2004), </ref><ref name=":8">{{cite book |last1=Fenn |first1=Elizabeth A. |title=Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775–82 |date=2001 |publisher=Hill and Wang |isbn=080907821X |pages=88–89, 275–276 |edition=1st}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{cite journal |last1=Fenn |first1=Elizabeth A |title=Biological Warfare in Eighteenth-Century North America: Beyond Jeffrey Amherst |journal=Journal of American History |date=March 2000 |volume=86 |issue=4 |page=1553|doi=10.2307/2567577 |jstor=2567577 |issn=0021-8723}}</ref><ref name=":10">{{cite book |last1=Robertson |first1=Roland G. |title=Rotting Face: Smallpox and the American Indian |date=2001 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=0870044192 |pages= |edition=1st |url=https://archive.org/details/rottingfacesmall0000robe/page/119}}</ref> ], ], and ]. Numerous scholars have classified elements of the colonization process as comprising ] against Native Americans. As part of a policy of white ], European settlers continued to wage war and perpetrated massacres against Native American peoples, ] them from their ], and subjected them to ] and discriminatory government policies. Into the 20th century, these policies focused on forced ].<ref name=":1">{{cite journal|first1=Patrick|last1=Wolfe|title=Settler colonialism and the elimination of the native|journal=Journal of Genocide Research|date=December 1, 2006|issn=1462-3528|pages=387–409|volume=8|issue=4|doi=10.1080/14623520601056240|s2cid=143873621|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{cite book|first1=W.|last1=Hixson|title=American Settler Colonialism: A History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tiKuAgAAQBAJ|publisher=Springer|date=December 5, 2013|isbn=978-1-137-37426-4|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{cite book|first1=Laurelyn|last1=Whitt|first2=Alan W.|last2=Clarke|title=North American Genocides: Indigenous Nations, Settler Colonialism, and International Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7r0avgEACAAJ|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=2019 |isbn=978-1-108-42550-6|via=Google Books}}</ref>
European colonization of the Americas was a period of conflict between ] and ] cultures. Most of the written historical record about Native Americans began with European contact. Ideologies clashed, old world diseases decimated, religious institutions challenged, and technologies were exchanged in what would be one of the greatest and most devastating meetings of cultures in the history of the world. Native Americans lived in hunter/farmer subsistence societies with much fewer societal constraints and institutional structures, and much less focus on material goods and market transactions, than the rigid, institutionalized, market-based, materialistic, and tyrannical societies of Western Europe. The differences between the two societies were vast enough to make for significant misunderstandings and create long-lasting cultural conflicts.


When the United States was established, Native American tribes were considered semi-independent nations, because they generally lived in communities which were separate from communities of ] ]. The federal government signed treaties at a government-to-government level until the ] ended recognition of independent Native nations, and started treating them as "domestic dependent nations" subject to applicable federal laws. This law did preserve rights and privileges, including a large degree of ]. For this reason, many Native American reservations are still independent of state law and the actions of tribal citizens on these reservations are subject only to tribal courts and federal law. The ] of 1924 granted US citizenship to all Native Americans born in the US who had not yet obtained it. This emptied the "Indians not taxed" category established by the ], allowed Natives to vote in elections, and extended the ] protections granted to people "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States. However, some states continued to deny ] for decades. Titles II through VII of the ] comprise the Indian Civil Rights Act, which applies to Native American tribes and makes many but not all of the guarantees of the ] applicable within the tribes.<ref>{{Cite web|title="Civil Rights Act of 1968" full text|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-343/pdf/COMPS-343.pdf|date=14 November 2018|publisher=U.S. Government Publishing Office|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508013659/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-343/pdf/COMPS-343.pdf|archive-date=8 May 2020|access-date=8 May 2020}}</ref>
As the colonies revolted against England and established the United States of America, the ideology of Manifest destiny was ingrained into the American psyche. The idea of civilizing Native Americans (as conceived by ], ], and ])<ref name=perdue>
{{cite book
| last = Perdue
| first = Theda
| title = Mixed Blood Indians: Racial Construction in the Early South
| origdate = 2003
| publisher = The University of Georgia Press
| chapter = Chapter 2 "Both White and Red"
| page = 51
| id = ISBN 082032731X
}}
</ref><ref name=remini_reform_begins>
{{cite book
| last = Remini
| first = Robert
| title = Andrew Jackson
| origdate = 1977, 1998
| publisher = History Book Club
| chapter = "The Reform Begins"
| page = 201
| id = ISBN 0965063107
}} </ref><ref name=remini_submit_adoption>
{{cite book
| last = Remini
| first = Robert
| title = Andrew Jackson
| origdate = 1977, 1998
| publisher = History Book Club
| chapter = "Brothers, Listen ... You Must Submit"
| page = 258
| id = ISBN 0965063107
}} </ref><ref name=eric_miller>
{{cite web
| url = http://www.dreric.org/library/northwest.shtml
| title = George Washington And Indians
| accessdate = 2008-05-02
| author = Eric Miller
| last = Miller
| first = Eric
| year = 1994
| chapter = Washington and the Northwest War, Part One
| format = HTML
| publisher = Eric Miller
}}
</ref> and assimilation (whether voluntary as with the ]<ref name="us_congress2">
{{cite news
| title = An Indian Candidate for Congress
| publisher = Christian Mirror and N.H. Observer, Shirley, Hyde & Co.
| date = July 15, 1830
}}</ref><ref name=us_citizenship>
{{cite web
| url = http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/cho0310.htm
| title = INDIAN AFFAIRS: LAWS AND TREATIES Vol. II, Treaties
| accessdate = 2008-04-16
| author = Charles Kappler
| last = Kappler
| first = Charles
| year = 1904
| format = HTML
| publisher = Government Printing Office
}}
</ref>, or forced) were a consistent policy through American administrations. Major resistance, or “Indian Wars,” to American expansion were nearly a constant issue up until the 1890s.


Since the 1960s, ] movements have resulted in positive changes to the lives of many Native Americans, though there are still many ]. Today, there are over five million Native Americans in the US, about 80% of whom live outside reservations. As of 2020, the states with the highest percentage of Native Americans are ], ], ], ], ], and ].<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Sánchez-Rivera |first1=Ana I |last2=Jacobs |first2=Paul |last3=Spence |first3=Cody |date=2023-12-03 |title=A Look at the Largest American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes and Villages in the Nation, Tribal Areas and States |url=https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/10/2020-census-dhc-a-aian-population.html |access-date=2024-12-03 |website=US Census Bureau |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=2020 Census: Native population increased by 86.5 percent | newspaper=ICT News | date=August 13, 2021 | url=https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/2020-census-native-population-increased-by-86-5-percent | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211220025418/https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/2020-census-native-population-increased-by-86-5-percent | access-date=November 24, 2022| archive-date=December 20, 2021 }}</ref>
Native Americans today have a special relationship with the United States of America. They can be found as nations, tribes, or bands of Native Americans who have sovereignty or independence from the government of the United States, and whose society and culture still flourish amidst a larger immigrated American (such as ], ], ], ]) populace. Native Americans who were not already U.S. citizens as granted by other provisions such as with a treaty term were granted citizenship in 1924 by the ].
{{TOC limit|3}}


==History== ==Background==
]s of Indigenous peoples of ] during the ], according to anthropologist ]]]


Beginning toward the end of the 15th century, the ] led to centuries of population, cultural, and agricultural transfer and adjustment between ] and ] societies, a process known as the ]. Because most Native American groups had preserved ] by means of ]s and artwork, the ].<ref name="test">Calloway, Colin G. . ''American Heritage'', Spring 2009. Retrieved December 29, 2011</ref>
{{for|more history about Native Americans before European contact|Indigenous peoples of the Americas}}


] classify the ] into ten geographical regions which are inhabited by groups of people who share certain ] traits, called cultural areas.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/tresors/ethno/etb0170e.shtml |title=Culture Areas Index |website=the Canadian Museum of Civilization}}</ref> The ten cultural areas are:{{cn|date=May 2024}}
===Pre-Columbian===
* ], including ], ], and ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] (])


At the time of the first contact, the Indigenous cultures were different from those of the proto-industrial and mostly ] immigrants. Some Northeastern and Southwestern cultures, in particular, were ] and they were organized and operated on a more collective basis than the culture which Europeans were familiar with. Most Indigenous American tribes treated their hunting grounds and agricultural lands as land that could be used by their entire tribe. Europeans had developed concepts of individual ] with respect to land that were extremely different. The differences in cultures, as well as the shifting alliances among different nations during periods of warfare, caused extensive political tension, ethnic violence, and social disruption.{{cn|date=May 2024}}
According to the still-debated ], a migration of humans from ] to the Americas took place via ], a ] which formerly connected the two continents across what is now the ]. The minimum time depth by which this migration had taken place is confirmed at c. 12,000 years ago, with the upper bound (or earliest period) remaining a matter of some unresolved contention.<ref>See Jacobs 2001 for an extensive review of the evidence for migration timings, and Jacobs 2002 for a survey of migration models.</ref> These early ]s soon spread throughout the Americas, diversifying into many hundreds of culturally distinct nations and tribes.<ref>Jacobs (2002).</ref> According to the oral histories of many of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, they have been living there since their genesis, described by a wide range of traditional creation accounts.


Native Americans suffered high fatality rates from ] that were new to them, and to which they had not acquired ].<ref name="mann"/> ] are thought to have caused the greatest loss of life for Indigenous populations. "The decline of native American populations was rapid and severe, probably the greatest demographic disaster ever. Old World diseases were the primary killer. In many regions, particularly the tropical lowlands, populations fell by 90 percent or more in the first century after the contact."<ref name="denevan"/><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.1992.tb01965.x | volume=82 | issue=3 | title=The Pristine Myth: The Landscape of the Americas in 1492 | year=1992 | journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers | pages=369–385 | last1 = Denevan | first1 = William M.}}</ref>
===European implications===


Estimates of pre-Columbian population of the United States vary from 4 to 18&nbsp;million.<ref name="mann">{{cite web |url = https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/03/1491/302445/ |first = Charles C. |last = Mann|title= 1491|website =The Atlantic|date = March 2002}}</ref><ref name="denevan">, posted at Northern Arizona University, published in Sept. 1992, ''Annals of the Association of American Geographers''</ref><ref name="encbrit">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1357826/Native-American/273135/North-America-and-Europe-circa-1492 |title=Native American |access-date=June 28, 2009 |encyclopedia=]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/9392931|title=Their number become thinned: native American population dynamics in eastern North America|date=April 8, 1983|publisher=Published by the University of Tennessee Press in cooperation with the Newberry Library Center for the History of the American Indian|oclc=9392931|via=Open WorldCat}}</ref> Jeffrey Ostler writes: "Most Indigenous communities were eventually afflicted by a variety of diseases, but in many cases this happened long after Europeans first arrived. When severe epidemics did hit, it was often less because Native bodies lack immunity than because European colonialism disrupted Native Communities and damaged their resources, making them more vulnerable to pathogens."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Ostler |first=Jeffrey |title=Surviving Genocide : Native Nations and the United States from the American Revolution to Bleeding Kansas |publisher=New Haven Yale University Press |year=2019}}</ref>
After 1492 European exploration of the Americas revolutionized how the Old and New Worlds perceived themselves. One of the first major contacts, in what would be called the American ], occurred when conquistador ] landed in ] in April of 1513. Ponce de León was later followed by other Spanish explorers like ] in 1528 and ] in 1539.


After the ] revolted against ] and established the United States, ] ] and ] ] conceived the idea of "]" Native Americans in preparation for their assimilation as U.S. citizens.<ref name="perdue">{{Cite book|last=Perdue|first=Theda|title=Mixed Blood Indians: Racial Construction in the Early South|publisher=The University of Georgia Press|chapter=Chapter 2 "Both White and Red"|page=51|isbn=978-0-8203-2731-0|year=2003}}</ref><ref name="remini_submit_adoption">{{Cite book|last=Remini|first=Robert|title=Andrew Jackson|publisher=History Book Club|chapter=Brothers, Listen&nbsp;... You Must Submit|page=258|isbn=978-0-06-080132-8|orig-year=1977|year=1998}}</ref><ref name="eric_miller">{{cite web|url=http://www.dreric.org/library/northwest.shtml|title=George Washington and Indians, Washington and the Northwest War, Part One|access-date=May 2, 2008|last=Miller|first=Eric|year=1994|publisher=Eric Miller}}</ref><ref name="Tom_Jewett">{{cite web|url=http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/2002_summer_fall/tj_views.htm|title=Thomas Jefferson's Views Concerning Native Americans|access-date=February 17, 2009|first=Tom|last=Jewett|year=1996–2009|publisher=Archiving America}}</ref> Assimilation, whether it was voluntary, as it was with the ],<ref name="us_congress2">{{Cite news|title=An Indian Candidate for Congress|publisher=Christian Mirror and N.H. Observer, Shirley, Hyde & Co.|date=July 15, 1830}}</ref><ref name="us_citizenship">{{cite web|url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/cho0310.htm|title=Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties Vol. II, Treaties|access-date=April 16, 2008|first=Charles|last=Kappler|year=1904|publisher=Government Printing Office|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517182743/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/cho0310.htm|archive-date=May 17, 2008}}</ref> or ], was consistently maintained as a matter of policy by consecutive American administrations.
] (1823–1879) is a ] depiction of de Soto seeing the Mississippi River for the first time. It hangs in the ].]]


During the 19th century, the ideology known as ] became integral to the American nationalist movement. Westward expansion of ] populations after the ] resulted in increasing pressure on Native Americans and their lands, warfare, and rising tensions. In 1830, the ] passed the ], authorizing the ] to relocate Native Americans from their homelands within established states to lands west of the ], in order to accommodate continued European American expansion. This resulted in what amounted to the ] or ] of many tribes, who were subjected to brutal ]. The most infamous of these came to be known as the ].
The European exploration and subsequent ] obliterated some Native Americans populations and cultures. Other re-organized to form new cultural groups. From the 16th through the 19th centuries, the population of Native Americans declined in the following ways: ] brought from Europe along with ]<ref></ref> at the hands of European explorers and colonists; displacement from their lands; ]<ref></ref>, ]; and a high rate of ].<ref></ref><ref></ref> Most mainstream scholars believe that, among the various contributing factors, ] ] was the overwhelming cause of the population decline of the American natives because of their lack of immunity to new diseases brought from Europe.<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref>


Contemporary Native Americans have a unique relationship with the United States because they may be members of nations, tribes, or bands that have ] and ] upon which federal Indian law and a federal Indian trust relationship are based.<ref name="BIA">, Native American Faculty and Staff Association News. University of California, Davis. Accessed October 25, 2011.</ref> Cultural activism since the late 1960s has increased the participation of Indigenous peoples in American politics. It has also led to expanded efforts to teach and preserve Indigenous languages for younger generations, and to establish a more robust cultural infrastructure: Native Americans have founded independent newspapers and online media outlets, including ], the first Native American television channel;<ref name="NATV">, Native American Faculty and Staff Association News. University of California, Davis. Accessed October 25, 2011.</ref> established ] programs, tribal schools ], museums, and language programs. Literature is at the growing forefront of American Indian studies in many genres, with the notable exception of fiction—some traditional American Indians experience fictional narratives as insulting when they conflict with traditional oral tribal narratives.<ref name="NAP">{{Cite book|url=https://www.nap.edu/read/9599/chapter/6|title=Read "America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I" at NAP.edu|year=2001|publisher=National Academies Press |doi=10.17226/9599|isbn=978-0-309-06838-3|via=www.nap.edu}}</ref>
] explorers and settlers brought ]s to North America against which the Native Americans had no natural ]. ] and ], though common and rarely fatal among Europeans, often proved deadly to Native Americans. ] proved particularly deadly to Native American populations.<ref>Native American History and Cultures, http://www.meredith.edu/nativeam/setribes.htm Susan Squires and John Kincheloe, syllabus for HIS 943A, Meredith College, 2005, accessed September 19, 2006</ref> ]s often immediately followed European exploration and sometimes destroyed entire village populations. While precise figures are difficult to determine, some historians estimate that up to 80% of some ] died due to European diseases after first contact. <ref>Greg Lange,, 23 Jan 2003, HistoryLink.org, ''Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History'', accessed 2 Jun 2008</ref>


The terms used to refer to Native Americans ]. The ways Native Americans refer to themselves vary by region and generation, with many older{{fact|date=December 2023}} Native Americans self-identifying as "Indians" or "American Indians", while younger{{fact|date=December 2023}} Native Americans often identify as "Indigenous" or "Aboriginal". The term "Native American" has not traditionally included ] or certain ],<ref>{{cite web|title=Reporter's Indigenous Terminology Guide|publisher=Native American Journalists Association|url=http://www.naja.com/reporter-s-indigenous-terminology-guide/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116050310/https://www.naja.com/reporter-s-indigenous-terminology-guide/|archive-date=November 16, 2018|quote=Over time, Native American has been expandedsome in Alaska.}} - The absence of Hawaiian and other Alaskan groups implies that it does not include them.</ref> such as ], ], or ] peoples. By comparison, the ] are generally known as ], ] and ] (]).{{fact|date=December 2023}}
In 1618–1619, smallpox wiped out 90% of the ] Native Americans.<ref></ref> Historians believe Mohawk Native Americans were infected after contact with children of Dutch traders in Albany in 1634. The disease swept through Mohawk villages, reaching Native Americans at ] in 1636, and the lands of the ] by 1679, as it was carried by Mohawks and other Native Americans who traveled the trading routes.<ref>M. Paul Keesler, , ''Mohawk: Discovering the Valley of the Crystals'', 2004, accessed 2 Jun 2008</ref> The high rate of fatalities caused breakdowns in Native American societies and disrupted generational exchanges of culture.


{{TOC limit|3}}
Similarly, after initial direct contact with European explorers in the 1770s, smallpox rapidly killed at least 30% of ] Native Americans. For the next 80 to 100 years, smallpox and other diseases devastated native populations in the region. ] area populations once as high as 37,000 were reduced to only 9,000 survivors by the time settlers arrived en masse in the mid-19th century.<ref>Greg Lange,, ''The Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History'', accessed 9 August 2008</ref>


==History==
Smallpox epidemics in 1780–1782 and ] brought devastation and drastic depopulation among the ].<ref>, National Institutes of Health</ref><ref></ref> By 1832, the federal government established a ] program for Native Americans (''The Indian Vaccination Act of 1832''). It was the first program created to address a health problem of American Indians.<ref>, ''Project Muse'', Johns Hopkins University</ref><ref>,</ref>
{{Main|History of Native Americans in the United States|Population history of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas}}
] and ] settlements during the era of ]]]
] and the ] (on the left), {{Circa|200 BCE}} to {{Circa|500 CE}}, depicted in a 2019 portrait]]


The history of Native Americans in the United States began before the founding of the U.S., tens of thousands of years ago with the ] by the ]. The Eurasian migration to the Americas occurred over millennia via ], a land bridge between ] and ], as early humans spread southward and eastward, forming distinct cultures and societies. Archaeological evidence suggests these migrations began 60,000 years ago and continued until around 12,000 years ago. Some may have arrived even before this time fishing in kayaks along what is known as the "]". The early inhabitants by land were classified as ], who spread throughout the Americas, diversifying into numerous culturally distinct nations. Major Paleo-Indian cultures included the ] and ], identified through unique spear points and large-game hunting methods, especially during the ].
In the sixteenth century Spaniards and other Europeans brought ]s to the Americas. The reintroduction of horses resulted in benefits to Native Americans. As they adopted the animals, they began to change their cultures in substantial ways, especially by extending their ranges. Some of the horses escaped and began to breed and increase their numbers in the wild. Horses had originated naturally in North America and migrated westward via the ] to Asia. The early ] was game for the earliest humans and was hunted to extinction about 7,000 BC, just after the end of the ].


Around 8000 BCE, as the climate stabilized, new cultural periods like the ] arose, during which hunter-gatherer communities developed complex societies across North America. The ] created large earthworks, such as at ] and ], which date to 3500 BCE and 2200 BCE, respectively, indicating early social and organizational complexity. By 1000 BCE, Native societies in the ] developed advanced social structures and trade networks, with the ] connecting the Eastern Woodlands to the ] and the ]. This period led to the ], with large urban centers like ]—a city with complex mounds and a population exceeding 20,000 by 1250 CE.
The re-introduction of the horse to North America had a profound impact on Native American culture of the ]. The tribes trained and used the horses to ride and to carry packs or pull ''travois'', to expand their territories markedly, more easily exchange goods with neighboring tribes, and more easily hunt ]. They fully incorporated the use of horses into their societies, including using the horses to conduct warring raids.


From the 15th century onward, European contact drastically reshaped the Americas. Explorers and settlers introduced diseases, causing massive Indigenous population declines, and engaged in violent conflicts with Native groups. By the 19th century, westward U.S. expansion, rationalized by ], pressured tribes into forced relocations like the ], which decimated communities and redefined Native territories. Despite resistance in events like the ] and ], Native American lands continued to be reduced through policies like the ] of 1830 and later the ], which undermined communal landholding.
=== Foundations for freedom===


]'' sculpture stood outside the ] between 1853 and 1958. Commissioned by the ], its sculptor ] wrote that it was "to convey the idea of the triumph of the whites over the savage tribes".<ref>] (2004), , (Series: Social History of Modern Art); ], p. 527.</ref>]]
] painted in 1827.]]
A justification for the policy of conquest and subjugation of the Indigenous people emanated from the stereotyped perceptions of Native Americans as "merciless Indian savages" (as described in the ]).<ref>{{cite book|title=Out West|date=2000|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|page=96}}</ref> Sam Wolfson in '']'' writes, "The declaration's passage has often been cited as an encapsulation of the dehumanizing attitude toward Indigenous Americans that the US was founded on."<ref>{{cite news |title=Facebook labels declaration of independence as 'hate speech' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/05/facebook-declaration-of-independence-hate-speech |access-date=August 7, 2019 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>


Native American nations on the plains in the west continued armed conflicts with the U.S. throughout the 19th century, through what were called generally ].<ref>Thornton, Russell (1990). . University of Oklahoma Press. p. 48. {{ISBN|978-0-8061-2220-5}}</ref> Notable conflicts in this period include the ], ], ], ], and ]. Expressing the frontier anti-Indian sentiment, ] believed the Indians were destined to vanish under the pressure of white civilization, stating in an 1886 lecture:
Native American societies reminded Europeans of a golden age only known to them in folk history.<ref name=rousseau_freedom /> The idea of freedom and democratic ideals was born in the Americas because "it was only in America" that Europeans from 1500 to 1776 knew of societies that were "truly free."<ref name=rousseau_freedom />


{{blockquote|I don't go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of ten are, and I shouldn't like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth.<ref name="Carney">Cary Michael Carney (1999). "Native American Higher Education in the United States". pp. 65–66. Transaction Publications</ref>}}
{{cquote|''Natural freedom is the only object of the polity of the ; with this freedom do nature and climate rule alone amongst them ... maintain their freedom and find abundant nourishment . . . people who live without laws, without police, without religion.''|20px|20px|- ], ''Jesuit and Savage in New France''<ref name=rousseau_freedom>
{{cite web
|url = http://www.ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/EoL/chp4.html
|title = Ennobling 'Savages'
|accessdate=2008-09-05
|author = Jean Jacques Rousseau
|date = 1700s
|format = HTML
}}
</ref>}}


] for the dead ] after the ], which took place on December 29, 1890, during the ]]]
The Iroquois nations' political confederacy and ] ] has been credited as one of the influences on the ] and the ].<ref name=ratical>
One of the last and most notable events during the Indian wars was the ] in 1890.<ref name="Wounded Knee"/> In the years leading up to it the U.S. government had continued to seize ] lands. A ] ritual on the Northern Lakota reservation at Wounded Knee, ], led to the U.S. Army's attempt to subdue the Lakota. The dance was part of a religious movement founded by the ] spiritual leader ] that told of the return of the Messiah to relieve the suffering of Native Americans and promised that if they would live righteous lives and perform the Ghost Dance properly, the European American colonists would vanish, the bison would return, and the living and the dead would be reunited in an ]<nowiki/>ic world.<ref name="Wounded Knee"/> On December 29 at Wounded Knee, gunfire erupted, and U.S. soldiers killed up to 300 Indians, mostly old men, women, and children.<ref name="Wounded Knee">{{cite web|title=Plains Humanities: Wounded Knee Massacre|url=http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.war.056|access-date=August 9, 2016|publisher=University of Nebraska–Lincoln}}</ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/index.html
|title=The Six Nations: Oldest Living Participatory Democracy on Earth
|publisher=Ratical.com
|accessdate=2007-10-27
}}</ref><ref name=danile_usner_1992>
{{cite book
|last = Armstrong
|first = Virginia Irving
|title = I Have Spoken: American History Through the Voices of the Indians
|origdate = 1971
|publisher=Pocket Books
|chapter =
|page = 14
|id = SBN 671-78555-9
}}
</ref> However, there is heated debate among historians about the importance of their contribution. Although Native American governmental influence is debated, it is a historical fact that several founding fathers had contact with the Iroquois, and prominent figures such as ] and ] were involved with their stronger and larger native neighbor-- the Iroquois.


Days after the massacre, the author ] wrote:
=== Colonials revolt===
{{blockquote|The Pioneer has before declared that our only safety depends upon the total extermination of the Indians. Having wronged them for centuries, we had better, in order to protect our civilization, follow it up by one more wrong and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the face of the earth.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.northern.edu/hastingw/baumedts.htm |title="L. Frank Baum's Editorials on the Sioux Nation" |accessdate=2007-12-09 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209193251/http://www.northern.edu/hastingw/baumedts.htm |archivedate=2007-12-09 }} Full text of both, with commentary by professor A. Waller Hastings</ref>}}


In the 20th century, Native Americans served in significant numbers during World War II, marking a turning point for Indigenous visibility and involvement in broader American society. Post-war, Native activism grew, with movements such as the ] (AIM) drawing attention to Indigenous rights. Landmark legislation like the ] of 1975 recognized tribal autonomy, leading to the establishment of Native-run schools and economic initiatives. Tribal sovereignty has continued to evolve, with legal victories and federal acknowledgments supporting cultural revitalization.
] Native Americans meet with the Trustee of the colony of Georgia in England, July 1734, Notice the Native American boy (in a blue coat) and woman (in a red dress) in European clothing.]]


By the 21st century, Native Americans had achieved increased control over tribal lands and resources, although many communities continue to grapple with the legacy of displacement and economic challenges. Urban migration has also grown, with over 70% of Native Americans residing in cities by 2012, navigating issues of cultural preservation and discrimination. Continuing legal and social efforts address these concerns, building on centuries of resilience and adaptation that characterize Indigenous history across the Americas.
During the ], the newly proclaimed ] competed with the British for the allegiance of Native American nations east of the ]. Most Native Americans who joined the struggle sided with the British, hoping to use the ] to halt further colonial expansion onto Native American land. Many native communities were divided over which side to support in the war. The first native community to ] was the ]. For the ] Confederacy, the American Revolution resulted in ]. ] split into a neutral (or pro-American) faction and the anti-American ]s, led by ].


==Demographics==
] was particularly brutal, and numerous atrocities were committed by settlers and native tribes alike. Noncombatants suffered greatly during the war. Military expeditions on each side destroyed villages and food supplies to reduce the ability of people to fight, as in frequent raids in the Mohawk Valley and western New York.<ref>, ]</ref> The largest of these expeditions was the ] of 1779, in which American troops destroyed more than 40 Iroquois villages to neutralize Iroquois raids in ]. The expedition failed to have the desired effect: Native American activity became even more determined.
{{Further|Modern social statistics of Native Americans}}
{{See also|Population history of Indigenous peoples of the Americas}}
], and ] as of the ]</div>]]
], ], and ] as of the ]</div>]]
]


According to the 2020 census, the U.S. population was 331.4 million. Of this, 3.7 million people, or 1.1 percent, reported American Indian or Alaska Native ancestry alone. In addition, 5.9 million people (1.8 percent), reported American Indian or Alaska Native in combination with one or more other races.<ref>{{cite web|title=P1 RACE|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=P1%3A%20RACE&g=0100000US&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P1|publisher=U.S. Census|access-date=August 11, 2022}}</ref>
{{cquote|''American Indians have played a central role in shaping the history of the nation, and they are deeply woven into the social fabric of much of American life ... During the last three decades of the twentieth century, scholars of ethnohistory, of the "new Indian history," and of Native American studies forcefully demonstrated that to understand American history and the American experience, one must include American Indians.''|20px|20px|- Robbie Ethridge, ''Creek Country''.<ref name=r_ethridge>
{{cite book
| last = Ethridge
| first = Robbie
| title = Creek Country: The Creek Indians And Their World
| origdate = 2003
| publisher = The University of North Carolina Press
| chapter = Introduction
| page = 1
| id = ISBN 0807854956
}} </ref>}}


The definition of American Indian or Alaska Native used in the 2010 census was as follows:
The British made peace with the Americans in the ], through which they ceded vast Native American territories to the United States without informing the Native Americans. The United States initially treated the Native Americans who had fought with the British as a conquered people who had lost their lands. Although many of the Iroquois tribes went to Canada with the Loyalists, others tried to stay in New York and western territories and tried to maintain their lands. Nonetheless, the state of New York made a separate treaty with Iroquois and put up for sale {{convert|5000000|acre|km2}} of land that had previously been their territory. The state established a reservation near Syracuse for the Onondagas who had been allies of the colonists.


<blockquote>According to Office of Management and Budget, "American Indian or Alaska Native" refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.<ref name="2010 Census AMAN">{{cite web|title=The American Indian and Alaska Native Population: 2010|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-10.pdf|publisher=U.S. Census|access-date=2010-06-02|first1=Tina |last1=Norris |first2=Paula L. |last2=Vines |first3=Elizabeth M. |last3=Hoeffel|date=January 2012}}</ref></blockquote>
The United States was eager to expand, to develop farming and settlements in new areas, and to satisfy land hunger of settlers from New England and new immigrants. The national government initially sought to purchase Native American land by ]. The states and settlers were frequently at odds with this policy.<ref>, AmericanRevolution.org, History Channel Network, accessed February 23, 2006.</ref>


Despite generally referring to groups indigenous to the continental US and Alaska, this demographic as defined by the US Census Bureau includes all ], including ] peoples such as the ], as well as ] and ].<ref>{{cite web|author=United States Census Bureau|title=About the Topic of Race|url=https://www.census.gov/topics/population/race/about.html|access-date=2024-06-29|website=Census.gov}}</ref> In 2022, 634,503 Indigenous people in the United States identified with Central American Indigenous groups, 875,183 identified with the ], and 47,518 identified with Canadian ].<ref>{{cite web |title=Grid View: Table B02017 - Census Reporter |url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B02017&geo_ids=01000US&primary_geo_id=01000US |access-date=2024-06-29 |website=censusreporter.org}}</ref> Of the 3.2 million Americans who identified as American Indian or Alaska Native alone in 2022, around 45% are of ] ethnicity, with this number growing as increasing numbers of Indigenous people from Latin American countries immigrate to the US and more Latinos self-identify with indigenous heritage.<ref>{{cite web |title=Grid View: Table B03002 - Census Reporter |url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B03002&geo_ids=01000US&primary_geo_id=01000US |access-date=2024-06-29 |website=censusreporter.org}}</ref> Of groups Indigenous to the United States, the largest self-reported tribes are ] (1,449,888), ] (434,910), ] (295,373), ] (288,255), ] (220,739), and ] (191,823).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Grid View: Table B02017 - Census Reporter |url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B02017&geo_ids=01000US&primary_geo_id=01000US |access-date=2024-06-29 |website=censusreporter.org}}</ref> 205,954 respondents specified an ] identity.
==Transmuted Native America==


] are counted separately from Native Americans by the census, being classified as ]. According to 2022 estimates, 714,847 Americans reported Native Hawaiian ancestry.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Grid View: Table B02019 - Census Reporter |url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B02019&geo_ids=01000US&primary_geo_id=01000US#valueType%7Cestimate |access-date=2024-06-29 |website=censusreporter.org}}</ref>
] Native Americans how to use European technology. Painted in 1805.]]


The 2010 census permitted respondents to self-identify as being of one or more races. Self-identification dates from the census of 1960; prior to that the race of the respondent was determined by the opinion of the census taker. The option to select more than one race was introduced in 2000.<ref name="Newest Indians">{{cite news|title=The Newest Indians|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0F17FD3A580C728EDDA10894DD404482|access-date=June 2, 2012|work=The New York Times Magazine|date=August 21, 2005|first=Jack|last=Hitt}}</ref> If American Indian or Alaska Native was selected, the form requested the individual provide the name of the "enrolled or principal tribe".
European nations often sent Native Americans, often against their will and others went willingly, to the Old World as objects of curiosity. They often entertained royalty and were sometimes prey to commercial purposes. Christianization of Native Americans was a charted purpose for some European colonies.


===Population since 1880===
American policy toward Native Americans had continued to evolve after the American Revolution. ] and ] believed that Native Americans were equals but that their society was inferior. He formulated a policy to encourage the "civilizing" process.<ref name=remini_reform_begins>
Censuses counted around 346,000 Native Americans in 1880 (including 33,000 in Alaska and 82,000 in Oklahoma, back then known as ]), around 274,000 in 1890 (including 25,500 in Alaska and 64,500 in Oklahoma), 362,500 in 1930 and 366,500 in 1940, including those on and off reservations in the 48 states and Alaska. Native American population rebounded sharply from 1950, when they numbered 377,273; it reached 551,669 in 1960, 827,268 in 1970, with an annual growth rate of 5%, four times the national average.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rosenthal |first=Jack |date=1971-10-20 |title=1970 Census Finds Indian No Longer the Vanishing American |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/20/archives/1970-census-finds-indian-no-longer-the-vanishing-american.html |accessdate=2023-02-11 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Total spending on Native Americans averaged $38 million a year in the late 1920s, dropping to a low of $23 million in 1933, and returning to $38&nbsp;million in 1940. The ] counted more American Indians than the ] until 1930:
{{cite book
{| class="wikitable"
|last = Remini
|+American Indians according to the Census Bureau and the Office of Indian Affairs 1890-1930
|first = Robert
!Decade
|title = Andrew Jackson
!American Indians, Census Bureau
|origdate = 1977, 1998
!American Indians, Office of Indian Affairs
|publisher=History Book Club
!Alaska Natives
|chapter = "The Reform Begins"
|-
|page = 201
|1890
|id = ISBN 0965063107
|248,253
}} </ref> Washington had a six-point plan for civilization which included,
|249,278
|25,354
|-
|1900
|237,196
|270,544
|29,536
|-
|1910
|265,683
|304,950
|25,331
|-
|1920
|244,437
|336,337
|26,558
|-
|1930
|332,397
|340,541
|29,983
|}
American Indians and Alaska Natives as percentage of the total population between 1880 and 2020:
{| class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:right"
|+American Indian and Alaska Native as percentage of population by U.S. state and territory (1880–2020)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html |title=Historical Census Statistics on Population Totals By Race, 1790 to 1990, and By Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, For The United States, Regions, Divisions, and States |website=Census.gov |access-date=January 10, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120812191959/http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html |archive-date=August 12, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The American Indian and Alaska Native Population: 2000 |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/c2kbr01-15.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160330042301/https://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/c2kbr01-15.pdf |archive-date=March 30, 2016 |access-date=August 9, 2016 |website=Census.gov}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=February 20, 2013|title=State and County QuickFacts|url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304192030/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/index.html|archive-date=March 4, 2012|access-date=June 16, 2013|website=Quickfacts.census.gov}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=August 12, 2021|title=Race and Ethnicity in the United States: 2010 Census and 2020 Census|url=https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/race-and-ethnicity-in-the-united-state-2010-and-2020-census.html |access-date=December 3, 2021|website=Census.gov|language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZadCAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA23 |title=Report on Indians taxed and Indians not taxed in the United States (except Alaska) |publisher=Government Printing Office |year=1894 |pages=23–24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rogers |first=George W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZQyOAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA75 |title=The Future of Alaska: Economic Consequences of Statehood |publisher=RFF Press |year=2011 |location=New York, London |pages=61, 75|isbn=9781135999469 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sex, General Nativity, And Color |url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/33405927v1ch09.pdf |access-date=29 March 2022 |website=census.gov |pages=486–487}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mMFRAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA2-PA853 |title=Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution |publisher=Government Printing Office |year=1886 |volume=II |location=Washington |pages=853–861}}</ref>
|-
!scope="col"| State/Territory
!1880
!scope="col"| 1890
!scope="col"| 1900
!scope="col"| 1910
!scope="col"| 1920
!scope="col"| 1930
!scope="col"| 1940
!scope="col"| 1950
!scope="col"| 1960
!scope="col"| 1970
!scope="col"| 1980
!scope="col"| 1990
!scope="col"| 2000
!scope="col"| 2010
!scope="col"| 2020
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Alabama}} ]
|0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.4%
| 0.5%
| 0.6%
| 0.7%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Alaska}} ]
|98.7%
| 79.1%
| 46.5%
| 39.4%
| 48.3%
| 50.6%
| 44.8%
| 26.3%
| 19.1%
| 16.8%
| 16.0%
| 15.6%
| 15.6%
| 14.8%
| 21.9%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Arizona}} ]
|37.5%
| 34.0%
| 21.5%
| 14.3%
| 9.9%
| 10.0%
| 11.0%
| 8.8%
| 6.4%
| 5.4%
| 5.6%
| 5.6%
| 5.0%
| 4.6%
| 6.3%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Arkansas}} ]
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.4%
| 0.5%
| 0.7%
| 0.8%
| 0.9%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|California}} ]
|2.4%
| 1.4%
| 1.0%
| 0.7%
| 0.5%
| 0.3%
| 0.3%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
| 0.5%
| 0.9%
| 0.8%
| 1.0%
| 1.0%
| 1.6%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Colorado}} ]
|1.4%
| 0.3%
| 0.3%
| 0.2%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.4%
| 0.6%
| 0.8%
| 1.0%
| 1.1%
| 1.3%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Connecticut}} ]
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.3%
| 0.4%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Delaware}} ]
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.3%
| 0.5%
| 0.5%
|-
!scope="row"| {{Flag| Florida}}
|0.3%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.3%
| 0.4%
| 0.4%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Georgia (U.S. state)}} ]
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.3%
| 0.5%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Hawaii}} ]
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.3%
| 0.5%
| 0.3%
| 0.3%
| 0.3%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Idaho}} ]
|10.0%
| 4.8%
| 2.6%
| 1.1%
| 0.7%
| 0.8%
| 0.7%
| 0.6%
| 0.8%
| 0.9%
| 1.1%
| 1.4%
| 1.4%
| 1.4%
| 1.4%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Illinois}} ]
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.8%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Indiana}} ]
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.3%
| 0.4%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Iowa}} ]
|0.1%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.3%
| 0.4%
| 0.5%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Kansas}} ]
|0.2%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.4%
| 0.7%
| 0.9%
| 0.9%
| 1.0%
| 1.1%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Kentucky}} ]
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Louisiana}} ]
|0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.3%
| 0.4%
| 0.6%
| 0.7%
| 0.7%
|-
!scope="row"| {{Flag| Maine}}
|0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
| 0.4%
| 0.5%
| 0.6%
| 0.6%
| 0.6%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Maryland}} ]
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.3%
| 0.4%
| 0.5%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Massachusetts}} ]
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.3%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Michigan}} ]
|1.1%
| 0.3%
| 0.3%
| 0.3%
| 0.2%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.4%
| 0.6%
| 0.6%
| 0.6%
| 0.6%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Minnesota}} ]
|1.1%
| 0.8%
| 0.5%
| 0.4%
| 0.4%
| 0.4%
| 0.4%
| 0.4%
| 0.5%
| 0.6%
| 0.9%
| 1.1%
| 1.1%
| 1.1%
| 1.2%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Mississippi}} ]
|0.2%
| 0.2%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.4%
| 0.5%
| 0.6%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Missouri}} ]
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.3%
| 0.4%
| 0.4%
| 0.5%
| 0.5%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Montana}} ]
|38.3%
| 7.8%
| 4.7%
| 0.8%
| 2.0%
| 2.8%
| 3.0%
| 2.8%
| 3.1%
| 3.9%
| 4.7%
| 6.0%
| 6.2%
| 6.3%
| 9.3%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Nebraska}} ]
|1.0%
| 0.6%
| 0.3%
| 0.3%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.3%
| 0.4%
| 0.4%
| 0.6%
| 0.8%
| 0.9%
| 1.2%
| 1.2%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|Nevada}} ]
|13.9%
| 10.9%
| 12.3%
| 6.4%
| 6.3%
| 5.3%
| 4.3%
| 3.1%
| 2.3%
| 1.6%
| 1.7%
| 1.6%
| 1.3%
| 1.2%
| 1.4%
|-
!scope="row"| {{Flag| New Hampshire}}
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|New Jersey}} ]
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.6%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|New Mexico}} ]
|23.2%
| 9.4%
| 6.7%
| 6.3%
| 5.4%
| 6.8%
| 6.5%
| 6.2%
| 5.9%
| 7.2%
| 8.1%
| 8.9%
| 9.5%
| 9.4%
| 12.4%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|New York}} ]
|0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.4%
| 0.6%
| 0.7%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|North Carolina}} ]
|0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.3%
| 0.4%
| 0.5%
| 0.5%
| 0.6%
| 0.1%
| 0.8%
| 0.9%
| 1.1%
| 1.2%
| 1.2%
| 1.3%
| 1.2%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|North Dakota}} ]
|13.0%
| 4.3%
| 2.2%
| 1.1%
| 1.0%
| 1.2%
| 1.6%
| 1.7%
| 1.9%
| 2.3%
| 3.1%
| 4.1%
| 4.9%
| 5.4%
| 7.2%
|-
!scope="row"| {{flagicon|South Dakota}} ]
|20.6%
| 5.7%
| 5.0%
| 3.3%
| 2.6%
| 3.2%
| 3.6%
| 3.6%
| 3.8%
| 4.9%
| 6.5%
| 7.3%
| 8.3%
| 8.8%
| 11.1%
|-
! scope="row" | {{flagicon|Ohio}} ]
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
|-
! scope="row" | {{flagicon|Oklahoma}} ]
|100.0%
| 24.9%
| 8.2%
| 4.5%
| 2.8%
| 3.9%
| 2.7%
| 2.4%
| 2.8%
| 3.8%
| 5.6%
| 8.0%
| 7.9%
| 8.6%
| 16.0%
|-
! scope="row" | {{flagicon|Oregon}} ]
|3.5%
| 1.6%
| 1.2%
| 0.8%
| 0.6%
| 0.5%
| 0.4%
| 0.4%
| 0.5%
| 0.6%
| 1.0%
| 1.4%
| 1.3%
| 1.4%
| 4.4%
|-
! scope="row" | {{flagicon|Pennsylvania}} ]
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
|-
! scope="row" | {{flagicon|Rhode Island}} ]
|0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.3%
| 0.4%
| 0.5%
| 0.6%
| 0.7%
|-
! scope="row" | {{flagicon|South Carolina}} ]
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.4%
| 0.5%
|-
! scope="row" | {{flagicon|Tennessee}} ]
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.3%
| 0.4%
|-
! scope="row" | {{flagicon|Texas}} ]
|0.1%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.4%
| 0.6%
| 0.7%
| 1.0%
|-
! scope="row" | {{flagicon|Utah}} ]
|0.9%
| 1.6%
| 0.9%
| 0.8%
| 0.6%
| 0.6%
| 0.7%
| 0.6%
| 0.8%
| 1.1%
| 1.3%
| 1.4%
| 1.3%
| 1.2%
| 1.3%
|-
! scope="row" | {{Flag|Vermont}}
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.4%
| 0.4%
| 0.4%
|-
! scope="row" | {{flagicon|Virginia}} ]
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.4%
| 0.5%
|-
! scope="row" | {{flagicon|Washington}} ]
|20.8%
| 3.1%
| 1.9%
| 1.0%
| 0.7%
| 0.7%
| 0.7%
| 0.6%
| 0.7%
| 1.0%
| 1.5%
| 1.7%
| 1.6%
| 1.5%
| 4.1%
|-
! scope="row" | {{Flag| West Virginia}}
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
|-
! scope="row" | {{flagicon|Wisconsin}} ]
|0.8%
| 0.6%
| 0.4%
| 0.4%
| 0.4%
| 0.4%
| 0.4%
| 0.4%
| 0.4%
| 0.4%
| 0.6%
| 0.8%
| 0.9%
| 1.0%
| 1.0%
|-
! scope="row" | {{flagicon|Wyoming}} ]
|9.6%
| 2.9%
| 1.8%
| 1.0%
| 0.7%
| 0.8%
| 0.9%
| 1.1%
| 1.2%
| 1.5%
| 1.5%
| 2.1%
| 2.3%
| 2.4%
| 4.8%
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
! scope="row" | {{flagicon|District of Columbia}} ]
|0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.0%
| 0.1%
| 0.1%
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.3%
| 0.5%
|- style="background:beige;"
! scope="row" | {{Flag| Puerto Rico}}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 0.4%
| 0.5%
| 0.5%
|- style="background:#D0E6FF; font-weight:bold"
! scope="row" | '''{{USA}}'''
|0.7%
| 0.4%
| 0.3%
| 0.3%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.3%
| 0.2%
| 0.3%
| 0.4%
| 0.6%
| 0.8%
| 0.9%
| 0.9%
| 1.1%
|}
Absolute numbers of American Indians and Alaska Natives between 1880 and 2020 (since 1890 according to the ]):
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+American Indian and Alaska Native population by U.S. state and territory (1880–2020)
!State/Territory
!1880
!1890
!1900
!1910
!1920
!1930
!1940
!1950
!1960
!1970
!1980
!1990
!2000
!2010
!2020
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Alabama}} ]
|213
|1143
|177
|909
|405
|465
|464
|928
|1276
|2443
|9239
|16506
|22430
|28218
|33625
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Alaska}} ]
|32996
|25354
|29536
|25331
|26558
|29983
|32458
|33863
|42522
|50814
|64103
|85698
|98043
|104871
|111575
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Arizona}} ]
|22199
|29981
|26480
|29201
|32989
|43726
|55076
|65761
|83387
|95812
|154175
|203527
|255879
|296529
|319512
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Arkansas}} ]
|195
|250
|66
|460
|106
|408
|278
|533
|580
|2014
|12713
|12773
|17808
|22248
|27177
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|California}} ]
|20385
|16624
|15377
|16371
|17360
|19212
|18675
|19947
|39014
|91018
|227757
|242164
|333346
|362801
|631016
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Colorado}} ]
|2684
|1092
|1437
|1482
|1383
|1395
|1360
|1567
|4288
|8836
|20682
|27776
|44241
|56010
|74129
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Connecticut}} ]
|255
|228
|153
|152
|159
|162
|201
|333
|923
|2222
|4822
|6654
|9639
|11256
|16051
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Delaware}} ]
|5
|4
|9
|5
|2
|5
|14
|0
|597
|656
|1380
|2019
|2731
|4181
|5148
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Florida}} ]
|780 {{refn|In Florida in 1880 there were reported 180 taxed Indians and 600 inhabitants of unknown race, possibly also Indians.|group=Note}}
|171
|358
|74
|518
|587
|690
|1011
|2504
|6677
|24714
|36335
|53541
|71458
|94795
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Georgia (U.S. state)}} ]
|124
|68
|19
|95
|125
|43
|106
|333
|749
|2347
|9876
|13348
|21737
|32151
|50618
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Hawaii}} ]
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|472
|1126
|2833
|5099
|3535
|4164
|4370
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Idaho}} ]
|3585
|4223
|4226
|3488
|3098
|3638
|3537
|3800
|5231
|6687
|10405
|13780
|17645
|21441
|25621
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Illinois}} ]
|140
|98
|16
|188
|194
|469
|624
|1443
|4704
|11413
|19118
|21836
|31006
|43963
|96498
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Indiana}} ]
|246
|343
|243
|279
|125
|285
|223
|438
|948
|3887
|9495
|12720
|15815
|18462
|26086
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Iowa}} ]
|821
|457
|382
|471
|529
|660
|733
|1084
|1708
|2992
|6311
|7349
|8989
|11084
|14486
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Kansas}} ]
|1499
|1682
|2130
|2444
|2276
|2454
|1165
|2381
|5069
|8672
|17829
|21965
|24936
|28150
|30995
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Kentucky}} ]
|50
|71
|102
|234
|57
|22
|44
|234
|391
|1531
|4497
|5769
|8616
|10120
|12801
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Louisiana}} ]
|848
|628
|593
|780
|1069
|1536
|1801
|409
|3587
|5294
|12841
|18541
|25477
|30579
|31657
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Maine}} ]
|625
|559
|798
|892
|830
|1012
|1251
|1522
|1879
|2195
|4360
|5998
|7098
|8568
|7885
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Maryland}} ]
|15
|44
|3
|55
|32
|50
|73
|314
|1538
|4239
|8946
|12972
|15423
|20420
|31845
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Massachusetts}} ]
|369
|428
|587
|688
|555
|874
|769
|1201
|2118
|4475
|8996
|12241
|15015
|18850
|24018
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Michigan}} ]
|17390
|5625
|6354
|7519
|5614
|7080
|6282
|7000
|9701
|16854
|44712
|55638
|58479
|62007
|61261
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Minnesota}} ]
|8498
|10096
|9182
|9053
|8761
|11077
|12528
|12533
|15496
|23128
|36527
|49909
|54967
|60916
|68641
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Mississippi}} ]
|1857
|2036
|2203
|1253
|1105
|1458
|2134
|2502
|3119
|4113
|6836
|8525
|11652
|15030
|16450
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Missouri}} ]
|113
|128
|130
|313
|171
|578
|330
|547
|1723
|5405
|14820
|19835
|25076
|27376
|30518
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Montana}} ]
|23313
|11206
|11343
|10745
|10956
|14798
|16841
|16606
|21181
|27130
|37623
|47679
|56068
|62555
|67612
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Nebraska}} ]
|4541
|6431
|3322
|3502
|2888
|3256
|3401
|3954
|5545
|6624
|9059
|12410
|14896
|18427
|23102
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Nevada}} ]
|9603
|5156
|5216
|5240
|4907
|4871
|4747
|5025
|6681
|7933
|14256
|19637
|26420
|32062
|43932
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|New Hampshire}} ]
|63
|16
|22
|34
|28
|64
|50
|74
|135
|361
|1342
|2134
|2964
|3150
|3031
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|New Jersey}} ]
|74
|84
|63
|168
|106
|213
|211
|621
|1699
|4706
|10028
|14970
|19492
|29026
|51186
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|New Mexico}} ]
|33224
|15044
|13144
|20573
|19512
|28941
|34510
|41901
|56255
|72788
|106585
|134355
|173483
|193222
|212241
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|New York}} ]
|5958
|6044
|5257
|6046
|5503
|6973
|8651
|10640
|16491
|28355
|43508
|62651
|82461
|106906
|149690
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|North Carolina}} ]
|1230
|1516
|5687
|7851
|11824
|16579
|22546
|3742
|38129
|44406
|65808
|80155
|99551
|122110
|130032
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|North Dakota}} ]
|8329
|8174
|6968
|6486
|6254
|8387
|10114
|10766
|11736
|14369
|19905
|25917
|31329
|36591
|38914
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Ohio}} ]
|130
|206
|42
|127
|151
|435
|338
|1146
|1910
|6654
|15300
|20358
|24486
|25292
|30720
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Oklahoma}} ]
|82334 {{refn|For Oklahoma one count reported 76585 Indians in 1880 (including 59187 in ]), another count reported 79769 or 79469 (including 64000 in Five Civilized Tribes) and yet another reported 82334 (including 64000 in Five Civilized Tribes) as of 1884.|group=Note}}
|64456
|64445
|74825
|57337
|92725
|63125
|53769
|64689
|98468
|171092
|252420
|273230
|321687
|332791
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Oregon}} ]
|6249
|4971
|4951
|5090
|4590
|4776
|4594
|5820
|8026
|13510
|29783
|38496
|45211
|53203
|62993
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Pennsylvania}} ]
|184
|1081
|1639
|1503
|337
|523
|441
|1141
|2122
|5533
|10928
|14733
|18348
|26843
|31052
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Rhode Island}} ]
|77
|180
|35
|284
|110
|318
|196
|385
|932
|1390
|3186
|4071
|5121
|6058
|7385
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|South Carolina}} ]
|131
|173
|121
|331
|304
|959
|1234
|554
|1098
|2241
|6655
|8246
|13718
|19524
|24303
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|South Dakota}} ]
|20230
|19854
|20225
|19137
|16384
|21833
|23347
|23344
|25794
|32365
|45525
|50575
|62283
|71817
|77748
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Tennessee}} ]
|352
|146
|108
|216
|56
|161
|114
|339
|638
|2276
|6946
|10039
|15152
|19994
|28044
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Texas}} ]
|992
|708
|470
|702
|2109
|1001
|1103
|2736
|5750
|17957
|50296
|65877
|118362
|170972
|278948
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Utah}} ]
|1257
|3456
|2623
|3123
|2711
|2869
|3611
|4201
|6961
|11273
|19994
|24283
|29684
|32927
|41644
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Vermont}} ]
|11
|34
|5
|26
|24
|36
|16
|30
|57
|229
|1041
|1696
|2420
|2207
|2289
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Virginia}} ]
|85
|349
|354
|539
|824
|779
|198
|1056
|2155
|4853
|9867
|15282
|21172
|29225
|40007
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Washington}} ]
|18594
|11181
|10039
|10997
|9061
|11253
|11394
|13816
|21076
|33386
|61233
|81483
|93301
|103869
|121468
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|West Virginia}} ]
|29
|9
|12
|36
|7
|18
|25
|160
|181
|751
|2317
|2458
|3606
|3787
|3706
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Wisconsin}} ]
|10798
|9930
|8372
|10142
|9611
|11548
|12265
|12196
|14297
|18924
|30553
|39387
|47228
|54526
|60428
|-
|scope="row"| {{flagicon|Wyoming}} ]
|2203
|1844
|1686
|1486
|1343
|1845
|2349
|3237
|4020
|4980
|8192
|9479
|11133
|13336
|13898
|-
|scope="row" | {{flagicon|District of Columbia}} ]
|5
|25
|22
|68
|37
|40
|190
|330
|587
|956
|986
|1466
|1713
|2079
|3193
|- style="background:#D0E6FF; font-weight:bold"
! scope="row" | '''{{USA}}'''
|345,888
|273,607
|266,732
|291,014
|270,995
|362,380
|366,427
|377,273
|551,669
|827,268
|1,519,995
|1,959,234
|2,475,956
|2,932,248
|3,727,135
|-
!Non-Hispanic
!345,888
!273,607
!266,732
!291,014
!270,995
!362,380
!366,427
!377,273
!551,669
!800,409
!1,425,250
!1,793,773
!2,068,883
!2,247,098
!2,251,699
|}
{{Reflist|group=Note}}


===Population distribution===
<blockquote>
] map depicts the locations of differing Native American groups, including ], as of 2000; present-day ] in the ], which was once designated as an ] before Oklahoma's statehood in 1907, is highlighted in blue.]]
1. impartial justice toward Native Americans <br />
2. regulated buying of Native American lands <br />
3. promotion of commerce <br />
4. promotion of experiments to civilize or improve Native American society <br />
5. presidential authority to give presents <br />
6. punishing those who violated Native American rights.<ref name=eric_miller>
{{cite web
|url = http://www.dreric.org/library/northwest.shtml
|title = George Washington And Indians
|accessdate=2008-05-02
|author = Eric Miller
|last = Miller
|first = Eric
|date = 1994
|chapter = Washington and the Northwest War, Part One
|format = HTML
|publisher = Eric Miller
}}
</ref><br />
</blockquote>


78% of Native Americans live outside a reservation. Full-blood individuals are more likely to live on a reservation than mixed-blood individuals. The ], with 286,000 full-blood individuals, is the largest tribe if only full-blood individuals are counted; the Navajo are the tribe with the highest proportion of full-blood individuals, 86.3%. The ] have a different history; it is the largest tribe, with 819,000 individuals, and it has 284,000 full-blood individuals.<ref name=Navajo2010>{{cite news|title=Census: Native count jumps by 27 percent|url=http://navajotimes.com/news/2012/0112/012612census.php|access-date=June 2, 2012|work=The Navajo Times|date=January 26, 2012|first=Cindy|last=Yurth|agency=Tsé;yi' Bureau}}</ref>
Robert Remini, a historian, wrote that "once the Indians adopted the practice of private property, built homes, farmed, educated their children, and embraced Christianity, these Native Americans would win acceptance from white Americans."<ref name=remini_submit_adoption>
{{cite book
|last = Remini
|first = Robert
|title = Andrew Jackson
|origdate = 1977, 1998
|publisher=History Book Club
|chapter = "Brothers, Listen ... You Must Submit"
|page = 258
|id = ISBN 0965063107
}} </ref> The United States appointed agents, like ], to live among the Native Americans and to teach them how to live like whites.<ref name=perdue>
{{cite book
|last = Perdue
|first = Theda
|title = Mixed Blood Indians: Racial Construction in the Early South
|origdate = 2003
|publisher=The University of Georgia Press
|chapter = Chapter 2 "Both White and Red"
|page = 51
|id = ISBN 082032731X
}}
</ref>


====Urban migration====
{{cquote|''How different would be the sensation of a philosophic mind to reflect that instead of exterminating a part of the human race by our modes of population that we had persevered through all difficulties and at last had imparted our Knowledge of cultivating and the arts, to the Aboriginals of the Country by which the source of future life and happiness had been preserved and extended. But it has been conceived to be impracticable to civilize the Indians of North America - This opinion is probably more convenient than just.''|20px|20px|-Henry Knox to George Washington, 1790s.<ref name=knox_to_washington>
{{further|Urban Indian}}
{{cite web
|url = http://www.dreric.org/library/northwest.shtml
|title = Washington and the Northwest War, Part One
|accessdate = 2008-09-09
|author = Eric Miller
|year = 1994
|format = HTML
}}
</ref>}}


As of 2012, 70% of Native Americans live in urban areas, up from 45% in 1970 and 8% in 1940. Urban areas with significant Native American populations include Minneapolis, Denver, Phoenix, Tucson, Chicago, Oklahoma City, Houston, New York City, and Los Angeles. Many live in poverty. Racism, unemployment, drugs and gangs are common problems which Indian social service organizations such as the Little Earth housing complex in Minneapolis attempt to address.<ref name=NYT41413>{{cite news|title=Quietly, Indians Reshape Cities and Reservations|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/us/as-american-indians-move-to-cities-old-and-new-challenges-follow.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130414083757/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/us/as-american-indians-move-to-cities-old-and-new-challenges-follow.html |archive-date=2013-04-14 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=April 14, 2013|work=The New York Times|date=April 13, 2013|first=Timothy|last=Williams}}</ref>
===Assimilation===


===Population by tribal grouping===
]
Below are numbers for U.S. citizens self-identifying to selected tribal groupings, according to the 2010 U.S. census.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Table 7. American Indian and Alaska Native Population by Selected Tribal Groupings: 2010 |url=https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/c2010br-10.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2010 |url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/dec/cph-series/cph-t/cph-t-6.html}}</ref>


{| class="sortable wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
In the late eighteenth century, reformers starting with Washington and Knox<ref>''The Great Confusion in Indian Affairs: Native Americans and Whites in the Progressive Era'', Tom Holm, http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/excerpts/exholgre.html</ref>, in efforts to "]" or otherwise assimilate Native Americans (as opposed to relegating them to ]), adopted the practice of educating native children. The ] of 1819 promoted this civilization policy by providing funding to societies (mostly religious) who worked on Native American improvement. Native American Boarding Schools, which were run primarily by Christian missionaries,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=2616&id=7375
|+ 2010 Native American distribution by tribal group
|work=authorsden.com |title=What Were Boarding Schools Like for Indian Youth? |accessmonthday=February 8 |accessyear=2006}}</ref> often proved traumatic to Native American children, who were forbidden to speak their ], taught ] and denied the right to practice their native religions, and in numerous other ways forced to abandon their Native American identities<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sacbee.com/static/archive/news/projects/native/day2_main.html
|-
|work=California's Lost Tribes |title=Long-suffering urban Indians find roots in ancient rituals |accessmonthday=February 8 |accessyear=2006}}</ref> and adopt European-American culture. There were many documented cases of sexual, physical and mental abuse occurring at these schools.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.prsp.bc.ca |work=PRSP Disabilities |title=Developmental and learning disabilities |accessmonthday=February 8 |accessyear=2006}}</ref><ref>
!scope="col"| Tribal grouping
{{cite web |url=http://www.amnestyusa.org/amnestynow/soulwound.html |work=Amnesty International USA |title=Soul Wound: The Legacy of Native American Schools |accessmonthday=February 8 |accessyear=2006}}</ref>
!scope="col"| Tribal flag
!scope="col"| Tribal seal
!scope="col"| American Indian & Alaska Native Alone one tribal grouping reported
!scope="col"| American Indian & Alaska Native Alone more than one tribal grouping reported
!scope="col"| American Indian & Alaska Native Mixed one tribal grouping reported
!scope="col"| American Indian & Alaska Native Mixed more than one tribal grouping reported
!scope="col"| American Indian & Alaska Native tribal grouping alone or mixed in any combination
|-
!scope="row"| Total
| || ||2,879,638||52,610||2,209,267||79,064||5,220,579
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||63,193||6,501||33,303||8,813||111,810
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| ]|| ||8,014||388||2,084||375||10,861
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| ] || ||27,279||4,519||54,109||19,397||105,304
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| ] ]|| ||6,433||618||6,981||790||14,822
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||15,882||572||10,865||525||27,844
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| ]||]||284,247||16,216||468,082||50,560||819,105
|-
!scope="row"| ] <br> (Northern and Southern)
||] || ||11,375||1,118||5,311||1,247||19,051
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| ||||27,973||2,233||19,220||2,852||52,278
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| ||||112,757||2,645||52,091||3,249||170,742
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| ]||]||103,910||6,398||72,101||13,355||195,764
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||8,114||200||2,148||87||10,549
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||12,284||1,187||8,131||1,728||23,330
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||2,211||739||4,023||1,010||7,983
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| ||]||48,352||4,596||30,618||4,766||88,332
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||10,332||528||3,309||1,034||15,203
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||7,843||372||9,439||610||18,264
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| ]||]||12,580||2,054||3,013||680||18,327
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| ]|| ||8,169||71||2,438||90||10,768
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| ]||]||40,570||1,891||34,490||4,051||81,002
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| ||||9,437||918||2,947||485||13,787
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||62,306||651||10,039||695||73,691
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||8,374||253||2,330||176||11,133
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||121,221||2,329||49,670||2,274||175,494
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| ||]||286,731||8,285||32,918||4,195||332,129
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||8,938||1,125||7,090||1,423||18,576
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||7,272||776||4,274||711||13,033
|-
!scope="row"| ]<ref>"Paiute" is a problematic cover term for non-contiguous and historically, ethnographically, and linguistically distinct tribes: ], ], and ]. The 2000 U.S. Census lumps these distinct groups into one term. Generally, the word "Paiute" was used in the 19th century for any Great Basin Native American who wasn't ].</ref>
| || ||9,340||865||3,135||427||13,767
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| ]|| ||22,040||1,165||3,116||334||26,655
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||20,412||462||12,249||648||33,771
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||49,695||2,331||9,568||946||62,540
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||14,320||215||5,540||185||20,260
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||14,080||2,368||12,447||3,076||31,971
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||7,852||610||3,969||571||13,002
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| ]|| ||112,176||4,301||46,964||6,669||170,110
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||20,901||479||25,015||838||47,233
|-
!scope="row"| Spanish American Indian
| || ||13,460||298||6,012||181||19,951
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| ]||||19,522||725||3,033||198||23,478
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||7,435||785||2,802||469||11,491
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||8,786||310||2,207||224||11,527
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| ]|| ||21,679||1,516||8,183||1,217||32,595
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| ||||7,727||551||1,642||169||10,089
|-
!scope="row"| All other American Indian tribes
| || ||270,141||12,606||135,032||11,850||429,629
|-
!scope="row"| American Indian tribes, not specified
| || ||131,943||117||102,188||72||234,320
|-
!scope="row"| Alaska Native tribes, specified
| || ||98,892||4,194||32,992||2,772||138,850
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||15,623||804||5,531||526||22,484
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||11,920||723||6,108||531||19,282
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||24,859||877||7,051||573||33,360
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||15,256||859||9,331||634||26,080
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||2,307||240||1,010||198||3,755
|-
!scope="row"| ]
| || ||28,927||691||3,961||310||33,889
|-
!scope="row"| Alaska Native tribes, not specified
| || ||19,731||173||9,896||133||29,933
|-
!scope="row"| American Indian or Alaska Native tribes, not specified
| || ||693,709||no data||852,253||1||1,545,963
|}


==Tribal sovereignty==
=====American citizens=====
{{main|Tribal sovereignty in the United States|Native American tribe|Indian reservation}}
]


There are 573 ]<ref>{{cite web|title=Federal Register|url=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-01-29/pdf/2016-01769.pdf|access-date=September 14, 2016}}</ref> and 326 ]<ref name="Department of the Interior">{{cite web|url=http://www.bia.gov/FAQs|title=Frequently Asked Questions, Bureau of Indian Affairs|publisher=Department of the Interior|access-date=August 8, 2015}}</ref> in the United States. These tribes possess the right to form their own governments, to enforce laws (both civil and criminal) within their lands, to tax, to establish requirements for membership, to license and regulate activities, to zone, and to exclude persons from tribal territories. Limitations on tribal powers of self-government include the same limitations applicable to states; for example, neither tribes nor states have the power to make war, engage in foreign relations, or coin money (this includes paper currency).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2005/January/200501281313241CJsamohT0.7689478.html |website=america.gov |title=The U.S. Relationship To American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes |access-date=February 8, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519065837/https://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2005/January/200501281313241CJsamohT0.7689478.html |archive-date=May 19, 2009}}</ref> In addition, there are a number of tribes that are ], but not by the federal government. The rights and benefits associated with ] vary from state to state.
The ] granted U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans. Prior to the passage of the act, nearly two-thirds of Native Americans were already U.S. citizens.<ref name=2-3_us_citizenship>
{{cite web
| url = http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/vol4/html_files/v4p1165.html
| title = INDIAN AFFAIRS: LAWS AND TREATIES Vol. IV, Treaties
| accessdate = 2008-10-14
| author = Charles Kappler
| last = Kappler
| first = Charles
| year = 1904
| format = HTML
| publisher = Government Printing Office
}}
</ref> The earliest recorded date of Native Americans becoming U.S. citizens was in 1831 when the Mississippi ] became citizens after the United States Legislature ratified the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Under article XIV of that treaty, any Choctaw, who elected not to move to Native American Territory, could become an American citizen when he registers and if he stays on designated lands for five years after treaty ratification. Citizenship could also be obtained by:] was a Union Civil War General who wrote the terms of surrender between the United States and the ].<ref>Ely Parker </ref>]]


Many Native Americans and advocates of Native American rights point out that the U.S. federal government's claim to recognize the "sovereignty" of Native American peoples falls short, given that the United States wishes to govern Native American peoples and treat them as subject to U.S. law.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thorpe.ou.edu/guide/robertson.html|title=Native Americans and the Law: Native Americans Under Current United States Law|last=Robertson|first=Lindsay|date=June 2001|access-date=April 21, 2016|archive-date=April 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120416012037/http://thorpe.ou.edu/guide/robertson.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Such advocates contend that full respect for Native American sovereignty would require the U.S. government to deal with Native American peoples in the same manner as any other sovereign nation, handling matters related to relations with Native Americans through the Secretary of State, rather than the ]. The Bureau of Indian Affairs reports on its website that its "responsibility is the administration and management of {{convert|55700000|acre|km2}} of land held in trust by the United States for American Indians, Indian tribes, and ]".<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.doi.gov/bureau-indian-affairs.html|access-date=December 25, 2007|title=Bureau of Indian affairs|journal=Science|volume=68|issue=1774|page=639|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071129013254/http://www.doi.gov/bureau-indian-affairs.html|archive-date=November 29, 2007|bibcode=1928Sci....68..639.|year=1928|doi=10.1126/science.68.1774.639}}</ref> Many Native Americans and advocates of Native American rights believe that it is condescending for such lands to be considered "held in trust" and regulated in any fashion by any entity other than their own tribes.
<blockquote>
1. Treaty Provision (as with the Mississippi Choctaw) <br />
2. Allotment under the Act of February 8, 1887 <br />
3. Issuance of Patent in Fee Simple <br />
4. Adopting Habits of Civilized Life <br />
5. Minor Children <br />
6. Citizenship by Birth <br />
7. Becoming Soldiers and Sailors in the U.S. Armed Forces <br />
8. Marriage <br />
9. Special Act of Congress. <br />
</blockquote>


Some tribal groups have been unable to document the cultural continuity required for federal recognition. To achieve federal recognition and its benefits, tribes must prove continuous existence since 1900. The federal government has maintained this requirement, in part because through participation on councils and committees, federally recognized tribes have been adamant about groups' satisfying the same requirements as they did.<ref name="home.hamptonroads.com"/> The ] of the San Francisco Bay Area are pursuing litigation in the federal court system to establish recognition.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.muwekma.org |title=The Muwekman Ohlone |access-date=June 22, 2007 |website=muwekma.org}}</ref> Many of the smaller eastern tribes, long considered remnants of extinct peoples, have been trying to gain official recognition of their tribal status. Several tribes in Virginia and North Carolina have gained state recognition. Federal recognition confers some benefits, including the right to label arts and crafts as Native American and permission to apply for grants that are specifically reserved for Native Americans. But gaining federal recognition as a tribe is extremely difficult; to be established as a tribal group, members have to submit extensive ] proof of tribal descent and continuity of the tribe as a culture.
{{cquote|''Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all noncitizen Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States be, and they are hereby, declared to be citizens of the United States: Provided, That the granting of such citizenship shall not in any manner impair or otherwise affect the right of any Native American to tribal or other property.''|20px|20px|-''Indian Citizenship Act of 1924''}}


] on or near their lands.]]
===American expansion justification===
In July 2000, the ] adopted a resolution recommending that the federal and legislative branches of the ] terminate tribal governments.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indiancountry.com/articles/headline-2000-07-12-01.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000902214724/http://www.indiancountry.com/articles/headline-2000-07-12-01.shtml |archive-date=September 2, 2000 |title=Washington GOP plank to terminate tribes ignites firestorm |access-date=August 29, 2011}}</ref> In 2007, a group of ] congressmen and congresswomen introduced a bill in the ] to terminate Federal recognition of the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tanasijournal.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=365&Itemid=1&ed=53 |title=National Congress of American Indians Opposes Bill to Terminate the Cherokee Nation |date=July 7, 2007 |website=Tanasi Journal |publisher=Wisdom Keepers, Inc. |access-date=November 6, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090510034518/http://www.tanasijournal.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=365&Itemid=1&ed=53 |archive-date=May 10, 2009}}</ref> This was related to their voting to exclude Cherokee Freedmen as members of the tribe unless they had a Cherokee ancestor on the Dawes Rolls, although all Cherokee Freedmen and their descendants had been members since 1866.


As of 2004, various Native Americans are wary of attempts by others to gain control of their reservation lands for natural resources, such as ] and ] in the West.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.angelfire.com/band/senaaeurope/DRelocation.html |website=Senaa |title=The Genocide and Relocation of the Dine'h (Navajo) |access-date=February 8, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://lists.wayne.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9703&L=tamha&F=&S=&P=7661 |website=LISTSERV at Wayne State University|title=Big Mountain Update 1 February 1997 |access-date=February 8, 2006}}</ref>
], painted in 1872 by John Gast.]]


The State of ] is the only State House Legislature that allows Representatives from Indian Tribes. The three nonvoting members represent the Penobscot Nation, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, and ]. These representatives can sponsor any legislation regarding American Indian affairs or co-sponsor any pending State of Maine legislation. Maine is unique regarding Indigenous leadership representation.<ref>Leland, Charles G. & Cook, Michael W. ''Passamaquoddy Legends (Annotated Edition)'': extracted from ''Algonquin Legends of New England; or Myths and Folklore of the Micmac, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Tribes.'' (USA: Independently published. 2021).</ref>
] had serious consequences for Native Americans since continental expansion implicitly meant the occupation of Native American land. Manifest Destiny was an explanation or justification for expansion and westward movement, or, in some interpretations, an ideology or doctrine which helped to promote the process of civilization. Advocates of Manifest Destiny believed that expansion was not only good, but that it was obvious and certain. The term was first used primarily by ] in the 1840s to promote the annexation of much of what is now the ] (the ], the ], and the ]).


In the state of ], Native Americans face a unique problem. Until 2017 Virginia previously had no federally recognized tribes but the state had recognized eight. This is related historically to the greater impact of disease and warfare on the Virginia Indian populations, as well as their intermarriage with Europeans and Africans. Some people confused ancestry with culture, but groups of Virginia Indians maintained their cultural continuity. Most of their early reservations were ended under the pressure of early European settlement.
{{cquote|'' What a prodigious growth this English race, especially the American branch of it, is having! How soon will it subdue and occupy all the wild parts of this continent and of the islands adjacent. No prophecy, however seemingly extravagant, as to future achievements in this way likely to equal the reality.''|20px|20px|-Rutherford Birchard Hayes, U.S. President, January 1, 1857, Personal Diary.<ref name=manifestquote>
{{cite web
|url = http://www.enotes.com/famous-quotes/what-a-prodigious-growth-this-english-race
|title = Hayes Quotes: What a prodigious growth this English race, ...
|accessdate=2008-09-04
|author = Rutherford Birchard Hayes
|year = 1857
|format = HTML
}}
</ref>}}


Some historians also note the problems of Virginia Indians in establishing documented continuity of identity, due to the work of ] (1912–1946). As registrar of the state's Bureau of Vital Statistics, he applied his own interpretation of the ], enacted in law in 1924 as the state's Racial Integrity Act. It recognized only two races: "white" and "colored".
The age of Manifest Destiny, which came to be known as "]", gained ground. Although some humanitarian advocates of removal believed that Native Americans would be better off moving away from whites, an increasing number of Americans regarded the natives as nothing more than "savages" who stood in the way of American expansion. ] believed that while Native Americans were the intellectual equals of whites, they had to live like the whites or inevitably be pushed aside by them. Jefferson's belief, rooted in ] thinking, that whites and Native Americans would merge to create a single nation did not last, and he began to believe that the natives should emigrate across the ] and maintain a separate society.


Plecker, a ], believed that the state's Native Americans had been "mongrelized" by intermarriage with African Americans; to him, ancestry determined identity, rather than culture. He thought that some people of partial black ancestry were trying to "]" as Native Americans. Plecker thought that anyone with any African heritage had to be classified as colored, regardless of appearance, amount of European or Native American ancestry, and cultural/community identification. Plecker pressured local governments into reclassifying all Native Americans in the state as "colored" and gave them lists of family surnames to examine for reclassification based on his interpretation of data and the law. This led to the state's destruction of accurate records related to families and communities who identified as Native American (as in church records and daily life). By his actions, sometimes different members of the same family were split by being classified as "white" or "colored". He did not allow people to enter their primary identification as Native American in state records.<ref name="home.hamptonroads.com">{{cite web |url=http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=74481&ran=162825 |website=Pilotonline.com |title=The black-and-white world of Walter Ashby Plecker |access-date=February 8, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060103123937/http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=74481&ran=162825 |archive-date=January 3, 2006}}</ref> In 2009, the ] endorsed a bill that would grant federal recognition to tribes in Virginia.<ref>{{cite news|url = http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/state_regional/state_regional_govtpolitics/article/INDI23_20091022-223007/301146//|title = Virginia tribes take another step on road to federal recognition |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://archive.today/20091026175747/http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/state_regional/state_regional_govtpolitics/article/INDI23_20091022-223007/301146/ |archive-date = October 26, 2009|date = October 23, 2009 |work=Richmond Times-Dispatch}}</ref>
===Resistance===


{{As of|2000}}, the largest groups in the United States by population were ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ]. In 2000, eight of ten Americans with Native American ancestry were of mixed ancestry. It is estimated that by 2100 that figure will rise to nine out of ten.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Columbia Law Review |title=Mixing Bodies and Beliefs: The Predicament of Tribes |last = Gould|first = L. Scott|volume = 101|issue = 4|date = May 2001|doi=10.2307/1123684 |pages = 702–772 |jstor=1123684}}</ref>
] was the Shawnee leader of ] who attempted to organize an alliance of Native American tribes throughout North America.<ref></ref>.]]


==Civil rights movement==
Conflicts generally known as "]" broke out between colonial/American government and Native American societies. U.S. government authorities entered into numerous treaties during this period but later abrogated many for various reasons; however, many treaties are considered "living" documents. Major conflicts east of the Mississippi River include the ], ], and ]. Native American Nations west of the Mississippi were numerous and were the last to submit to U.S. authority. Notably, a multi-tribal army led by ], a Shawnee chief, fought a number of engagements during the period 1811-12, known as ]. In the latter stages, Tecumseh's group allied with the British forces in the ] and was instrumental in the conquest of ]. Other military engagements included Native American victories at the ] in 1791, the Seminole Wars, and the ] in 1876. Defeats included the ] of 1813-14, the ] in 1864 and the ] in 1890.<ref>Ralph K. Andrist. , ], April 1962</ref> These conflicts were catalysts to the decline of dominate Native American culture.
{{main|Civil rights movement|Jim Crow Laws|Martin Luther King Jr.|National Congress of American Indians|National Indian Youth Council|Native American Rights Fund|Brown v. Board of Education}}


]
{{cquote|''The Indian (was thought) as less than human and worthy only of extermination. We did shoot down defenseless men, and women and children at places like Camp Grant, Sand Creek, and Wounded Knee. We did feed strychnine to red warriors. We did set whole villages of people out naked to freeze in the iron cold of Montana winters. And we did confine thousands in what amounted to concentration camps.''|20px|20px| Wellman- ''The Indian Wars of the West, 1934''<ref name=""paulUS95wellman>
The ] was a very significant moment for the rights of Native Americans and other people of color. Native Americans faced racism and prejudice for hundreds of years, and this increased after the ]. Native Americans, like African Americans, were subjected to the ] and segregation in the ] especially after they were made citizens through the ] of 1924. As a body of law, Jim Crow institutionalized economic, educational, and social disadvantages for Native Americans, and other people of color living in the south.<ref name="tperd">{{cite web |last1=Perdue |first1=Theda |title=Legacy of Jim Crow for Southern Native Americans |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?302379-1/legacy-jim-crow-southern-native-americans |website=C-SPAN |access-date=November 27, 2018 |date=October 28, 2011}}</ref><ref name="jimlu">{{cite book |last1=Lowery |first1=Malinda Maynor |title=Lumbee Indians in the Jim Crow South: Race, Identity, and the Making of a Nation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vLY3XbAqDUwC|publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press |access-date=November 27, 2018 |pages=0–339 |date=January 1, 2010|isbn=9780807833681}}</ref><ref name="jewolf">{{cite journal |last1=Wolfley |first1=Jeanette |title=Jim Crow, Indian Style: The Disenfranchisement of Native Americans |journal=American Indian Law Review |date=1991 |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=167–202 |doi=10.2307/20068694 |jstor=20068694 |hdl=1903/22633 |url=https://digitalcommons.law.ou.edu/ailr/vol16/iss1/5 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> Native American identity was especially targeted by a system that only wanted to recognize white or colored, and the government began to question the legitimacy of some tribes because they had intermarried with African Americans.<ref name="tperd"/><ref name="jimlu"/> Native Americans were also discriminated and discouraged from voting in the southern and western states.<ref name="jewolf"/>
{{cite book
|last = Wellman
|first = Paul
|title = The Indian Wars of the West
|origdate = 1934
|accessdate=2008-05-02
|publisher = Doubleday & Company, INC.
|page = 8
|chapter = Preface
|id = ISBN NONE
}}
</ref>}}


In the ] segregation was a major problem for Native Americans seeking education, but the NAACP's legal strategy would later change this.<ref name="naalega">{{cite web |first1=Robert J. |last1=Cottrol |first2=Raymond T. |last2=Diamond |first3=Leland B. |last3=Ware |title=NAACP v. Jim Crow |url=https://www.aft.org/periodical/american-educator/summer-2004/naacp-v-jim-crow |website=American Federation of Teachers |access-date=April 7, 2019 |language=en |date=August 8, 2014}}</ref> Movements such as ] was a major victory for the Civil Rights Movement headed by the ], and inspired Native Americans to start participating in the Civil Rights Movement.<ref> ~ Civil Rights Movement Archive</ref><ref name="kingcreek"/> ] began assisting Native Americans in the south in the late 1950s after they reached out to him.<ref name="kingcreek">{{cite web |last1=Bender |first1=Albert |title=Dr. King spoke out against the genocide of Native Americans |url=http://www.peoplesworld.org/article/dr-king-spoke-out-against-the-genocide-of-native-americans/ |website=People's World |access-date=November 25, 2018 |date=February 13, 2014}}</ref> At that time the remaining ] in Alabama were trying to completely desegregate schools in their area. In this case, light-complexioned Native children were allowed to ride school buses to previously all white schools, while dark-skinned Native children from the same band were barred from riding the same buses.<ref name="kingcreek"/> Tribal leaders, upon hearing of King's desegregation campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, contacted him for assistance. He promptly responded and, through his intervention, the problem was quickly resolved.<ref name="kingcreek"/> King would later make trips to Arizona visiting Native Americans on reservations, and in churches encouraging them to be involved in the Civil Rights Movement.<ref name="kingindrez">{{cite web |last1=Leighton |first1=David |title=Street Smarts: MLK Jr. visited 'Papago' reservation near Tucson, was fascinated |url=https://tucson.com/news/local/street-smarts-mlk-jr-visited-papago-reservation-near-tucson-was/article_cbc4d8f3-6d53-54f3-a783-359646fe2c82.html |website=The Arizona Daily Star |access-date=November 26, 2018 |date=April 2, 2017}}</ref> In King's book ''Why We Can't Wait'' he writes:
===Removals and reservations===


<blockquote>Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of Negroes on our shores, the scar of racial hatred had already disfigured colonial society. From the sixteenth century forward, blood flowed in battles over racial supremacy. We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe out its Indigenous population. Moreover, we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade. Indeed, even today we have not permitted ourselves to reject or to feel remorse for this shameful episode. Our literature, our films, our drama, our folklore all exalt it.<ref name="kingnatspeech">{{cite web |last1=Rickert |first1=Levi |title=Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: Our Nation was Born in Genocide |url=https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/dr-martin-luther-king-jr-nation-born-genocide/ |website=Native News Online |access-date=November 25, 2018 |date=January 16, 2017 |archive-date=November 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126092832/https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/dr-martin-luther-king-jr-nation-born-genocide/ |url-status=dead}}</ref></blockquote>
{{seealso|List of Native American reservations in the United States}}


Native Americans would then actively participate and support the NAACP, and the civil rights movement.<ref name="hufponat">{{cite web |last1=Ross |first1=Gyasi |title=Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Black People and Indigenous People: How We Cash This Damn Check |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dr-martin-luther-king-jr-black-people-and-indigenous_us_5a57c671e4b03a1e6098bc6d |website=] |access-date=November 25, 2018 |date=January 11, 2018}}</ref> The National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) would soon rise in 1961 to fight for Native American rights during the Civil Rights Movement, and were strong King supporters.<ref name="scielo.org.za"/><ref name=COBB>Cobb, Daniel M.(2008). ''Native Activism In Cold War America: The Struggle for Sovereignty'', University Press of Kansas, Kansas. {{ISBN|978-0-7006-1597-1}}.{{page needed|date=March 2021}}</ref> During the ] there was a sizable Native American contingent, including many from South Dakota, and many from the ].<ref name="kingcreek"/><ref name="navtimes">{{cite web |last1=Pineo |first1=Christopher |title=Navajos and locals in Gallup celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day |url=https://www.navajotimes.com/reznews/navajos-and-locals-in-gallup-celebrate-martin-luther-king-jr-day/ |website=Navajo Times |access-date=November 26, 2018 |date=January 21, 2016 |archive-date=September 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220918181926/https://navajotimes.com/reznews/navajos-and-locals-in-gallup-celebrate-martin-luther-king-jr-day/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Native Americans also participated the ] in 1968.<ref name="scielo.org.za">{{cite journal |last1=Garcia |first1=Kevin |title=The American Indian Civil Rights Movement: A case study in Civil Society Protest |journal=Yesterday and Today |date=December 1, 2014 |volume=12 |pages=60–74 |url=http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2223-03862014000200004 |access-date=November 25, 2018 |issn=2309-9003}}</ref> The NIYC were very active supporters of the ] unlike the ] (NCAI); the NIYC and other Native organizations met with King in March 1968 but the NCAI disagreed on how to approach the anti-poverty campaign; the NCAI decided against participating in the march.<ref name=COBB/> The NCAI wished to pursue their battles in the courts and with Congress, unlike the NIYC.<ref name="scielo.org.za"/><ref name=COBB/> The NAACP also inspired the creation of the ] (NARF) which was patterned after the NAACP's Legal Defense and Education Fund.<ref name="kingcreek"/> Furthermore, the NAACP continued to organize to stop mass incarceration and end the ] and other communities of people of color.<ref name="naanative">{{cite web |last1=Needle |first1=Elana |title=Nationwide Racial Equity Groups Organize in Support of Racial Healing Groups Support NDORH with Prayer Vigil and Tele Town Hall |url=https://www.naacp.org/latest/nationwide-racial-equity-groups-organize-support-racial-healing%E2%80%AF-groups-support-ndorh-prayer-vigil-tele-town-hall%E2%80%AF/ |website=NAACP |access-date=April 7, 2019 |date=January 18, 2019 |archive-date=February 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203050541/https://www.naacp.org/latest/nationwide-racial-equity-groups-organize-support-racial-healing%e2%80%af-groups-support-ndorh-prayer-vigil-tele-town-hall%e2%80%af/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The following is an excerpt from a statement from ] on May 1, 1968, during a meeting with Secretary of State ]:<ref name=COBB/> (It was written by members of the Workshop on American Indian Affairs and the NIYC)
]


{{blockquote|We have joined the Poor People's Campaign because most of our families, tribes, and communities number among those suffering most in this country. We are not begging. We are demanding what is rightfully ours. This is no more than the right to have a decent life in our own communities. We need guaranteed jobs, guaranteed income, housing, schools, economic development, but most important- we want them on our own terms.
In the nineteenth century, the incessant ] incrementally compelled large numbers of Native Americans to resettle further west, often by force, almost always reluctantly, long held to be an illegal practice, given the status of the ]. Under President ], ] passed the ] of 1830, which authorized the President to conduct treaties to exchange Native American land east of the ] for lands west of the river. As many as 100,000 Native Americans eventually relocated in the West as a result of this ] policy. In theory, relocation was supposed to be voluntary and many Native Americans did remain in the East. In practice, great pressure was put on Native American leaders to sign removal treaties.


Our chief spokesman in the federal government, the ], has failed us. In fact it began failing us from its very beginning. The Interior Department began failing us because it was built upon and operates under a racist, immoral, paternalistic and colonialistic system. There is no way to improve upon racism, immorality and colonialism; it can only be done away with. The system and power structure serving Indian peoples is a sickness which has grown to epidemic proportions. The Indian system is sick. Paternalism is the virus and the secretary of the Interior is the carrier.}}
The most egregious violation of the stated intention of the removal policy took place under the ], which was signed by a dissident faction of ]s but not the elected leadership. President Jackson rigidly enforced the treaty, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 Cherokees on the ]. About 17,000 Cherokees{{ndash}} along with approximately 2,000 black slaves held by Cherokees{{ndash}} were removed from their homes.<ref>Carter (III), Samuel (1976). ''Cherokee sunset: A nation betrayed : a narrative of travail and triumph, persecution and exile''. New York: Doubleday, p. 232.</ref>


==Contemporary issues==
Native American Removal forced or coerced the relocation of major Native American groups in the ], resulting directly and indirectly in the deaths of tens of thousands. Tribes were generally located to reservations on which they could more easily be separated from traditional life and pushed into European-American society. Some southern states additionally enacted laws in the 19th century forbidding non-Native American settlement on Native American lands, with the intention to prevent sympathetic white missionaries from aiding the scattered Native American resistance.<ref>see ]</ref>
{{Main|Contemporary Native American issues in the United States}}
{{See also|Environmental Justice|Social Justice}}


Native American struggles amid ] to maintain life on the reservation or in larger society have resulted in a variety of health issues, some related to nutrition and health practices. The community suffers a vulnerability to and ]:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://erc.msh.org/mainpage.cfm?file=5.4.7e.htm&module=provider&language=English |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030123233808/http://erc.msh.org/mainpage.cfm?file=5.4.7e.htm&module=provider&language=English |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 23, 2003 |access-date=June 22, 2007 |title=Challenges to Health and Well-Being of Native American Communities |website=The Provider's Guide to Quality and Culture}}, Management of Science of Health</ref>
===World War II===
Some 44,000 Native Americans served in the ] during ].<ref name=WorldWarII>
{{cite web
|url = http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/nativeamerican01/wwii.html
|title = American Indians in World War II
|accessdate=2008-02-25
|author = U.S. Department of Defense
|format = HTML
|publisher = www.defenselink.mil
}}
</ref> Described as the first large-scale exodus of indigenous peoples from the ] since the removals of the 1800s, the international conflict was a turning point in American Indian history. Men of native descent were ] into the military like other American males. Their fellow soldiers often held them in high esteem, in part since the legend of the tough Indian warrior had become a part of the fabric of American historical legend. White servicemen sometimes showed a lighthearted respect toward American Indian comrades by calling them "chief."


{{blockquote|It has long been recognized that Native Americans are dying of ], alcoholism, ], ], and other health conditions at shocking rates. Beyond disturbingly high mortality rates, Native Americans also suffer a significantly lower health status and disproportionate rates of disease compared with all other Americans.|]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usccr.gov/pubs/docs/nabroken.pdf |title=Broken Promises: Evaluating the Native American Health Care System |date=September 2004 |website= United States Commission on Civil Rights|publisher= |access-date=April 9, 2021 |quote=It has been long recognized that Native Americans are dying of diabetes, alcoholism, tuberculosis, suicide, and other health conditions at shocking rates.}}</ref> (September 2004)}}
The resulting increase in contact with the world outside of the reservation system brought profound changes to American Indian culture. "The war," said the U.S. Indian commissioner in 1945, "caused the greatest disruption of Indian life since the beginning of the reservation era", affecting the habits, views, and economic well-being of tribal members.<ref>Bernstein, p. 131 </ref> The most significant of these changes was the opportunity&mdash;as a result of wartime labor shortages&mdash;to find well-paying work. Yet there were losses to contend with as well. Altogether, 1,200 ] served in World War II; only about half came home alive. in addition many more Navajo served as code talkers for the military in the pacific. the code they made was never cracked by the Japanese.


Recent studies also point to rising rates of stroke,<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Schieb LJ|title=Trends and Disparities in Stroke Mortality by Region for American Indians and Alaska Natives|journal= American Journal of Public Health|volume=104|issue=S3|date=2014|pmc=4035883|pmid=24754653|doi=10.2105/AJPH.2013.301698|pages=S368-76}}</ref> heart disease,<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Veazie M|title=Trends and Disparities in Heart Disease Mortality Among American Indians/Alaska Natives, 1990–2009
==Current status==
|journal= American Journal of Public Health|volume=104|issue=S3|date=2014|pmc=4035888|pmid=24754556|doi=10.2105/AJPH.2013.301715|pages=S359-67}}</ref> and diabetes<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Nuyujukian DS|title=Sleep Duration and Diabetes Risk in American Indian and Alaska Native Participants of a Lifestyle Intervention Project|journal=Sleep|volume=39|issue=11|pages=1919–1926|date=2016|doi=10.5665/sleep.6216|pmid=27450685|pmc=5070746}}</ref> in the Native American population.
], a ]. He is accepted as a member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho kindred tribes.]]


===Societal discrimination and racism===
There are 561 ] in the United States. These tribes possess the right to form their own government, to enforce laws (both civil and criminal), to tax, to establish requirements for membership, to license and regulate activities, to zone and to exclude persons from tribal territories. Limitations on tribal powers of self-government include the same limitations applicable to states; for example, neither tribes nor states have the power to make war, engage in foreign relations, or coin money (this includes paper currency).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://usinfo.state.gov/eur/Archive/2005/Jan/28-691277.html |work=usinfo.state.gov |title=The U.S. Relationship To American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes |accessmonthday=February 8 |accessyear=2006}}</ref>
{{Further|Stereotypes of Native Americans|Racism against Native Americans in the United States}}
] sign posted above a bar. ], ], 1941]]
]


Native Americans have been subjected to discrimination for centuries. In response to being labeled "merciless Indian savages" in the Declaration of Independence, Simon Moya-Smith, culture editor at '']'', states, "Any holiday that would refer to my people in such a repugnant, racist manner is certainly not worth celebrating. is a day we celebrate our resiliency, our culture, our languages, our children and we mourn the millions — literally millions — of indigenous people who have died as a consequence of American imperialism."<ref>. Mic. Retrieved August 23, 2017.</ref>
Many Native Americans and advocates of Native American rights point out that the US Federal government's claim to recognize the "sovereignty" of Native American peoples falls short, given that the US still wishes to govern Native American peoples and treat them as subject to US law. True respect for Native American sovereignty, according to such advocates, would require the United States federal government to deal with Native American peoples in the same manner as any other sovereign nation, handling matters related to relations with Native Americans through the Secretary of State, rather than the ]. The Bureau of Indian Affairs reports on its website that its "responsibility is the administration and management of {{convert|55700000|acre|km2}} of land held in trust by the United States for American Indians, Indian tribes, and Alaska Natives."<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.doi.gov/bureau-indian-affairs.html
|accessmonthday=December 25
|accessyear=2007
|title=Bureau of Indian affairs}}</ref> Many Native Americans and advocates of Native American rights believe that it is condescending for such lands to be considered "held in trust" and regulated in any fashion by a foreign power, whether the US Federal Government, Canada, or any other non-Native American authority.


In a study conducted in 2006–2007, non-Native Americans admitted they rarely encountered Native Americans in their daily lives. This is largely due to the number of Native Americans having dwindled since white ], while those who survived were forcibly moved into reservations; both of these factors were referenced by ] in 1928 when he admiringly stated the US had "gunned down the millions of Redskins to a few hundred thousand, and now keep the modest remnant under observation in a cage".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Moon |first1=David |title=The American Steppes |date=2020 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=44}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=How American Racism Influenced Hitler |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/30/how-american-racism-influenced-hitler |access-date=March 9, 2024 |magazine=]}}</ref> While sympathetic toward Native Americans and expressing regret over the past, most people had only a vague understanding of the problems facing Native Americans today. For their part, Native Americans told researchers that they believed they continued to face ], mistreatment, and ] in the broader society.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.publicagenda.org/reports/walking-mile-first-step-toward-mutual-understanding |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919174041/http://www.publicagenda.org/reports/walking-mile-first-step-toward-mutual-understanding |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 19, 2008 |website=Public Agenda |title=Walking a Mile: A Qualitative Study Exploring How Indians and Non-Indians Think About Each Other |access-date=July 25, 2008}}</ref>
According to 2003 ] estimates, a little over one third of the 2,786,652 Native Americans in the United States live in three states: ] at 413,382, ] at 294,137 and ] at 279,559.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.census.gov/popest/states/asrh/tables/SC-EST2003-04.pdf |work=US Census.gov |title=Annual Estimates by Race Alone |accessmonthday=February 8 |accessyear=2006}}</ref>


====Affirmative action issues====
As of 2000, the largest tribes in the U.S. by population were ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ]. In 2000, eight of ten Americans with Native American ancestry were of mixed blood. It is estimated that by 2100 that figure will rise to nine out of ten.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:D-aV4g_I9XQJ:www.law.nyu.edu/kingsburyb/spring04/indigenousPeoples/classmaterials/class10/Class%2010%20Item%20A6%20-%20Gould.doc+genealogy++ |work=Columbia Law Review|title=Mixing Bodies and Beliefs: The Predicament of Tribes |accessmonthday=February 8 |accessyear=2006}}</ref>
Federal contractors and subcontractors, such as businesses and educational institutions, are legally required to adopt ] and ] measures intended to prevent discrimination against employees or applicants for employment on the basis of "color, religion, sex, or national origin".<ref>{{cite web| publisher = The Federal Register| title = --Equal employment opportunity| url = https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11246.html| access-date = May 5, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100330083544/http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11246.html| archive-date= March 30, 2010 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=ref1>{{cite web|publisher=U.S. Department of Labor |title=Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) |url=http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/aa.htm |access-date=May 5, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091128110029/http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/aa.htm |archive-date=November 28, 2009}}</ref> For this purpose, a Native American is defined as "A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains a tribal affiliation or community attachment". The passing of the ] saw a 56% increase in Native American city dwellers over 40 years.<ref name="AmericanIndianPoverty">{{cite journal|last1=Davis|first1=James J.|last2=Roscigno|first2=Vincent J.|last3=Wilson|first3=George|date=March 2016|title=American Indian Poverty in the Contemporary United States|journal=Sociological Forum|volume=31|pages=6, 8|doi=10.1111/socf.12226}}</ref> The Native American urban poverty rate exceeds that of reservation poverty rates due to discrimination in hiring processes.<ref name="AmericanIndianPoverty" /> However, self-reporting is permitted: "Educational institutions and other recipients should allow students and staff to self-identify their race and ethnicity unless self-identification is not practicable or feasible."<ref name=FRDefinition>{{cite web|title=Final Guidance on Maintaining, Collecting, and Reporting Racial and Ethnic Data to the U.S. Department of Education|url=http://www2.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/other/2007-4/101907c.pdf|website=Federal Register/Vol. 72, No. 202/Friday, October 19, 2007/Notices|publisher=U.S. Department of Education|access-date=June 9, 2012|pages=59266 to 59279|format=Notice|date=October 19, 2007|quote=A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains a tribal affiliation or community attachment.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111109230715/http://www2.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/other/2007-4/101907c.pdf|archive-date=November 9, 2011}}</ref>
In addition, there are a number of tribes that are ], but not by the federal government. The rights and benefits associated with state recognition vary from state to state.


Self-reporting opens the door to "box checking" by people who, despite not having a substantial relationship to Native American culture, innocently or fraudulently check the box for Native American.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Removing Educational Barriers for Native American Citizens of Federally- Recognized Tribes|journal=The American Indian Graduate|date=Spring 2012|pages=10–14|url=https://www.aigcs.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/American-Indian-Graduate-Magazine-Spring-2012.pdf|access-date=June 9, 2012|first=Bridget|last=Neconie|quote=The Native American population is the only group in American that tends to experience systematic fraudulent behavior. Claiming to be Native American has become such a common and accepted practice that recently, the American Bar Association began to require verification of the identity of Native American applicants.|ref=AIG|archive-date=June 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150618210033/http://www.aigcs.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/American-Indian-Graduate-Magazine-Spring-2012.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Some tribal nations have been unable to establish their heritage and obtain federal recognition. The ] of the San Francisco bay area are pursuing litigation in the federal court system to establish recognition.<ref> {{cite web|url=http://www.muwekma.org |title=The Muwekman Ohlone |accessdate=2007-06-22 |type=html |work=muwekma.org}}</ref> Many of the smaller eastern tribes have been trying to gain official recognition of their tribal status. The recognition confers some benefits, including the right to label arts and crafts as Native American and permission to apply for grants that are specifically reserved for Native Americans. But gaining recognition as a tribe is extremely difficult; to be established as a tribal group, members have to submit extensive ] proof of tribal descent.


The difficulties that Native Americans face in the workforce, for example, a lack of promotions and wrongful terminations are attributed to racial stereotypes and implicit biases. Native American business owners are seldom offered auxiliary resources that are crucial for entrepreneurial success.<ref name="AmericanIndianPoverty" />
] at the Palm Springs Film Festival in January 2007. Biel claims ] heritage along with ], ] and ] descent.<ref name="Ancestry">{{citeweb
|url=http://www.nativecelebs.com/actors8.htm
|title=Mainstream Hollywood Actors with Native Ancestry
}}</ref><ref name="Ancestry_people">{{citeweb
|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20128164,00.html
title=Jessica Biel: Actress
}}</ref>]]


===Sexual violence as a tool for settler colonialism===
Military defeat, cultural pressure, confinement on reservations, forced cultural assimilation, outlawing of native languages and culture, termination policies of the 1950s and 1960s and ], ] and ], have had deleterious effects on Native Americans' mental and physical health. Contemporary health problems suffered disproportionately include ],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://erc.msh.org/mainpage.cfm?file=5.4.7e.htm&module=provider&language=English |type=html |languag=English |accessdate=2007-06-22 |title=Challenges to Health and Well-Being of Native American Communities |work=The Provider's Guide to Quality and Culture}}</ref> ], ], and suicide.
Throughout history, settler colonialism has remained a violent and destructive tool to displace and exterminate Native American peoples. The use of sexual violence to perpetuate this is very common. Musocgee Creek law professor Sarah Deer highlights the high number of Native women who still experience this violence: "Since 1999 a variety of reports and studies have come to the same conclusion- namely, that Native women in particular suffer the highest rate of per capita rape in the United States." The continued acts of sexual violence against Native women have been perpetuated by colonization and the actions of colonizers. Native women through time have been portrayed as extremely sexual which only enforces sexual violence. Deer explains, "Dispossession and relocation of indigenous peoples on this continent both necessitated and precipitated a highly gendered and sexualized dynamic in which Native women's bodies became commodities- bought and sold for the purposes of sexual gratification (or profit), invariably transporting them far away from their homes."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Deer |first=Sarah |title=The Beginning and End of Rape : Confronting Sexual Violence in Native America |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |year=2015}}</ref>


===Native American mascots in sports===
As recently as the 1970s, the ] was still actively pursuing a policy of "assimilation",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.doiu.nbc.gov/orientation/bia2.cfm |work=Bureau of Indian Affairs |title=BIA page |accessmonthday=February 8 |accessyear=2006}}</ref> dating at least to the ]. The goal of assimilation—plainly stated early on—was to eliminate the reservations and steer Native Americans into mainstream U.S. culture. In July 2000 the ] ]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.turtletrack.org/Issues00/Co07152000/CO_07152000_Resolution.htm |work=Canku Ota |title=A Resolution by the Native American Caucus |accessmonthday=February 8 |accessyear=2006}} </ref> ''adopted a resolution of termination for tribal governments''. As of 2004, there are still claims of theft of Native American land for the ] and ] it contains.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.angelfire.com/band/senaaeurope/DRelocation.html |work=Senaa |title=The Genocide and Relocation of the Dine'h (Navajo) |accessmonthday=February 8 |accessyear=2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shundahai.org/bigmtbackground.html |work=Shundahai.org |title=The Black Mesa Syndrome: Indian Lands, Black Gold |accessmonthday=February 8 |accessyear=2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://lists.wayne.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9703&L=tamha&F=&S=&P=7661 |work=LISTSERV at Wayne State University|title=Big Mountain Update 1 February 1997 |accessmonthday=February 8 |accessyear=2006}}</ref>
{{Main|Native American mascot controversy}}
{{Further|NCAA Native American mascot decision}}
] in Minneapolis, November 2014]]


American Indian activists in the United States and Canada have criticized the use of Native American ]s in sports, as perpetuating stereotypes. This is considered ].
In the state of ], Native Americans face a unique problem. Virginia has no federally recognized tribes, largely due to ]. In 1912, Plecker became the first registrar of the state's Bureau of Vital Statistics, serving until 1946. Plecker believed that the state's Native Americans had been "mongrelized" with its ] population. A law passed by the state's General Assembly recognized only two races, "white" and "colored". Plecker pressured local governments into reclassifying all Native Americans in the state as "colored", leading to the destruction of records on the state's Native American community.
There has been a steady decline in the number of secondary school and college teams using such names, images, and mascots. Some tribal team names have been approved by the tribe in question, such as the Seminole Council of Florida approving use of their name for the teams of ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fsu.com/pages/2005/06/17/historic_vote.html|title=Florida State University thanks Seminoles for historic vote of support|publisher=Florida State University|access-date=August 9, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070608224336/http://www.fsu.com/pages/2005/06/17/historic_vote.html|archive-date=June 8, 2007}}</ref><ref name="teachingTolerance">{{cite web|url=http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=165|title=Native American Mascots Big Issue in College Sports|access-date=August 26, 2008|author=Teaching Tolerance|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420073332/http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=165|archive-date=April 20, 2008}}</ref>The NCAA allows the use even though the NCAA "continues to believe the stereotyping of Native Americans is wrong."<ref>{{cite magazine| title=The Florida State Seminoles: The Champions of Racist Mascots| magazine=The Nation| date=January 7, 2014| last=Zirin| first=Dave| url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/florida-state-seminoles-champions-racist-mascots/}}</ref>


Among professional teams, the ]'s ] discontinued use of Native American-themed logos in 1971. The ]'s ], formerly the ], changed their name in 2020, as ] is considered to be a racial slur.<ref>{{cite web|title=ENDING THE LEGACY OF RACISM IN SPORTS & THE ERA OF HARMFUL "INDIAN" SPORTS MASCOTS|url=http://www.ncai.org/attachments/policypaper_mijapmouwdbjqftjayzqwlqldrwzvsyfakbwthpmatcoroyolpn_ncai_harmful_mascots_report_ending_the_legacy_of_racism_10_2013.pdf|publisher=National Congress of American Indians|page=10|date=October 2013}}</ref>
Maryland also has a non-recognized tribal nation—the ].


]'s ] were formerly known as the ]. Their use of a caricature called ] faced protest for decades.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://newsdesk.si.edu/releases/native-american-mascot-controversy-takes-center-stage-national-museum-american-indian|title=Native American Mascot Controversy Takes Center Stage at the National Museum of the American Indian|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|date=December 24, 2012|access-date=August 20, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.wkyc.com/story/news/local/cleveland/2015/04/09/cleveland--protesters-a-century-of-indians-is-enough/25538785/| archive-url=https://archive.today/20150411031430/http://www.wkyc.com/story/news/local/cleveland/2015/04/09/cleveland--protesters-a-century-of-indians-is-enough/25538785/| url-status=dead| archive-date=April 11, 2015| title=Wahoo Protesters: A century of 'Indians' is enough| first=Tom| last=Beres| publisher=WKYC-TV| date=April 9, 2015}}</ref> Starting in 2019, Chief Wahoo ceased to be a logo for Cleveland Indians, though Chief Wahoo merchandise could still be sold in the Cleveland-area.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://case.edu/ech/articles/c/chief-wahoo|title=CHIEF WAHOO|date=February 18, 2019|website=Encyclopedia of Cleveland History &#124; Case Western Reserve University}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Bastian|first=Jordan|title=Indians to stop using Wahoo logo starting in '19|url=https://www.mlb.com/indians/news/indians-to-stop-using-chief-wahoo-logo/c-265489544|publisher=]|date=January 29, 2018|access-date=November 30, 2020}}</ref><ref name="WahooLogoNYT">{{cite news|last=Waldstein|first=David|title=Cleveland Indians Will Abandon Chief Wahoo Logo Next Year|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/29/sports/baseball/cleveland-indians-chief-wahoo-logo.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129173741/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/29/sports/baseball/cleveland-indians-chief-wahoo-logo.html |archive-date=2018-01-29 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper=]|date=January 29, 2018|access-date=November 30, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="WahooLogoNBC">{{cite news|last=Siemaszko|first=Corky|title=Cleveland Indians will remove Chief Wahoo logo in 2019|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/cleveland-indians-will-remove-chief-wahoo-logo-2019-n842196|work=]|date=January 29, 2018|access-date=November 30, 2018}}</ref> On December 13, 2020, ''The New York Times'' reported that Cleveland would be officially changing their name.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Waldstein|first1=David|last2=Schmidt|first2=Michael S.|date=December 14, 2020|title=Cleveland's Baseball Team Will Drop Its Indians Team Name|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/13/sports/baseball/cleveland-indians-baseball-name-change.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214011605/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/13/sports/baseball/cleveland-indians-baseball-name-change.html |archive-date=2020-12-14 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=December 29, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> On November 19, 2021, the team officially became the ].<ref name="ClevelandGuardians">{{cite news|last=Bell|first=Mandy|title=New for '22: Meet the Cleveland Guardians|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/cleveland-indians-change-name-to-guardians|publisher=]|website=]|date=July 23, 2021|access-date=July 24, 2021|url-status=live|language=en-US|archive-date=July 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723143028/https://www.mlb.com/news/cleveland-indians-change-name-to-guardians}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Hoynes|first=Paul|title=Cleveland Indians choose Guardians as new team name|url=https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2021/07/cleveland-indians-choose-guardians-as-new-team-name.html|newspaper=]|language=en|date=July 23, 2021|access-date=July 24, 2021|url-status=live|archive-date=July 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725123833/https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2021/07/cleveland-indians-choose-guardians-as-new-team-name.html}}</ref>
]


===Historical depictions in art===
In order to receive federal recognition and the benefits it confers, tribes must prove their continuous existence since 1900. The federal government has so far refused to bend on this bureaucratic requirement.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=74481&ran=162825 |work=Pilotonline.com |title=The black-and-white world of Walter Ashby Plecker |accessmonthday=February 8 |accessyear=2006}}</ref> A bill currently before ] to ease this requirement has been favorably reported out of a key ] committee, being supported by both of Virginia's senators, ] and ], but faces opposition in the ] from Representative ], who has expressed concerns that federal recognition could open the door to ] in the state.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/wb/xp-47211 |work=roanoke.com |title=Va. Indians still hunt federal recognition |accessmonthday=February 8 |accessyear=2006}}</ref>
] Indians' dance in North Carolina''. Watercolor by John White, 1585.]]


Native Americans have been depicted by ] in various ways at different periods. A number of 19th- and 20th-century United States and Canadian painters, often motivated by a desire to document and preserve Native culture, specialized in Native American subjects. Among the most prominent of these were ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ].
In the early 21st century, Native American communities remain an enduring fixture on the United States landscape, in the American economy, and in the lives of Native Americans. Communities have consistently formed governments that administer services like ], ] management, and ]. Most Native American communities have established ] systems to adjudicate matters related to local ordinances, and most also look to various forms of moral and social authority vested in traditional affiliations within the community. To address the housing needs of Native Americans, Congress passed the ''Native American Housing and Self Determination Act'' (NAHASDA) in 1996. This legislation replaced public housing, and other 1937 Housing Act programs directed towards Indian Housing Authorities, with a block grant program directed towards Tribes.
] Indians, painting by ], {{Circa|1845}}]]
In the 20th century, early portrayals of Native Americans in ] and ] roles were first performed by European Americans dressed in mock traditional attire. Examples included ''The Last of the Mohicans'' (1920), ''Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans'' (1957), and '']'' (1965–1967). In later decades, Native American actors such as ] in '']'' television series (1949–1957) came to prominence. The roles of Native Americans were limited and not reflective of Native American culture. By the 1970s some Native American film roles began to show more complexity, such as those in '']'' (1970), '']'' (1971), and '']'' (1976), which depicted Native Americans in minor supporting roles.


For years, Native people on American television were relegated to secondary, subordinate roles. During the years of the series '']'' (1959–1973), no major or secondary Native characters appeared on a consistent basis. The series '']'' (1949–1957), '']'' (1955–1963), and '']'' (1959–1963) had Native characters who were essentially aides to the central white characters. This continued in such series as '']''. These programs resembled the "sympathetic" yet contradictory film '']'' of 1990, in which, according to Ella Shohat and Robert Stam, the narrative choice was to relate the Lakota story as told through a Euro-American voice, for wider impact among a general audience.<ref>Shohat, Ella, and Stam, Robert. ''Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media''. New York: Routledge, 1994.</ref>
On ], ], the Massachusetts legislature finally ]ed a disused 330 year-old law that barred Native Americans from entering Boston.
Like the 1992 remake of '']'' and '']'' (1993), ''Dances with Wolves'' employed a number of Native American actors, and made an effort to portray Indigenous languages. In 1996, ] actor ] would play renowned Native American warrior ] in the 1996 television film '']'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1996-07-07-9607050218-story.html|title=TNT'S 'CRAZY HORSE' IS A DUD OF A TRIBUTE|last=Boedeker|first=Hal |website=OrlandoSentinel.com|language=en-US|date=July 7, 1996|access-date=November 30, 2020}}</ref> and would also later play renowned Sioux chief ] in the 2017 movie '']''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-mn-michael-greyeyes-woman-walks-ahead-20180621-story.html|title=As Sitting Bull in 'Woman Walks Ahead,' Michael Greyeyes continues to educate through Native roles|first=Amy|last=Kaufman|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=June 21, 2018|access-date=December 21, 2020}}</ref>


The 1998 film '']'', which was set on the ] and discussed hardships of present-day American Indian families living on reservations, featured numerous Native American actors as well.<ref name=hollywoodmilestone>{{cite news|url=https://www.indianz.com/IndianGaming/2018/09/25/cast-and-crew-of-smoke-signals-reunites.asp|title=Cast and crew of Smoke Signals reunites for 20th anniversary|newspaper=Indianz |publisher=Indianz.com|date=September 25, 2018|access-date=December 21, 2020}}</ref> The film was the first feature film to be produced and directed by Native Americans, and was also the first feature to include an exclusive Native American cast.<ref name=hollywoodmilestone /> At the annual Sundance Film Festival, ''Smoke Signals'' would win the Audience Award and its producer ], an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, would win the Filmmaker's Trophy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.colorado.edu/cwa/chris-eyre|title=Chris Eyre|date=November 30, 2017|website=Conference on World Affairs}}</ref> In 2009, '']'' (2009), a television documentary by ] and part of the '']'' series, presented a five-episode series "from a Native American perspective". It represented "an unprecedented collaboration between Native and non-Native filmmakers and involves Native advisors and scholars at all levels of the project".<ref>{{Cite news |title=About the Project: We Shall Remain|url =https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/the_films/about |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406101027/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/the_films/about |archive-date=2009-04-06 |url-status=dead |access-date=August 11, 2022}}</ref> The five episodes explore the impact of ] on the northeastern tribes, the "Native American confederacy" of ], the U.S.-forced relocation of Southeastern tribes known as the ], the pursuit and capture of ] and the ], and concludes with the ], participation by the ], and the increasing resurgence of modern Native cultures since.
===Gambling industry===
] has become a leading industry. ]s operated by many Native American governments in the United States are creating a stream of gambling revenue that some communities are beginning to use as leverage to build diversified economies. Native American communities have waged and prevailed in legal battles to assure recognition of rights to self-determination and to use of natural resources. Some of those rights, known as treaty rights, are enumerated in early treaties signed with the young United States government. ] has become a cornerstone of American ], and at least on the surface, in national legislative policies. Although many Native American tribes have casinos, they are a source of conflict. Most tribes, especially small ones such as the ] of ], feel that casinos and their proceeds destroy culture from the inside out. These tribes refuse to participate in the gambling industry.


===Differences in terminology===
=== Societal discrimination and conflicts ===
{{Further|Native American name controversy}}


The most common of the modern terms to refer to Indigenous peoples of the United States are ''Indians'', ''American Indians'', and ''Native Americans''. Up to the early to mid 18th century, the term ''Americans'' was not applied to people of European heritage in North America. Instead it was equivalent to the term ''Indians''. As people of European heritage began using the term ''Americans'' to refer instead to themselves, the word ''Indians'' became historically the most often employed term.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Utter |first1=Jack |title=American Indians: Answers to Today's Questions |date=2001 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=0-8061-3309-0 |page=103 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yh9j9Dd5uoAC |access-date=February 23, 2022}}</ref>
]


The term ''Indians'', long laden with racist stereotypes, began to be widely replaced in the 1960s with the term ''Native Americans'', which recognized the Indigeneity of the people who first made the Americas home. But as the term ''Native Americans'' became popular, the American Indian Movement saw pejorative connotations in the term ''native'' and reappropriated the term ''Indian'', seeing it as witness to the history of violence against the many nations that lived in the Americas before European arrival.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Slate |first1=Nico |title=Lord Cornwallis Is Dead: The Struggle for Democracy in the United States and India |date=2019 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=9780674983441 |page=26 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4_KBDwAAQBAJ |access-date=February 23, 2022}}</ref>
Despite the ongoing political and social issues surrounding Native Americans' position in the United States, there has been relatively little public opinion research on attitudes toward them among the general public. In a 2007 focus group study by the nonpartisan Public Agenda organization, most non-Indians admitted they rarely encounter Native Americans in their daily lives. While sympathetic toward Native Americans and expressing regret over the past, most people had only a vague understanding of the problems facing Native Americans today. For their part, Native Americans told researchers that they believed they continued to face prejudice and mistreatment in the broader society.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publicagenda.org/reports/walking-mile-first-step-toward-mutual-understanding |work=Public Agenda|title=Walking a Mile: A Qualitative Study Exploring How Indians and Non-Indians Think About Each Other |accessmonthday=July 25 |accessyear=2008}}</ref>


The term ''Native American'' was introduced in the United States in preference to the older term ''Indian'' to distinguish the ] from the people of ]. It may have been coined by ] Sachem ], in an 1852 address to the US Congress where he argued against proposed resettlement.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Quinney |first1=John W. |title=Memorial to Congress |date=1852 |publisher=Madison |page=320 |url=https://archive.org/details/collections04wiscuoft/page/324/mode/2up |access-date=22 April 2024}}</ref>
{{cquote|''LeCompte also endured taunting on the battlefield. "They ridiculed him and called him a 'drunken Indian.' They said, 'Hey, dude, you look just like a haji--you'd better run.' They call the Arabs 'haji.' I mean, it's one thing to worry for your life, but then to have to worry about friendly fire because you don't know who in the hell will shoot you?''|20px|20px| Tammie LeCompte, May 25, 2007, ''Soldier highlights problems in U.S. Army''<ref name=Indian Country Today>
{{cite web
|url = http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/28148064.html
|title = Soldier highlights problems in U.S. Army
|accessdate=2008-09-20
|author = Indian Country Today
|format = HTML
}}
</ref> }}


The term ''Amerindian'', a ] of "American Indian", was coined in 1902 by the ]. However, it has been controversial since its creation. It was immediately rejected by some leading members of the Association, and, while adopted by many, it was never universally accepted.<ref name=AmerIndNYT>{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1902/10/22/118482945.pdf |title=Americanists in dispute |date=October 22, 1902 |work=] |access-date=2009-01-14}}</ref> While never popular in Indigenous communities themselves, it remains a preferred term among some anthropologists, notably in some parts of Canada and the ].<ref> ''Survival International.'' Retrieved 30 March 2012. ''Diccionario de la Real Academia Española''. Retrieved 8 February 2012.</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Reid|first=Basil|title=Tracing Our Amerindian Heritage|url=http://www2.sta.uwi.edu/pelican/exclusives/oex_3.asp|access-date=2016-02-10|website=www2.sta.uwi.edu|archive-date=16 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216050126/http://www2.sta.uwi.edu/pelican/exclusives/oex_3.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Guide|first=Barbados.org Travel|title=The Abbreviated History of Barbados|url=http://www.barbados.org/history1.htm|access-date=2016-02-10|website=www.barbados.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Unique Media Design Limited|title=diGJamaica :: Amerindian Jamaica|url=http://www.digjamaica.com/amerindian_jamaica|access-date=2016-02-10|website=diGJamaica.com|archive-date=February 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160223225624/http://digjamaica.com/amerindian_jamaica|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Conflicts between the federal government and native Americans occasionally erupt into violence. Perhaps one of the more noteworthy incidents in recent history is the ] in small town of ]. On February 27, 1973, the town was surrounded by federal law enforcement officials and the United States military. The town itself was under the control of members of the ] which was protesting a variety of issues important to the organization. Two members of AIM were killed and one ] was paralyzed as a result of gunshot wounds. In the aftermath of the conflict, one man, Leonard Peltier was arrested and sentenced to life in prison while another, John Graham, as late as 2007, was extradited to the U.S. to stand trial for killing a Native American woman, months after the standoff, that he believed to be an FBI informant.<ref name=glocan>{{cite news |date=2004-12-07 |accessdate=2007-06-30 |last=Hume |first=Mark |title=Activist pleaded to live, U.S. says; Extradition hearing in Vancouver told about final days of N.S. Mikmaq killed in 1975 |work=The Globe and Mail (Canada) |publisher=Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. |page=A12 |type=Newspaper }}</ref><ref name=glocan2> {{cite news |accessdate=2007-06-30 |date=2007-06-27 |title=Former AIM member looses extradition appeal |last=Mickleburgh |first=Rod |page=A10 |type=Newspaper |work=The Globe and Mail (Canada) |publisher Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc.}}</ref>


During World War II, draft boards typically classified American Indians from Virginia as ]es.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Murray|first=Paul T.|date=1987|title=Who Is an Indian? Who Is a Negro? Virginia Indians in the World War II Draft|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4248942|journal=The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography|volume=95|issue=2|pages=215–231|jstor=4248942|issn=0042-6636}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Properties|url=https://www.indigenous-americans.com/native-american-slavery|access-date=December 29, 2020|website=www.indigenous-americans.com|archive-date=September 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928141447/https://indigenous-americans.com/native-american-slavery|url-status=dead}}</ref>
{{cquote|He is ignoble—base and treacherous, and hateful in every way. Not even imminent death can startle him into a spasm of virtue. The ruling trait of all savages is a greedy and consuming selfishness, and in our Noble Red Man it is found in its amplest development. His heart is a cesspool of falsehood, of treachery, and of low and devilish instincts ... The scum of the earth!'''|20px|20px| ], 1870, ''The Noble Red Man''<ref name=mark_twain>
{{cite web
|url = http://www.bluecorncomics.com/twain.htm
|title = Mark Twain, Indian Hater
|accessdate=2008-08-26
|author = Mark Twain, Blue Corn Comics
|format = HTML
}}
</ref>}}


In 1995, a plurality of Indigenous Americans, however, preferred the term ''American Indian''<ref name="Census">{{cite web|url=http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762158.html|website=Infoplease|title=Preference for Racial or Ethnic Terminology|access-date=February 8, 2006}}</ref> and many ] include the word Indian in their formal title.
===Blood Quantum===


Criticism of the ] ''Native American'' comes from diverse sources. ], an Oglala Lakota activist, opposed the term ''Native American'' because he believed it was imposed by the government without the consent of Native people.<ref>Russell Means: "I am an American Indian, not a native American!" (Treaty Productions, 1996); citation given here and here </ref>
{{seealso|Blood quantum laws}}


A 1995 U.S. Census Bureau survey found that more Native Americans in the United States preferred ''American Indian'' to ''Native American''.<ref name="Census" /> Most American Indians are comfortable with ''Indian'', ''American Indian'', and ''Native American''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aihmterms.html |website=Infoplease |title=''American Indian'' versus ''Native American'' |access-date=February 8, 2006}}</ref> That term is reflected in the name chosen for the ], which opened in 2004 on ] in ].
]


Other commonly used terms are ''First Americans'', ''First Nations'', and ''Native Peoples''.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Diane J. Willis|author2=Dolores Subia BigFoot|editor1-last=Robinson|editor1-first=John D.|editor2-last=James|editor2-first=Larry C.|title=Diversity in Human Interactions: The Tapestry of America|date=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York, NY|isbn=0-19-514390-6|page=82|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YexcCAAAQBAJ|access-date=February 23, 2022|chapter=On Native Soil: The Forgotten Race: American Indians}}</ref>
Intertribal and ] mixing was common among Native American tribes making it difficult to clearly identify which tribe an individual belonged to.<ref></ref><ref></ref> Bands or entire tribes occasionally split or merged to form more viable groups in reaction to the pressures of climate, disease and warfare.<ref></ref> A number of tribes practiced the adoption of ] into their group to replace their members who had been captured or killed in battle. These captives came from rival tribes and later from European settlers. Some tribes also sheltered or adopted white traders and runaway slaves and Native American-owned slaves. So a number of paths to genetic mixing existed.


===Colonial ecological violence===
In later years, such mixing, however, proved an obstacle to qualifying for recognition and assistance from the U.S. federal government or for tribal money and services. To receive such support, Native Americans must belong to and be certified by a recognized tribal entity. This has taken a number of different forms as each tribal government makes its own rules while the federal government has its own set of standards. In many cases, qualification is based upon the percentage of Native American blood, or the "blood quantum" of an individual seeking recognition. To attain such certainty, some tribes have begun requiring ] (DNA testing).<ref> (August 30, 2005), by Karen Kaplan. URL accessed on ], ]</ref> Requirements for tribal certification vary widely by tribe. The Cherokee require only a descent from a Native American listed on the early 20th century ] while federal scholarships require enrollment in a federally recognized tribe as well as a ] card showing at least a one-quarter Native American descent. Tribal rules regarding recognition of members with Native American blood from multiple tribes are equally diverse and complex.
Colonial ecological violence, defined by sociologist J. M. Bacon as the result of eco-social disruptions that "generate colonial ecological violence, a unique form of violence perpetrated by the settler-colonial state, private industry, and settler-colonial culture as a whole."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bacon |first=J.M. |title=Settler Colonialism as Eco-Social Structure and the Production of Colonial Ecological Violence |publisher=Environmental Sociology |year=2018 |edition=Vol 5, no. 1}}</ref> The relocation and displacement of Native peoples is a result of the colonizer mindset that land is a commodity. By removing these communities from their Native land, settlers are preventing the ways of life and the use of culture-affirming resources. Gilio-Whitaker, highlights some of the ways in which these practices are reinforced, with the concept of environmental deprivation – "historical processes of land and resource dispossession calculated to bring about the destruction of Indigenous lives and cultures." The reason these lands are so important to Native populations is because, “Since a strong component of many Indigenous cultures is a robust relationship to place, it serves to reason that forced removals, settler resource appropriation, and the ecological damage perpetuated by US settle colonial society contribute to significant "conflict" between "traditional cultural values" and "those of majority culture".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gilio-Whitaker |first=Dina |title=As Long as Grass Grows : The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock |publisher=S.L. Beacon |year=2019}}</ref>


====Colonial ecological violence in the Pacific Northwest====
]
The Karuk tribe in Klamath, California are one of the many victims to colonial ecological violence. One of the major ways of life to the Karuk tribe is the use of fires to maintain and regulate their environment. Sociologist Kari Marie Norgaard goes into detail about how colonialism disrupted these ways of life. These fires were also used to correct travel routes and optimized hunting, which is a major part of Karuk life. In 1905, the Klamath National Forest was established which prevented the burning of fires on Karuk land- "Fire exclusion, then, has simultaneously produced indigenous exclusion, erasure, and replacement." Norgaard explains that this land is one of the most economically wealthy spots due to the establishment of the forest, which only further demonstrates the ways in which settler-colonialism enables and continues to negatively impact the land that Indigenous people live(d) on.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Norgaard |first=Kari Marie |title=Salmon and Acorns Feed Our People : Colonialism, Nature, and Social Action |publisher=New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press |year=2019}}</ref>


====Colonial ecological violence in the Great Lakes region of North America====
Tribal membership conflicts have led to a number of activist groups, legal disputes and court cases. One example are the ], who were descendants of slaves once owned by the Cherokees. The Cherokees had allied with the ] in the ] and, after the war, were forced by the federal government, in an 1866 treaty, to free their slaves and make them citizens. They were later disallowed as tribe members due to their not having "Indian blood". However, in March 2006, the Judicial Appeals Tribunal—the Cherokee Nation's highest court—ruled that Cherokee freedmen are full citizens of the Cherokee Nation. The court declared that the Cherokee freedmen retain citizenship, voting rights and other privileges despite attempts to keep them off the tribal rolls for not having identifiable "Indian" blood. In March 2007, however, the ] passed a referendum requiring members to have descent from at least one Native American ancestor on the Dawes Rolls. More than 1200 Freedmen lost their tribal membership after more than 100 years of participation.
The Potawatomi tribe had long occupied the Great Lakes region of Northern America, up until they were displaced and spread out around the US. They had previously lived on 30 million acres of land, building cultural, familial, and other-than-human relationships for generations. (Whyte, 2016) Citizen Potawatomi environmental philosopher Kyle Powys Whyte highlights the ways in which this displacement has had violent and detrimental impacts on the tribe. “The consequences of capitalist economics, such as deforestation, water pollution, the clearing of land for large scale agriculture and urbanization, generate immediate disruptions on ecosystems "rapidly" rendering them very different from what they were like before, undermining Indigenous knowledge systems and Indigenous peoples' capacity to cultivate landscapes and adjust to environmental change.”<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Whyte |first=Kyle |date= |title=Is It Colonial Déjà Vu? Indigenous Peoples and Climate Injustice |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2925277 |journal=Humanities for the Environment: Integrating Knowledges, Forging New Constellations of Practice|ssrn=2925277 }}</ref>


====Colonial ecological violence in the Northeast====
In the 20th century, people among white ethnic groups began to claim descent from an "American Indian princess", often a Cherokee. The prototypical "American Indian princess" was ], and, in fact, descent from her is a frequent claim.{{Fact|date=October 2007}} However, the American Indian "princess" is a false concept, derived from the application of European concepts to Native Americans, as also seen in the naming of war chiefs as "kings".<ref>
The ], which now occupies Oklahoma, once resided in Oxford, Ohio, where Miami University now is placed. Historian Jeffrey Ostler provides insight into the forced movement of the Miami tribe off their land. In 1818, the tribe agreed to give up a large amount of land to U.S. officials (enough to create twenty-two Indiana counties. It was not until 1826 that Lewis Cass informed them and nearby Potawatomi, "You must remove or perish."<ref name=":0" /> This plan did not work, but the officials persisted and eventually the Miami tribe would be forced off their land in 1846. Miami University has a land acknowledgement document and a center dedicated to working with the Miami tribe of Oklahoma, though this is the only tribe from the original Miami tribe that is accredited by the U.S. government.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Miami Tribe Relations |url=https://miamioh.edu/miami-tribe-relations/index.html |access-date=2024-05-02 |website=Miami University |language=en}}</ref>
</ref> Descent from "Indian braves" is also sometimes claimed.


===Gambling industry===
Descent from Native Americans became fashionable not only among whites claiming prestigious colonial descent but also among whites seeking to claim connection to groups with distinct folkways that would differentiate them from the mass culture. Large influxes of recent immigrants with unique social customs may have been partially an object of envy. Among African Americans, the desire to be more than black was sometimes expressed in claims of Native American descent. Those ] as white might use the slightly more acceptable Native American ancestry to explain inconvenient details of their heritage.
{{Main|Native American gaming}}
] of ]]]


Because ]s have ], states have limited ability to forbid gambling there, as codified by the ] of 1988. Tribes run ]s, ] halls, and other ] operations, and as of 2011, there were 460 such operations run by 240 tribes,<ref>{{cite report|title=Gaming Tribe Report|publisher=National Indian Gaming Commission|date=July 6, 2011|url=http://www.nigc.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=0J7Yk1QNgX0%3d&tabid=943|access-date=2013-02-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130220134916/http://www.nigc.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=0J7Yk1QNgX0%3d&tabid=943|archive-date=February 20, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> with a total annual revenue of $27 billion.<ref>{{cite report|title=NIGC Tribal Gaming Revenues|publisher=National Indian Gaming Commission|date=2011|url=http://www.nigc.gov/Portals/0/NIGC%20Uploads/Tribal%20Data/GamingRevenues20072011.pdf|access-date=2013-02-18|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010012057/http://www.nigc.gov/Portals/0/NIGC%20Uploads/Tribal%20Data/GamingRevenues20072011.pdf|archive-date=2012-10-10}}</ref>
===Depictions by Europeans and Americans===


===Financial services===
]''.]]
Numerous tribes around the country have entered the financial services market including the ], ], and the ]. Because of the challenges involved in starting a financial services business from scratch, many tribes hire outside consultants and vendors to help them launch these businesses and manage the regulatory issues involved.
Similar to the tribal sovereignty debates that occurred when tribes first entered the gaming industry, the tribes, states, and federal government are currently in disagreement regarding who possesses the authority to regulate these e-commerce business entities.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Online Sovereignty: The Law and Economics of Tribal Electronic Commerce|ssrn=2740181|journal=Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law|date=March 2016|last1=Claw|first1=Carma|last2=Spilde|first2=Katherine A.|author2-link=Katherine Spilde|last3=Clarkson|first3=Esq}}</ref>


===Crime on reservations===
Native Americans have been depicted by ] in various ways at different historical periods. During the period when America was first being colonized, in the ] and ], the artist ] made watercolors and engravings of the people native to the southeastern states. John White’s images were, for the most part, faithful likenesses of the people he observed. Later the artist ] used White’s original watercolors to make a book of engravings entitled, ''A briefe and true report of the new found land of Virginia.'' In his book, de Bry often altered the poses and features of White’s figures to make them appear more European, probably in order to make his book more marketable to a European audience. During the period that White and de Bry were working, when Europeans were first coming into contact with native Americans, there was a large interest and curiosity in native American cultures by Europeans, which would have created the demand for a book like de Bry’s.
Prosecution of serious crime, historically endemic on reservations,<ref name=DOJStat>{{cite web|title=A BJS Statistical Profile, 1992–2002 American Indians and Crime|url=https://www.justice.gov/otj/pdf/american_indians_and_crime.pdf|publisher=U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs|access-date=June 2, 2012|first=Steven W.|last=Perry|date=December 2004}}</ref><ref name=MLRWashburn>{{cite journal|title=American Indians, Crime, and the Law|journal=Michigan Law Review|date=February 2006|volume=104|pages=709 to 778|url=http://www.michiganlawreview.org/assets/pdfs/104/4/Washburn.pdf#|access-date=June 2, 2012|first=Kevin K.|last=Washburn|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311021000/http://www.michiganlawreview.org/assets/pdfs/104/4/Washburn.pdf|archive-date=March 11, 2012}}</ref> was required by the 1885 Major Crimes Act,<ref name=DP1885>{{cite news|title=1885 law at root of jurisdictional jumble|url=http://www.denverpost.com/lawlesslands/ci_7422829|access-date=June 2, 2012|work=The Denver Post|date=November 11, 2007|first=Michael|last=Riley}}</ref> 18 U.S.C. §§1153, 3242, and court decisions to be investigated by the federal government, usually the ], and prosecuted by ]s of the ] in which the reservation lies.<ref name="DP2010"> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043343/http://www.denverpost.com/frontpage/ci_15373276 |date=March 4, 2016}} article by Michael Riley in '']'' Posted: 25 June 2010 01:00:00 AM MDT Updated: 25 June 2010 02:13:47 AM MDT Accessed June 25, 2010.</ref><ref name="DP730"> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304082720/http://www.denverpost.com/ci_15636761 |date=March 4, 2016}} article by Michael Riley in '']'', Posted: 30 July 2010 01:00:00 AM MDT, Updated: 30 July 2010 06:00:20 AM MDT, accessed July 30, 2010.</ref><ref name="DP2007"> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304094730/http://www.denverpost.com/lawlesslands |date=March 4, 2016}} a 4-part series in '']'' last updated November 21, 2007</ref><ref name=NYT111212>{{cite news|title=Washington Steps Back From Policing Indian Lands, Even as Crime Rises|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/us/as-crime-rises-on-indian-lands-policing-is-cut-back.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113023633/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/us/as-crime-rises-on-indian-lands-policing-is-cut-back.html |archive-date=2012-11-13 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=November 13, 2012|work=The New York Times|date=November 12, 2012|first=Timothy|last=Williams}}</ref><ref>, accessed August 12, 2010.</ref>


A December 13, 2009 '']'' article about growing ] on the ] estimated that there were 39 gangs with 5,000 members on that reservation alone.<ref>"". ''The New York Times''. December 13, 2009</ref> ] country recently reported 225 gangs in its territory.<ref>"". NPR: National Public Radio. August 25, 2009.</ref>
Several centuries later, during the construction of the ] in the early nineteenth century, the ] commissioned a series of four relief panels to crown the doorway of the ]. The reliefs encapsulate a vision of European—Native American relations that had assumed mythicohistorical proportions by the nineteenth century. The four panels depict: ''The Preservation of Captain Smith by Pocahontas'' (1825) by Antonio Capellano, ''The Landing of the Pilgrims'' (1825) and ''The Conflict of Daniel Boone and the Indians'' (1826–27) by Enrico Causici, and ''William Penn’s Treaty with the Indians'' (1827) by Nicholas Gevelot. The reliefs present idealized versions of the Europeans and the native Americans, in which the Europeans appear refined and gentile, and the natives appear ferocious and savage. The ] representative of ], ], voiced a particularly astute summary of how Native Americans would read the messages contained in all four reliefs: “We give you corn, you cheat us of our lands: we save your life, you take ours.” While many nineteenth century images of native Americans conveyed similarly negative messages, there were artists, such as ], who sought to express a more realistic image of the native Americans.


As of 2012, a high incidence of rape continued to impact Native American women and Alaskan native women. According to the Department of Justice, 1 in 3 Native women have suffered rape or attempted rape, more than twice the national rate.<ref name=NYTRape2012>{{cite news|title=For Native American Women, Scourge of Rape, Rare Justice|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/us/native-americans-struggle-with-high-rate-of-rape.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523073000/http://www.nytimes.com//2012/05/23/us/native-americans-struggle-with-high-rate-of-rape.html |archive-date=2012-05-23 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=May 23, 2012|work=The New York Times|date=May 22, 2012|first=Timonthy|last=Williams}}</ref> About 46 percent of Native American women have been raped, beaten, or stalked by an intimate partner, according to a 2010 study by the ].<ref>{{cite news|title=Will the Violence Against Women Act Close a Tribal Justice "Loophole"?|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/biographies/kind-hearted-woman/will-the-violence-against-women-act-close-a-tribal-justice-loophole/ |work=]|date=February 4, 2013|first=Sarah|last=Childress}}</ref> According to Professor N. Bruce Duthu, "More than 80 percent of Indian victims identify their attacker as non-Indian".<ref name=NYTDuthu>{{cite news|title=Broken Justice in Indian Country|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/11/opinion/11duthu.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080811111730/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/11/opinion/11duthu.html |archive-date=2008-08-11 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=June 7, 2012|work=The New York Times|date=August 10, 2008|author=N. Bruce Duthu|format=op-ed by expert}}</ref><ref name=NYT021013>{{cite news|title=Measure to Protect Women Stuck on Tribal Land Issue|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/11/us/politics/violence-against-women-act-held-up-by-tribal-land-issue.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130211132940/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/11/us/politics/violence-against-women-act-held-up-by-tribal-land-issue.html |archive-date=2013-02-11 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=February 10, 2013|work=The New York Times|date=February 10, 2013|first=Jonathan|last=Weisman|quote=If a Native American is raped or assaulted by a non-Indian, she must plead for justice to already overburdened United States attorneys who are often hundreds of miles away.}}</ref>
Native Americans in ] and ] roles were first depicted by European-Americans dressed in mock traditional attire. Such instances include the ''The Last of the Mohicans'' (1920), ''Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans'' (1957), and '']'' (1965-67). In later decades Native American actors such as ] in '']'' television series (1949-57) and ] came to prominence; however, roles were still diminutive and not reflective of Native American culture. In the 1970s some Native Americans roles in movies had become reality based. '']'' (1970), '']'' (1971), and '']'' (1976) depicted Native Americans in minor supporting roles. '']'' (1990), '']'' (1992), and '']'' (1998) employed Native American actors, culture, and languages so that those features could portray a better sense of authenticity.


===Native American mascots in sports=== ===Barriers to economic development===
Today, other than tribes successfully running casinos, many tribes struggle, as they are often located on reservations isolated from the main economic centers of the country. The estimated 2.1&nbsp;million Native Americans are the most impoverished of all ethnic groups. According to the ], an estimated 400,000 Native Americans reside on reservation land. While some tribes have had success with gaming, only 40% of the 562 federally recognized tribes operate ]s.<ref name="NIGA">{{cite web|url=http://www.indiangaming.org/library/indian-gaming-facts/index.shtml |title=NIGA: Indian Gaming Facts |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130302072505/http://www.indiangaming.org/library/indian-gaming-facts/index.shtml |archive-date=March 2, 2013}}</ref> According to a 2007 survey by the ], only 1% of Native Americans own and operate a business.<ref name="SBA">{{cite web|url=http://www.america.gov/st/diversity-english/2007/December/20071221175918ABretnuH0.3369257.html|title=Number of U.S. Minority Owned Businesses Increasing|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020065312/http://www.america.gov/st/diversity-english/2007/December/20071221175918ABretnuH0.3369257.html|archive-date=October 20, 2012}}</ref>


The barriers to ] on Native American reservations have been identified by Joseph Kalt<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hks.harvard.edu/hpaied/people/kalt.htm |title=Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development |access-date=June 17, 2008 |last=Kalt |first=Joseph}}</ref> and ]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://udallcenter.arizona.edu/staff/scornell.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619015224/http://udallcenter.arizona.edu/staff/scornell.html|archive-date=June 19, 2008 |title=Co-director, Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development |access-date=June 17, 2008 |last=Cornell |first=Stephen}}</ref> of the ] at ], in their report: ''What Can Tribes Do? Strategies and Institutions in American Indian Economic Development'' (2008),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/hpaied/docs/reloading%20the%20dice.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040407025730/http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/hpaied/docs/reloading%20the%20dice.pdf |archive-date=April 7, 2004 |title=What Can Tribes Do? Strategies and Institutions in American Indian Economic Development|access-date=June 17, 2008 |last1=Cornell|first1=Stephen|last2=Kalt|first2=Kalt}}</ref> are summarized as follows:
] acting as Chief Osceola, the Florida State University mascot.]]
* Lack of access to capital
* Lack of human capital (education, skills, technical expertise) and the means to develop it
* Reservations lack effective planning
* Reservations are poor in natural resources
* Reservations have natural resources but lack sufficient control over them
* Reservations are disadvantaged by their distance from markets and the high costs of transportation
* Tribes cannot persuade investors to locate on reservations because of intense competition from non-Native American communities
* The ] is inept, corrupt or uninterested in reservation development
* Tribal politicians and bureaucrats are inept or corrupt
* On-reservation factionalism destroys stability in tribal decisions
* The instability of tribal government keeps outsiders from investing. The lack of international recognition Native American tribal sovereignty weakens their political-economic legitimacy.<ref name="NativeAmericanEconomicDevelopment">{{Cite journal|last1=Duffy|first1=Diane|last2=Stubben|first2=Jerry|date=Winter 1998|title=An Assessment of Native American Economic Development: Putting Culture and Sovereignty back in the Models|journal=Studies in Comparative International Development|volume=32|issue=4|pages=52–78|doi=10.1007/BF02712505|s2cid=154496567}}</ref> (Many tribes adopted constitutions by the 1934 ] model, with two-year terms for elected positions of chief and council members deemed too short by the authors for getting things done)
* Entrepreneurial skills and experience are scarce


]
{{main article|Native American mascot controversy}}
A major barrier to development is the lack of entrepreneurial knowledge and experience within ]. "A general lack of education and experience about business is a significant challenge to prospective entrepreneurs", was the report on Native American ] by the Northwest Area Foundation in 2004. "Native American communities that lack entrepreneurial traditions and recent experiences typically do not provide the support that entrepreneurs need to thrive. Consequently, experiential entrepreneurship education needs to be embedded into school curriculum and after-school and other community activities. This would allow students to learn the essential elements of entrepreneurship from a young age and encourage them to apply these elements throughout life".<ref name="CFED">{{cite web |url=http://www.energizingentrepreneurs.org/content/cr.php?id=4&sel=5 |title=Native Entrepreneurship: Challenges and opportunities for rural communities&nbsp;— CFED, Northwest Area Foundation December 2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130222151900/http://www.energizingentrepreneurs.org/content/cr.php?id=4&sel=5 |archive-date=February 22, 2013}}</ref>


===Discourse in Native American economic development===
The use of Native American mascots in sports has become a contentious issue in the ] and ]. Americans have had a history of "playing Indian" that dates back to at least the 1700s.<ref name="Calloway">First Peoples, Colin G. Calloway, 2nd Edition, 2004</ref> Many individuals admire the heroism and romanticism evoked by the classic Native American image, but many too view the use of ]s as both offensive and demeaning (especially amongst Native Americans). Despite the concerns that have been raised, many Native American mascots are still used in American sports from the elementary to the professional level.
Some scholars argue that the existing theories and practices of ] are not suitable for Native American communities—given the lifestyle, economic, and cultural differences, as well as the unique history of Native American-U.S. relations.<ref name="NativeAmericanEconomicDevelopment" /> Little economic development research has been conducted on Native American communities. The federal government fails to consider place-based issues of American Indian poverty by generalizing the demographic.<ref name="NativeAmericanEconomicDevelopment" /><ref name=":2">{{cite journal |last1=Mathers |first1=Rachel L. |title=The Failure of State-Led Economic Development on American Indian Reservations|url=https://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_17_01_05_mathers.pdf |journal=The Independent Review |date=2012 |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=65–80 |id={{ProQuest|1022994216}} |jstor=24563297}}</ref> In addition, the concept of economic development threatens to upend the multidimensionality of Native American culture.<ref name="NativeAmericanEconomicDevelopment" /> The dominance of federal government involvement in Indigenous developmental activities perpetuates and exacerbates the .<ref name="NativeAmericanEconomicDevelopment" />


===Land ownership challenges===
{{cquote|''(Trudie Lamb Richmond doesn't) know what to say when kids argue, 'I don't care what you say, we are honoring you. We are keeping our Indian.' ... What if it were 'our black' or 'our Hispanic'?''|20px|20px|- Amy D'orio quoting Trudie Lamb Richmond, March 1996, ''Indian Chief Is Mascot No More''<ref name=amy_d>
Native land owned by individual Native Americans sometimes cannot be developed because of fractionalization. Fractionalization occurs when a landowner dies, and their land is inherited by their children, but not subdivided. This means that one parcel might be owned by 50 different individuals. A majority of those holding interest must agree to any proposal to develop the land, and establishing this consent is time-consuming, cumbersome, and sometimes impossible.
{{cite web
|url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9805E4DF1239F932A05750C0A960958260&n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FSubjects%2FM%2FMascots
|title = Indian Chief Is Mascot No More
|accessdate=2008-08-26
|author = Amy D'orio
|format = HTML
}}
</ref> }}


Another landownership issue on reservations is ], where tribal land is interspersed with land owned by the federal government on behalf of Natives, individually owned plots, and land owned by non-Native individuals. This prevents Tribal governments from securing plots of land large enough for economic development or agricultural uses.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.frbsf.org/community-development/files/Community-Investments-Fall-2013-Native-Communities.pdf |title=Community Development in Native Communities |magazine=Community Investments |publisher=Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco |date=Fall 2013 |volume=25 |number=2}}</ref> Because reservation land is owned "in trust" by the federal government, individuals living on reservations cannot build equity in their homes. This bars Native Americans from getting loans, as there is nothing that a bank can collect if the loan is not paid. Past efforts to encourage land ownership (such as the Dawes Act) resulted in a net loss of Tribal land. After they were familiarized with their ], Native American landowners were lifted of trust restrictions and their land would get transferred back to them, contingent on a transactional fee to the federal government. The transfer fee discouraged Native American land ownership, with 65% of tribal-owned land being sold to non-Native Americans by the 1920s.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Van Winkle|first=Tony N.|date=Fall 2018|title=American Indian Landowners, Leasemen, and Bureaucrats: Property, Paper, and the Poli-Technics of Dispossession in Southwestern Oklahoma|journal=American Indian Quarterly|volume=42|issue=4|pages=508–533|doi=10.5250/amerindiquar.42.4.0508|s2cid=166125100}}</ref> Activists against property rights point to historical evidence of communal ownership of land and resources by tribes. They claim that because of this history, property rights are foreign to Natives and have no place in the modern reservation system. Those in favor of property rights cite examples of tribes negotiating with colonial communities or other tribes about fishing and hunting rights in an area.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/07/native-americans-property-rights/492941/|title=Here's One Way to Help Native Americans: Property Rights|first=Naomi Schaefer|last=Riley|date=July 30, 2016|website=The Atlantic}}</ref> Land ownership was also a challenge because of the different definitions of land that the Natives and the Europeans had.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27058/27058-h/27058-h.htm#Footnote_A_1|title=The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Indian Question, by Francis A. Walker.|website=gutenberg.org|access-date=December 11, 2019}}</ref> Most Native American tribes thought of property rights more as "borrowing" the land, while those from Europe thought of land as individual property.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=d'Errico|first=Peter|date=1999|title=Native Americans in America: A Theoretical and Historical Overview|journal=Wíčazo Ša Review|volume=14|issue=1|pages=7–28|doi=10.2307/1409513|issn=0749-6427|jstor=1409513|s2cid=155945579 }}</ref>
In August 2005, the ] (NCAA) banned the use of "hostile and abusive" Native American mascots from postseason tournaments.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/sports/july-dec05/mascots_8-25.html |work=Online NewsHour|title=NCAA Bans Indian Mascots |accessmonthday=February 8 |accessyear=2006}}</ref> An exception was made to allow the use of tribal names as long as approved by that tribe (such as the ] approving the use of their name as the mascot for ].)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/24/sports/COLLEGE.php|title=Florida State wins its battle to remain the Seminoles|author=Powell, Robert Andrew|date=], ]|publisher=International Herald Tribune|accessdate=9 August|accessyear=2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fsu.com/pages/2005/06/17/historic_vote.html|title=Florida State University thanks Seminoles for historic vote of support|publisher=Florida State University|accessdate=9 August|accessyear=2008}}</ref> The use of Native American themed team names in U.S. professional sports is widespread and often controversial, with examples such as ] of the ] and the ].


===Land ownership and bureaucratic challenges in historical context===
{{cquote|''Could you imagine people mocking African Americans in black face at a game?” he said. 'Yet go to a game where there is a team with an Indian name and you will see fans with war paint on their faces. Is this not the equivalent to black face?' ''|20px|20px|- Teaching Tolerance, May 9, 2001, ''Native American Mascots Big Issue in College Sports''<ref name=teachingTolerance>
State-level efforts such as the ] were attempts to contain tribal land in Native American hands. However, more bureaucratic decisions only expanded the bureaucracy. The knowledge disconnect between the decision-making bureaucracy and Native American stakeholders resulted in ineffective development efforts.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
{{cite web
|url = http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=165
|title = Native American Mascots Big Issue in College Sports
|accessdate=2008-08-26
|author = Teaching Tolerance
|format = HTML
}}
</ref> }}


Traditional Native American entrepreneurship does not prioritize ]; rather, business transactions must align with Native American social and cultural values.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Colbourne|first=Rick|date=April 2017|title=An Understanding of Native American Entrepreneurship|journal=Small Enterprise Research|volume=24|pages=49–61|doi=10.1080/13215906.2017.1289856|s2cid=157839233}}</ref> In response to Indigenous business philosophy, the federal government created policies that aimed to formalize their business practices, which undermined the Native American status quo.<ref name=":3" /> Additionally, legal disputes interfered with tribal land leasing, which were settled with the verdict against ].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Crepelle|first=Adam|date=2018|title=Tribal Lending and Tribal Sovereignty|url=https://lawreviewdrake.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/crepelle-final.pdf|journal=Drake Law Review|volume=66}}</ref>
===Terminology differences===
{{further|]}}


Often, bureaucratic overseers of development are far removed from Native American communities and lack the knowledge and understanding to develop plans or make resource allocation decisions.<ref name=":2" /> The top-down heavy involvement in developmental operations, does not mitigate incentives for bureaucrats to act in their self-interest. Such instances include reports that exaggerate results.<ref name=":2" />
====Common usage in the United States====


===Geographic poverty===
The term ''Native American'' was originally introduced in the ] by anthropologists as a more accurate term for the indigenous people of the Americas, as distinguished from the people of India. Because of the widespread acceptance of this newer term in and outside of academic circles, some people believe that ''Indians'' is outdated or offensive. People from India (and their descendants) who are citizens of the United States are known as '']s'' or ''Asian Indians''.
While Native American urban poverty is attributed to hiring and workplace discrimination in a heterogeneous setting,<ref name="AmericanIndianPoverty" /> reservation and trust land poverty rates are endogenous to deserted opportunities in isolated regions.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Whitney Mauer|first=K.|date=September 2017|title=Indian Country Poverty: Place-Based Poverty on American Indian Territories, 2006–10.|journal=Rural Sociology|volume=82|issue=3|pages=473–498|doi=10.1111/ruso.12130}}</ref>


===Trauma===
Criticism of the neologism ''Native American'', however, comes from diverse sources. Some American Indians have misgivings about the term ''Native American''. ], a famous American Indian activist, opposes the term ''Native American'' because he believes it was imposed by the government without the consent of American Indians. He has also argued that this use of the word Indian derives not from a confusion with ] but from a ] expression ''En Dio'', meaning "in God".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.peaknet.net/~aardvark/means.html |work=Russell Means|title=I AM AN AMERICAN INDIAN, NOT A NATIVE AMERICAN! |accessmonthday=February 8 |accessyear=2006}}</ref> Furthermore, some American Indians question the term ''Native American'' because, they argue, it serves to ease the conscience of "white America" with regard to past injustices done to American Indians by effectively eliminating "Indians" from the present.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allthingscherokee.com/atc_sub_culture_feat_events_070101.html |work=All Things Cherokee|title=What's in a Name? Indians and Political Correctness |accessmonthday=February 8 |accessyear=2006}}</ref> Still others (both Indians and non-Indians) argue that ''Native American'' is problematic because "native of" literally means "born in," so any person born in the Americas could be considered "native". However, very often the compound "Native American" will be ] in order to differentiate this intended meaning from others. Likewise, "native" (small 'n') can be further qualified by formulations such as "native-born" when the intended meaning is only to indicate place of birth or origin.


====Historical trauma====
A 1995 US Census Bureau survey found that more American Indians in the United States preferred ''American Indian'' to ''Native American''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762158.html |work=Infoplease|title=Preference for Racial or Ethnic Terminology |accessmonthday=February 8 |accessyear=2006}}
] is described as collective emotional and psychological damage throughout a person's lifetime and across multiple generations.<ref name=Myhra2011>Myhra, L. L. (2011). "It runs in the family": Intergenerational Transmission of Historical Trauma Among Urban American Indians and Alaska Natives in Culturally Specific Sobriety Maintenance Programs. American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research, 18(2). 17–40. National Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research.</ref> Examples of historical trauma can be seen through the ] of 1890, where over 200 unarmed Lakota were killed,<ref name=Weaver>Weaver, H., & Congress, E. (2010). The Ongoing Impact of Colonization: Man-made Trauma and Native Americans. In A. Kalayjian & D. Eugene (Eds.), Mass Trauma and Emotional Healing Around the World: Rituals and Practices for Resilience and Meaning-Making (pp. 211–226). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.</ref> and the ] of 1887, when American Indians lost four-fifths of their land.<ref name=Brave>Braveheart-Jordan, M., & DeBruyn, L. (1995). So She May Walk in Balance: Integrating the Impact of Historical Trauma in the Treatment of Native American Indian Women. In J. Adleman & G. M. Enguidanos (Eds.), Racism in the Lives of Women: Testimony, Theory, and Guides to Antiracist Practice (pp. 345–366). Binghamton, New York: Harrington Park Press.</ref>
</ref> Nonetheless, most American Indians are comfortable with ''Indian'', ''American Indian'', and ''Native American'', and the terms are often used interchangeably.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aihmterms.html |work=Infoplease|title=''American Indian'' versus ''Native American'' |accessmonthday=February 8 |accessyear=2006}}</ref> The traditional term is reflected in the name chosen for the ], which opened in 2004 on the Mall in ].


====Impacts of intergenerational trauma====
Recently, the U.S. Census Bureau has introduced the "Asian-Indian" category to avoid ambiguity when sampling the Indian-American population.
American Indian youth have higher rates of substance and alcohol use deaths than the general population.<ref name=Paul>{{cite journal | last1 = Paul | first1 = T. M. | last2 = Lusk | first2 = S. L. | last3 = Becton | first3 = A. B. | last4 = Glade | first4 = R. | year = 2017 | title = Exploring the Impact of Substance Abuse, Culture, and Trauma on American Indian Adolescents | journal = Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling | volume = 48 | issue = 1| pages = 31–39 | doi = 10.1891/0047-2220.48.1.31 | s2cid = 188697334}}</ref> Many American Indians can trace the beginning of their substance and alcohol use to a traumatic event related to their offender's own substance use.<ref name=Myhra2014>{{cite journal | last1 = Myhra | first1 = L. L. | last2 = Wieling | first2 = E. | year = 2014 | title = Psychological Trauma Among American Indian Families: A Two-Generation Study | journal = Journal of Loss and Trauma | volume = 19 | issue = 4| pages = 289–313 | doi = 10.1080/15325024.2013.771561 | s2cid = 144715014}}</ref> A person's substance use can be described as a defense mechanism against the user's emotions and trauma.<ref name=Cole>Cole, N. (2006). Trauma and the American Indian. In T. M. Witko (Ed.), Mental Health Care for Urban Indians: Clinical Insights from Native Practitioners (pp. 115–130). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.</ref> For American Indians alcoholism is a symptom of trauma passed from generation to generation and influenced by oppressive behaviors and policies by the dominant European-American society.<ref name=Coyhis>{{cite journal | last1 = Coyhis | first1 = D. | last2 = Simonelli | first2 = R. | year = 2008 | title = The Native American Healing Experience | journal = Substance Use & Misuse | volume = 43 | issue = 12–13| pages = 1927–1949 | doi = 10.1080/10826080802292584 | pmid = 19016172 | s2cid = 20769339}}</ref> Boarding schools were made to "Kill the Indian, Save the man".<ref name=Gray>{{cite journal | last1 = Grayshield | first1 = L. | last2 = Rutherford | first2 = J. J. | last3 = Salazar | first3 = S. B. | last4 = Mihecoby | first4 = A. L. | last5 = Luna | first5 = L. L. | year = 2015 | title = Understanding and Healing Historical Trauma: The Perspectives of Native American Elders | journal = Journal of Mental Health Counseling | volume = 37 | issue = 4| pages = 295–307 | doi = 10.17744/mehc.37.4.02| s2cid = 74255741}}</ref> Shame among American Indians can be attributed to the hundreds of years of oppression and annihilation.<ref name=Cole />


==Society and culture== ===Food insecurity===
]
===Cultural aspects===
Studies are being conducted which show Native Americans often experience higher rates of food insecurity than other racial groups in the United States. The studies do not focus on the overall picture of Native American households, however, and tend to focus rather on smaller sample sizes in the available research.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gunderson |first1=Craig |title=Measuring the Extent, Depth, and Severity of Food Insecurity: An Application to American Indians in the USA |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40344400 |journal=Journal of Population Economics |year=2008 |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=191–215 |doi=10.1007/s00148-007-0152-9 |jstor=40344400 |s2cid=18268261 |access-date=December 2, 2021}}</ref> In a study that evaluated the level of food insecurity among Indigenous Americans, White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian: it was reported that over the 10-year span of 2000–2010, Indigenous people were reported to be one of the highest at-risk groups from a lack of access to adequate food, reporting anywhere from 20% to 30% of households suffering from this type of insecurity. There are many reasons that contribute to the issue, but overall, the biggest lie in high food costs on or near reservations, lack of access to well-paying jobs, and predisposition to health issues relating to obesity and mental health.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jerrigan |first1=Valarie Blue Bird |last2=Huyser |first2=Kimberly |last3=Valdes |first3=Jimmy |last4=Simonds |first4=Vanessa |title=Food Insecurity among American Indians and Alaska Natives: A National Profile using the Current Population Survey–Food Security Supplement |journal=Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition |year=2016 |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=1–10 |doi=10.1080/19320248.2016.1227750 |pmid=28491205 |pmc=5422031}}</ref>


==Society, language, and culture==
] woman dressing hair of unmarried girl from 1900. Photo taken by Henry Peabody.]]
{{Main|Native American cultures of the United States}}
{{Further|Category:Archaeological cultures of North America}}
]


The culture of Pre-Columbian North America is usually defined by the concept of the culture area, namely a geographical region where shared cultural traits occur. The northwest culture area, for example, shared common traits such as salmon fishing, woodworking, and large villages or towns and a hierarchical social structure.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Native-American|title=Native American &#124; History, Art, Culture, & Facts|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=May 25, 2023 }}</ref> Ethnographers generally ] into ten cultural areas based on geographical region.
Though cultural features, language, clothing, and customs vary enormously from one tribe to another, there are certain elements which are encountered frequently and shared by many tribes.
'''''
Early ] tribes made stone weapons from around 10,000 years ago; as the age of ] dawned, newer technologies were used and more efficient weapons produced. Prior to contact with Europeans, most tribes used similar weaponry. The most common implements were the bow and arrow, the war club, and the spear. Quality, material, and design varied widely. ] both helped provide insects for ] and ] to help the human population flourish.


Though cultural features, language, clothing, and customs vary enormously from one tribe to another, there are certain elements which are encountered frequently and shared by many tribes. Early European American scholars described the Native Americans as having a society dominated by ]s.<ref name="Morgan1907">{{Cite book|last=Morgan|first=Lewis H.|author-link=Lewis H. Morgan|title=Ancient Society|publisher=Charles H. Kerr & Company|year=1907|location=Chicago|pages=70–71, 113|isbn=978-0-674-03450-1}}</ref>
Large mammals like ]s and ]s were largely extinct by around 8,000 B.C., primarily because of being overhunted by the American Indians. Native Americans switched to hunting other large game, such as ]. The Great Plains tribes were still hunting the bison when they first encountered the Europeans. Acquiring horses from the Spanish and learning to ride in the 17th century greatly altered the natives' culture, changing the way in which they hunted large game. In addition, horses became a central feature of Native lives and a measure of wealth.


European colonization of the Americas had a major impact on Native American cultures through what is known as the ], also known as the ''Columbian interchange'', which was the widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, and ideas between the ] and Eurasia (the ]) in the 15th and 16th centuries, following ]'s ].<ref name = "history">{{cite journal |last1= Nunn |first1= Nathan |last2= Qian |first2= Nancy |year= 2010 |title= The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas |journal= ] |volume= 24 |issue= 2 |pages= 163–188 |jstor= 25703506 |doi= 10.1257/jep.24.2.163 |url= http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:11986330 |citeseerx= 10.1.1.232.9242}}</ref> The Columbian exchange generally had a destructive impact on Native American cultures through disease, and a 'clash of cultures',<ref name=Emmer2003>{{cite journal |last1=Emmer |first1=Pieter |title=The myth of early globalization: the Atlantic economy, 1500–1800 |journal=European Review |date=2003 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=37–47 |id={{ProQuest|217337459}} |doi=10.1017/S106279870300005X |s2cid=144318805}}</ref> whereby European values of private land ownership, the family, and division of labor, led to conflict, appropriation of traditional communal lands and changed how the Indigenous tribes practiced slavery.<ref name=Emmer2003/>
===Organization===


], Chiricahua Apache leader. Photograph by ] (1898).]]
] girl with pottery jar on her head in 1909.]]
The impact of the Columbian exchange was not entirely negative, however. For example, the re-introduction of the horse to North America allowed the Plains Indians to revolutionize their ways of life by making hunting, trading, and warfare far more effective, and to greatly improve their ability to transport possessions and move their settlements.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.na.038|title=Encyclopedia of the Great Plains – HORSE|website=plainshumanities.unl.edu}}</ref>


The Great Plains tribes were still hunting the bison when they first encountered the Europeans. The Spanish reintroduction of the horse to North America in the 17th century and Native Americans' learning to use them greatly altered the Native Americans' cultures, including changing the way in which they hunted large game. Horses became such a valuable, central element of Native lives that they were counted as a measure of wealth by many tribes.
====Gens structure====


In the early years, as Native peoples encountered European explorers and settlers and engaged in trade, they exchanged food, crafts, and furs for blankets, iron and steel implements, horses, trinkets, firearms, and alcoholic beverages.
Before the formation of tribal structure, a structure dominated by ] existed.
* The right of electing its ] and chiefs.
* The right of deposing its sachem and chiefs.
* The obligation not to marry in the gens.
* Mutual rights of inheritance of the property of deceased members.
* Reciprocal obligations of help, defense, and redress of injuries.
* The right of bestowing names upon its members.
* The right of adopting strangers into the gens.
* Common religious rights, query.
* A common burial place.
* A council of the gens.<ref name=Morgan1907>{{cite book
|last=Morgan
|first=Lewis H.
|authorlink=Lewis H. Morgan
|title=Ancient Society
|publisher=Charles H. Kerr & Company
|date=1907
|location=Chicago
|pages=70–71, 113 }}</ref>


===Ethno-linguistic classification===
====Tribal structure====
{{Main|Indigenous languages of the Americas}}
Subdivision and differentiation took place between various groups. Upwards of forty stock languages developed in North America, with each independent tribe speaking a dialect of one of those languages. Some functions and attributes of tribes are:
{{See also|American Indian English}}
* The possession of the gentes.
]
* The right to depose these sachems and chiefs.
* The possession of a religious faith and worship.
* A supreme government consisting of a council of chiefs.
* A head-chief of the tribe in some instances.<ref name=Morgan1907 />


The ], ], and ] families are the largest in terms of the number of languages. Uto-Aztecan has the most speakers (1.95&nbsp;million) if the languages in Mexico are considered (mostly due to 1.5&nbsp;million speakers of ]); Na-Dené comes in second with approximately 200,000 speakers (nearly 180,000 of these are speakers of ]), and Algic in third with about 180,000 speakers (mainly ] and ]). Na-Dené and Algic have the widest geographic distributions: Algic currently spans from northeastern Canada across much of the continent down to northeastern Mexico (due to later migrations of the ]) with two outliers in ] (] and ]); Na-Dené spans from Alaska and western Canada through ], ], and California to the ] and northern Mexico (with one outlier in the Plains). Several families consist of only 2 or 3 languages. Demonstrating genetic relationships has proved difficult due to the great linguistic diversity present in North America. Two large (super-) family proposals, ] and ] have potential. However, even after decades of research, a large number of families remain.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}
===Society and art===
{{seealso|petroglyph|pictogram|petroform}}


Words used in English have been ].
The ], living around the ] and extending east and north, used strings or belts called '']'' that served a dual function: the knots and beaded designs mnemonically chronicled tribal stories and legends, and further served as a medium of exchange and a unit of measure. The keepers of the articles were seen as tribal dignitaries.<ref>. URL accessed on February 23, 2006.</ref>


====Language education====
] crafted impressive items associated with their religious ceremonies. '']'' dancers wore elaborately painted and decorated masks as they ritually impersonated various ancestral spirits. Sculpture was not highly developed, but carved stone and wood fetishes were made for religious use. Superior weaving, embroidered decorations, and rich dyes characterized the textile arts. Both turquoise and shell jewelry were created, as were high-quality pottery and formalized pictorial arts.
{{See also|Massachusett language#Current status}}
] Cherokee language immersion school student writing in the ]]]
], at ]]]


To counteract a shift to English, some Native American tribes have initiated language immersion schools for children, where an Indigenous American language is the medium of instruction. For example, the ] initiated a 10-year language preservation plan that involved raising new fluent speakers of the ] from childhood on up through school immersion programs as well as a collaborative community effort to continue to use the language at home.<ref>{{cite web| title = Native Now : Language: Cherokee| website = We Shall Remain – American Experience – PBS| access-date = April 9, 2014| year = 2008| url = https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/native_now/language_cherokee| archive-date = April 7, 2014| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140407132754/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/native_now/language_cherokee| url-status = dead}}</ref> This plan was part of an ambitious goal that, in 50 years, will result in 80% or more of the Cherokee people being fluent in the language.<ref name="preservation" /> The ] has invested $3&nbsp;million in opening schools, training teachers, and developing curricula for language education, as well as initiating community gatherings where the language can be actively used.<ref name="preservation">{{cite web|title=Cherokee Language Revitalization |website=Cherokee Preservation Foundation |access-date=April 9, 2014 |year=2014 |url=http://www.cherokeepreservationfdn.org/cultural-preservation-connect/major-programs-and-initiatives/cherokee-language-revitalization |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407070520/http://www.cherokeepreservationfdn.org/cultural-preservation-connect/major-programs-and-initiatives/cherokee-language-revitalization |archive-date=April 7, 2014}}</ref> Formed in 2006, the Kituwah Preservation & Education Program (KPEP) on the ] focuses on language immersion programs for children from birth to ], developing cultural resources for the general public and community language programs to foster the Cherokee language among adults.<ref name="kpep">Kituwah Preservation & Education Program Powerpoint, by Renissa Walker (2012)'. 2012. Print.{{page needed|date=March 2021}}</ref>
] spirituality focused on the maintenance of a harmonious relationship with the spirit world, often achieved by ceremonial acts, usually incorporating ]. The colors—made from sand, charcoal, cornmeal, and pollen—depicted specific spirits. These vivid, intricate, and colorful sand creations were erased at the end of the ceremony.


There is also a Cherokee language immersion school in ], that educates students from pre-school through eighth grade.<ref>{{Cite news| last = Chavez, Will| title = Immersion students win trophies at language fair| work = Cherokeephoenix.org| access-date = April 8, 2013| date = April 5, 2012| url = http://www.cherokeephoenix.org/Article/Index/6142}}</ref> Because Oklahoma's official language is English, Cherokee immersion students are hindered when taking state-mandated tests because they have little competence in English.<ref name="immersion">{{cite web|url=http://www.youthonrace.org/cherokee-immersion-school-strives-to-save-tribal-language |title=Cherokee Immersion School Strives to Save Tribal Language |publisher=Youth on Race |access-date=June 5, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703212619/http://www.youthonrace.org/cherokee-immersion-school-strives-to-save-tribal-language |archive-date=July 3, 2014}}</ref> The Department of Education of Oklahoma said that in 2012 state tests: 11% of the school's sixth-graders showed proficiency in math, and 25% showed proficiency in reading; 31% of the seventh-graders showed proficiency in math, and 87% showed proficiency in reading; 50% of the eighth-graders showed proficiency in math, and 78% showed proficiency in reading.<ref name="immersion" /> The Oklahoma Department of Education listed the charter school as a Targeted Intervention school, meaning the school was identified as a low-performing school but has not so that it was a Priority School.<ref name="immersion" /> Ultimately, the school made a C, or a 2.33 grade point average on the state's A-F report card system.<ref name="immersion" /> The report card shows the school getting an F in mathematics achievement and mathematics growth, a C in social studies achievement, a D in reading achievement, and an A in reading growth and student attendance.<ref name="immersion" /> "The C we made is tremendous", said school principal Holly Davis, "here is no English instruction in our school's younger grades, and we gave them this test in English."<ref name="immersion" /> She said she had anticipated the low grade because it was the school's first year as a state-funded ], and many students had difficulty with English.<ref name="immersion" /> Eighth graders who graduate from the Tahlequah immersion school are fluent speakers of the language, and they usually go on to attend ] where classes are taught in both English and Cherokee.
===Agriculture===
] raised by Native Americans.]]
Native American Agriculture started about 7,000 years ago in the area of present day Illinois. The first crop the Native Americans grew was ]. This was the first of several crops the Native Americans learned to domesticate. Others included ], ], ], ], ], ], and ]. The most important crop the Native Americans raised was ]. It was first started in ] and spread north. About 2,000 years ago it reached eastern America. This crop was important to the Native Americans because it was part of their everyday diet, it could be stored in underground pits during the winter, and no part of it was wasted. The husk was made into art crafts and the cob was used as fuel for fires. By 800 A.D. the Native Americans had established 3 main crops which were beans, squash, and corn called the ]. Agriculture in the southwest started around 4,000 years ago when traders brought cultigens from Mexico. Due to the varying climate, some ingenuity had to be done for agriculture to be successful. The climate in the southwest ranged from cool, moist mountains regions, to dry, sandy soil in the desert. Some innovations of the time included ] to bring water into the dry regions, and the selection of seed based on their seed trait. In the southwest, they grew beans that were self-supported, much of the way they are grown today. In the east, however, they were planted right by corn in order for the vein to be able to climb the stalk.
The gender role of the Native Americans, when it came to agriculture, varied from region to region. In the southwest area, men would prepare the soil with ]. The women were in charge of planting, weeding, and harvesting the crops. In most other regions, the women were in charge of doing everything including clearing the land. Clearing the land was an immense chore since the Native Americans rotated fields frequently. There have been stories about how ] showed pilgrims to put fish in fields and this would acts like a fertilizer, but this story is not true. They did plant beans next to corn; the beans would replace the ] the corn took from the ground. They also had controlled fires to burn weeds and this would put nutrients back into the ground. If this did not work they would simply abandon the field and go find a new spot for their field.


===Indigenous foodways===
Some of the tools the Native Americans used were the ], the ], and the ]. The hoe was the main tool used to till the land and prepare it for planting and then used for weeding. The first versions were made out of wood and stone. When the settlers brought iron, Native Americans switched to iron hoes and hatches. The dibber was essentially a digging stick, and was used to plant the seed. Once the plants were harvested they were prepared by the women for eating. The maul was used to grind the corn into mash and was eaten that way or made into corn bread.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.answers.com/topic/agriculture-american-indians? |work=Answers.com|title=American Indian Agriculture |accessmonthday=February 8 |accessyear=2008}}</ref>
{{Further|Indigenous cuisine of the Americas|Inuit cuisine|Eastern Agricultural Complex}}
] baby waits on a ] while parents tend ] crops (], 1940).]]

Historical diets of Native Americans differed dramatically from region to region. Different peoples might have relied more heavily on agriculture, horticulture, hunting, fishing, or gathering wild plants and fungi. Tribes developed diets best suited to their environments.

], ], ], and fellow ] fished, hunted, and harvested wild plants, but did not rely on agriculture. Coastal peoples relied more heavily on sea mammals, fish, and fish eggs, while inland peoples hunted ] and ].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards and Office of Research and Development |title=Mercury study report to Congress |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xoDFgHQ_TqUC&q=Alaska%20Native%20diet%20caribou%20sea%20mammals&pg=RA2-SA4-PA44 |publisher=US EPA |pages=4–44 |date=December 1997|isbn=9781428903722}}</ref> Alaskan Natives prepared and preserved dried and smoked meat and fish.

], made into an ]]]
] tribes crafted seafaring ]s {{convert|40|–|50|ft}} long for fishing.
In the ], early peoples independently invented agricultural and by 1800 BCE developed the crops of the ], which include squash (''] ssp. ovifera''), sunflower (''] var. macrocarpus''), goosefoot ('']''), and marsh elder (''] var. macrocarpa'').<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Bruce D. |last2=Yarnell |first2=Richard A. |title=Initial formation of an indigenous crop complex in eastern North America at 3800 B.P |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |date=April 21, 2009 |volume=106 |issue=16 |pages=6561–6566 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0901846106 |pmid=19366669 |pmc=2666091 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/agriculture/htmls/people/native/peo_na.html|title=Illinois Agriculture – People – Native American Settlement|website=museum.state.il.us|access-date=January 31, 2018}}</ref>

The ] region including parts of ] and ], part of a region known as ], relied heavily on the ] ('']'') as a staple crop. This and other desert crops, ] bead pods, ''tunas'' (] fruit), cholla buds, ] cactus fruit, and ] are being actively promoted today by Tohono O'odham Community Action.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hoover |first1=Elizabeth |title=Tohono O'odham Community Action (TOCA), Sells AZ |url=https://gardenwarriorsgoodseeds.com/2014/09/17/toho-oodham-community-action-toca-sells-az/ |date=September 17, 2014}}</ref> In the Southwest, some communities developed ] techniques while others, such as the ] dry-farmed. They filled storehouses with grain as protection against the area's frequent ].

] grown by Native Americans]]
] or ], first cultivated in what is now ] was traded north into Aridoamerica and ], ]. From there, maize cultivation spread throughout the ] and ] by 200 CE. Native farmers practiced ] maize, beans, and squash; these crops are known as the ]. The beans would replace the ], which the maize leached from the ground, as well as using corn stalks for support for climbing. The deficiencies of a diet heavily dependent on maize were mitigated by the common practice among Native Americans of converting maize kernels into ] in a process called ].<ref name="Johnson|Marston">{{cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=Emily S. |last2=Marston |first2=John M. |title=The Experimental Identification of Nixtamalized Maize though Starch Spherulites |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |date=2019 |volume=113 |page=1 |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2019.105056 |s2cid=213614308 |url=https://www.bu.edu/archaeology/files/2019/12/Johnson.Marston.JAS_.11.20.19.pdf |access-date=15 January 2023}}</ref>

The ] of the Native Americans varied from region to region. In the Southwest area, men prepared the soil with ]. The women were in charge of ], ], and ] the crops. In most other regions, the women were in charge of most agriculture, including clearing the land. Clearing the land was an immense chore since the Native Americans rotated fields.

Europeans in the eastern part of the continent observed that Native Americans cleared large areas for cropland. Their fields in ] sometimes covered hundreds of acres. Colonists in ] noted thousands of acres under cultivation by Native Americans.<ref name="Krech">{{Cite book |last=Krech III |first=Shepard |title=The ecological Indian: myth and history |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. |location=New York, New York |year=1999 |edition=1 |page= |isbn=978-0-393-04755-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/ecologicalindian0000krec/page/107}}</ref>

] Native Americans and a whale, ''The King of the Seas in the Hands of the Makahs'', 1910 photograph by ]]]
Early farmers commonly used tools such as the ], ], and ]. The hoe was the main tool used to till the land and prepare it for planting; then it was used for weeding. The first versions were made out of ] and ]. When the settlers brought ], Native Americans switched to iron hoes and ]. The dibber was a digging stick, used to plant the seed. Once the plants were harvested, women prepared the produce for eating. They used the maul to grind the corn into a mash. It was cooked and eaten that way or baked as cornbread.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.answers.com/topic/agriculture-american-indians? |website=Answers.com |title=American Indian Agriculture |access-date=February 8, 2008}}</ref>


===Religion=== ===Religion===
{{Main|Native American religions}}
]'' was painted in 1840 by ], who depicts ], wearing white, being baptized Rebecca by Anglican minister Alexander Whiteaker (left) in Jamestown, Virginia. This event is believed to have taken place either in 1613 or 1614.]]


Native American religious practices, beliefs, and philosophies differ widely across tribes. These ], practices, beliefs, and philosophies may accompany adherence to another faith or can represent a person's primary religious, faith, spiritual or philosophical identity. Much Native American spirituality exists in a tribal-cultural continuum, and as such cannot be easily separated from tribal identity itself.
] was painted in 1840. John Gadsby Chapman depicts Pocahontas, wearing white, being baptized Rebecca by Anglican minister Alexander Whiteaker in Jamestown, Virginia; this event is believed to have taken place in 1613 or 1614. ]]


Cultural spiritual, philosophical, and faith ways differ from tribe to tribe and person to person. Some tribes include the use of sacred leaves and herbs such as tobacco, ] or ]. Many Plains tribes have ] ceremonies, though the specifics of the ceremony vary among tribes. Fasting, singing and prayer in the ancient languages of their people, and sometimes ] are common.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Levine |first1=Victoria Lindsay |title=Native American Music |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/Native-American-music |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=June 16, 2018}}</ref>
No particular religion or religious tradition is hegemonic among Native Americans in the United States. Most self-identifying and federally recognized Native Americans claim adherence to some form of Christianity, some of these being cultural and religious syntheses unique to the particular tribe. Traditional Native American spiritual rites and ceremonies are maintained by many Americans of both Native and non-Native identity. These ] may accompany adherence to another faith, or can represent a person's primary religious identity. While much Native American spiritualism exists in a tribal-cultural continuum, and as such cannot be easily separated from tribal identity itself, certain other more clearly-defined movements have arisen within "Trad" Native American practitioners, these being identifiable as "religions" in the clinical sense. The ] is a traditional medicine society inspired by the oral traditions and prophesies of the ] (Chippewa) and related tribes. Traditional practices include the burning of sacred herbs (tobacco, ], ], etc.), the ], fasting (paramount in "vision quests"), singing and ], and the smoking of natural tobacco in a ]. A practitioner of Native American spiritualities and religions may incorporate all, some or none of these into their personal or tribal rituals.


], the patron of ]s, ], and orphans, was canonized by the ]]]
Another significant religious body among Native peoples is known as the ]. It is a syncretistic church incorporating elements of native spiritual practice from a number of different tribes as well as symbolic elements from ]. Its main rite is the ] ceremony. Prior to 1890, traditional religious beliefs included ]. In the American Southwest, especially ], a syncretism between the ] brought by Spanish missionaries and the native religion is common; the religious drums, chants, and dances of the ] are regularly part of ]es at ]'s ].<ref> by Jay Fikes. URL accessed on February 22, 2006.</ref> Native American-Catholic syncretism is also found elsewhere in the United States. (e.g., the National ] Shrine in ] and the ] in ]).
The ] is a medicine society inspired by the oral history and prophesies of the ] (Chippewa) and related tribes.


Another significant religious body among Native peoples is known as the ]. It is a ] church incorporating elements of Native spiritual practice from a number of different tribes as well as symbolic elements from ]. Its main rite is the ] ceremony. Prior to 1890, traditional religious beliefs included ]. In the American Southwest, especially ], a syncretism between the ] brought by Spanish missionaries and the native religion is common; the religious drums, chants, and dances of the ] are regularly part of ] at ]'s ].<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070821191748/http://www.csp.org/communities/docs/fikes-nac_history.html |date=August 21, 2007}} by Jay Fikes. Retrieved February 22, 2006.</ref> Native American-Catholic syncretism is also found elsewhere in the United States. (e.g., the National ] Shrine in ], and the ] in ]). Some Native American tribes who practice Christianity, including the ], organized denominations, such as the ].<ref name="Melton2003">{{cite book |last1=Melton |first1=J. Gordon |title=Encyclopedia of American Religions |date=2003 |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-7876-6384-1 |page=423 |language=English}}</ref>
Native Americans are the only known ] group in the United States requiring a federal permit to practice their ]. The ], (Title 50 Part 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations), stipulates that only individuals of certifiable Native American ancestry enrolled in a federally recognized tribe are legally authorized to obtain ] feathers for ] or ] use. Native Americans and non-Native Americans frequently contest the value and validity of the ], charging that the law is laden with discriminatory racial preferences and infringes on tribal sovereignty. The law does not allow Native Americans to give ] feathers to non-Native Americans, a common modern and traditional practice. Many non-Native Americans have been adopted into Native American families, made tribal members and given eagle feathers.*)

The ] (Title 50 Part 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations) stipulates that only individuals of certifiable Native American ancestry enrolled in a federally recognized tribe are legally authorized to obtain ] feathers for religious or spiritual use. The law does not allow Native Americans to give eagle feathers to non-Native Americans.<ref>{{cite book |title=Proposed Amendments to the American Indian Religious Freedom Act: March 8, 1993, Minneapolis, MN |date=1993 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=17}}</ref>


===Gender roles=== ===Gender roles===
{{Main|Gender roles among the indigenous peoples of North America|Clan Mother (disambiguation){{!}}Clan Mother|Matriarchy|Matrilineality|Two-Spirit}}
] was the first Native American woman to become a ] in the United States.]]


Gender roles are differentiated in many Native American tribes. Many Natives have retained traditional expectations of sexuality and gender and continue to do so in contemporary life despite continued and on-going colonial pressures.<ref name=Estrada>{{cite journal |last1=Estrada |first1=Gabriel |title=Two Spirits, Nádleeh, and LGBTQ2 Navajo Gaze |journal=American Indian Culture and Research Journal |date=January 1, 2011 |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=167–190 |doi=10.17953/aicr.35.4.x500172017344j30|doi-broken-date=December 3, 2024 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/08c129mf }}</ref>
] was the first ] woman to become a ] in the ].]]


Whether a particular tribe is predominantly ] or ], often both sexes have some degree of decision-making power within the tribe. Many Nations, such as the ] Five Nations and the Southeast Muskogean tribes, have matrilineal or ] systems, in which property and hereditary leadership are controlled by and passed through the maternal lines.<ref name=Thomas>{{cite web|last=Thomas |first=Katsithawi |title=Gender Roles among the Iroquois |url=https://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/tlc/publications/native-circle/native-circle-2003/ashley-thomas3.pdf}}</ref> In these Nations, the children are considered to belong to the mother's clan. In ] culture, women own the family property. When traditional young women marry, their husbands may join them in their mother's household.
Most Native American tribes had traditional ]. In some tribes, such as the ] nation, social and clan relationships were ] and/or ], although several ] were in use. One example is the Cherokee custom of wives owning the family property. Men hunted, traded and made war, while women gathered plants, cared for the young and the elderly, fashioned clothing and instruments and cured meat. The ] was used by mothers to carry their baby while working or traveling.<ref>, Encyclopedia of North American Indians, by Beatrice Medicine. URL accessed on February 99, 2006.</ref> However, in some (but not all) tribes a kind of ] was permitted; see ].


Matrilineal structures enable young women to have assistance in childbirth and rearing and protect them in case of conflicts between the couple. If a couple separates or the man dies, the woman has her family to assist her. In matrilineal cultures the mother's brothers are usually the leading male figures in her children's lives; fathers have no standing in their wife and children's clan, as they still belong to their own mother's clan. Hereditary clan chief positions pass through the mother's line and chiefs have historically been selected on the recommendations of women elders, who could also disapprove of a chief.<ref name=Thomas/>
At least several dozen tribes allowed ] to sisters, with procedural and economic limits.<ref name=Morgan1907 />


], {{Circa|1835}}]]
Apart from making home, women had many tasks that were essential for the survival of the tribes. They made weapons and tools, took care of the roofs of their homes and often helped their men hunt ].<ref>, Native American Women, Indians.org. URL accessed on January 11, 2007.</ref>
In the ] tribes, such as the ], ], ], and ], hereditary leadership passes through the male line, and children are considered to belong to the father and his ]. In patrilineal tribes, if a woman marries a non-Native, she is no longer considered part of the tribe, and her children are considered to share the ethnicity and culture of their father.<ref name="TrueLogan">, ''Publications of the Nebraska State Historical Society'', Vol. 19, edited by Albert Watkins, Nebraska State Historical Society, 1919, p. 64, at GenNet, accessed August 25, 2011</ref>
In some of the Plains Indian tribes there reportedly were medicine women who gathered herbs and cured the ill.<ref>, Medicine Women, Bluecloud.org. URL accessed on January 11, 2007.</ref>


In patriarchal tribes, gender roles tend to be rigid. Men have historically hunted, traded and made war while, as life-givers, women have primary responsibility for the survival and welfare of the families (and future of the tribe). Women usually gather and cultivate plants, use plants and herbs to treat illnesses, care for the young and the elderly, make all the clothing and instruments, and process and cure meat and skins from the game. Some mothers use ]s to carry an infant while working or traveling.<ref>, "Gender", ''Encyclopedia of North American Indians'', February 9, 2006.</ref> In matriarchal and egalitarian nations, the gender roles are usually not so clear-cut and are even less so in the modern era.<ref name=Estrada/>
In some of these tribes such as the ] girls were also encouraged to learn to ride, hunt and fight.<ref>Zinn, Howard (2005). A People's History of the United States: 1492-present. Harper Perennial Modern Classics. ISBN 0-06-083865-5.</ref> Though fighting was mostly left to the boys and men, there had been cases of women fighting alongside them, especially when the existence of the tribe was threatened.<ref>, Women in Battle, Bluecloud.org. URL accessed on January 11, 2007.</ref>


At least several dozen tribes allowed ] to sisters, with procedural and economic limits.<ref name="Morgan1907"/>
===Sports===


] girls are encouraged to learn to ride, hunt and fight.<ref>Zinn, Howard (2005). ''A People's History of the United States: 1492–present'', Harper Perennial Modern Classics. {{ISBN|0-06-083865-5}}.</ref> Though fighting in war has mostly been left to the boys and men, occasionally women have fought as well, both in battles and in defense of the home, especially if the tribe was severely threatened.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bluecloud.org/battle.html |title=Women in Battle |access-date=January 11, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618203223/http://www.bluecloud.org/battle.html |archive-date=June 18, 2012 |url-status=dead |website=Bluecloud}}</ref>
Native American leisure time led to competitive individual and team sports. Early accounts include team games played between tribes with hundreds of players on the field at once. ], ], and ] are well known professional athletes.


====Team based==== ===Modern education===
{{As of|2020}} 90% of Native American school-aged children attend public schools operated by school districts.<ref name=Woodsgetsaway>{{cite news|last=Woods|first=Alden|url=https://www.propublica.org/article/the-federal-government-gives-native-students-an-inadequate-education-and-gets-away-with-it|title=The Federal Government Gives Native Students an Inadequate Education, and Gets Away With It|agency=]|publisher=]|date=August 6, 2020|access-date=July 29, 2021}}</ref> Tribally-operated schools under contracts/grants with the ] (BIE) and direct BIE-operated schools take about 8% of Native American students,<ref>{{cite web|last=Woods|first=Alden|url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-investigations/2020/09/28/bureau-of-indian-education-fails-provide-native-students-computers-home-learning/3537199001/|title=Feds promised Native American students computers and internet. Many are still waiting|newspaper=]|date=September 28, 2020|access-date=July 29, 2021}}</ref> including students who live in very rural remote areas.<ref name=Woodsgetsaway/>


In 1978, 215,000 (78%) of Native Americans attended school district-operated public schools, 47,000 (17%) attended schools directly operated by the BIA, 2,500 (1%) attended tribal or other schools that contracted with the BIA, and the remaining 9,000 (3%) attended missionary schools for Native American children or other private schools.<ref>{{cite web|editor1=Green, Donald E.|editor2=Tonneson, Thomas V.|url=https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED351157.pdf|title=American Indians: Social Justice and Public Policy|publisher=] Institute on Race and Ethnicity|year=1991|page=186 (PDF p. 198/282)}}</ref>
]


===Sports===
Native American ball sports, sometimes referred to as ], stickball, or baggataway, was often used to settle disputes rather than going to war which was a civil way to settle potential conflict. The ] called it ISITOBOLI ("Little Brother of War")<ref name=choctaw_stickball>
], gold medalist at the 1912 Olympics, in the ] and ] events]]
{{cite web
| url = http://www.indians.org/articles/choctaw-indians.html
| title = Choctaw Indians
| accessdate = 2008-05-02
| year = 2006
| format = HTML
}}
</ref>; the ] name was DEHUNTSHIGWA'ES ("men hit a rounded object"). There are three basic version classifed as Great Lakes, Iroquoian, and Southern.<ref name=three_stickball>
{{cite web
| url = http://www.uslacrosse.org/museum/history.phtml
| title = History of Native American Lacrossee
| author = Thomas Vennum Jr., author of American Indian Lacrosse: Little Brother of War
| accessdate = 2008-09-11
| year = 2002-2005
| format = HTML
}}
</ref> The game is played with one or two rackets/sticks and one ball. The object of the game is to land the ball on the opposing team's goal (either a single post or net) to score and prevent the opposing team from scoring on your goal. The game involves as few as twenty or as many as 300 players with no height or weight restrictions and no protective gear. The goals could be from a few hundred feet apart to a few miles; in Lacrosse the field is 110 yards. A Jesuit priest referenced stickball in 1729, and George Catlin painted the subject.


Native American leisure time led to competitive individual and team sports. ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ] are well known professional athletes.
====Individual based====
] and ] tribe in a 19th-century ] by ]]]


====Team sports====
Chunke was a game that consisted of a stone shaped disk that was about 1&ndash;2 inches in length. The disk was thrown down a {{convert|200|ft|m|sing=on}} corridor so that it could roll past the players at great speed. The disk would roll down the corridor, and players would throw wooden shafts at the moving disk. The object of the game was to strike the disk or prevent your opponents from hitting it.
Native American ball sports, sometimes referred to as ], stickball, or baggataway, were often used to settle disputes, rather than going to war, as a civil way to settle potential conflict. The ] called it ''isitoboli'' ("Little Brother of War");<ref name="choctaw_stickball">{{cite web|url=http://www.indians.org/articles/choctaw-indians.html|title=Choctaw Indians|website=Indians.org|access-date=May 2, 2008|year=2006}}</ref> the ] name was ''dehuntshigwa'es'' ("men hit a rounded object"). There are three basic versions, classified as Great Lakes, Iroquoian, and Southern.<ref name="three_stickball">{{cite web|url=http://www.uslacrosse.org/museum/history.phtml|title=History of Native American Lacrosse|last=Vennum|first=Thomas Jr.|access-date=September 11, 2008|year=2002–2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411215231/http://www.uslacrosse.org/museum/history.phtml|archive-date=April 11, 2009}}</ref>

The game is played with one or two rackets or sticks and one ball. The object of the game is to land the ball in the opposing team's goal (either a single post or net) to score and to prevent the opposing team from scoring on your goal. The game involves as few as 20 or as many as 300 players with no height or weight restrictions and no protective gear. The goals could be from around {{convert|200|ft}} apart to about {{convert|2|mi}}; in lacrosse the field is {{convert|110|yd}}.

====Individual sports====
] was a game that consisted of a stone-shaped disk that was about 1–2&nbsp;inches in diameter. The disk was thrown down a {{convert|200|ft|m|adj=on}} corridor so that it could roll past the players at great speed. The disk would roll down the corridor, and players would throw wooden shafts at the moving disk. The object of the game was to strike the disk or prevent your opponents from hitting it.
] crosses the finish line at the end of the 10,000-meter race at the ].]]


====U.S. Olympics==== ====U.S. Olympics====
], a ] Native American, was an all-around athlete playing football and baseball in the early 20th century. Future President ] injured his knee while trying to tackle the young Thorpe. In a 1961 speech, Eisenhower recalled Thorpe: "Here and there, there are some people who are supremely endowed. My memory goes back to Jim Thorpe. He never practiced in his life, and he could do anything better than any other football player I ever saw."<ref name="CNN">Botelho, Greg. , CNN.com, July 14, 2004. Retrieved April 23, 2007.</ref>


In the 1912 Olympics, Thorpe could run the 100-yard dash in 10 seconds flat, the 220 in 21.8 seconds, the 440 in 51.8 seconds, the 880 in 1:57, the mile in 4:35, the 120-yard high hurdles in 15 seconds, and the 220-yard low hurdles in 24 seconds.<ref name="NYTobit">, '']'', March 29, 1953. Retrieved April 23, 2007.</ref> He could long jump 23&nbsp;ft 6&nbsp;in and high-jump 6&nbsp;ft 5&nbsp;in.<ref name="NYTobit"/> He could ] {{convert|11|ft|m}}, ] {{convert|47|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}, ] {{convert|163|ft|m}}, and throw the ] {{convert|136|ft|m}}.<ref name="NYTobit"/> Thorpe entered the U.S. Olympic trials for the pentathlon and the decathlon.
]


], ], was an American two-time Olympic distance runner and silver medalist in the 10,000-meter run in 1912. He ran for the Carlisle Indian School where he was a teammate of Jim Thorpe. His silver medal in 1912 remained the best U.S. achievement in this event until another Indian, Billy Mills, won the gold medal in 1964. Tewanima also competed at the 1908 Olympics, where he finished in ninth place in the marathon.
] is a ] and ] officer who was trained to compete in the 1964 Olympics. Mills was a virtual unknown. He had finished second in the U.S. Olympic trials. His time in the preliminaries was a full minute slower than Clarke's.


], of the ] from Rhode Island, better known as "Tarzan" Brown, won two Boston Marathons (1936, 1939) and competed on the United States Olympic team in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany, but did not finish due to injury. He qualified for the 1940 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, but the games were canceled due to the outbreak of World War II.
Jim Thorpe, a Sauk and Fox Native American, was an all-round athlete playing football and baseball. Future President ] injured his knee while trying to tackle Thorpe. Eisenhower recalled of Thorpe in a 1961 speech, "Here and there, there are some people who are supremely endowed. My memory goes back to Jim Thorpe. He never practiced in his life, and he could do anything better than any other football player I ever saw."<ref name="CNN">Botelho, Greg. , CNN.com, ], ], accessed ], ]. </ref> In the Olympics, Thorpe could run the 100-yard dash in 10 seconds flat, the 220 in 21.8 seconds, the 440 in 51.8 seconds, the 880 in 1:57, the mile in 4:35, the 120-yard high hurdles in 15 seconds, and the 220-yard low hurdles in 24 seconds.<ref name="NYTobit">, '']'', ], ], accessed ], ]. </ref> He could long jump 23&nbsp;ft 6&nbsp;in and high-jump 6&nbsp;ft 5&nbsp;in.<ref name="NYTobit"/> He could ] 11&nbsp;feet, ] 47&nbsp;ft 9&nbsp;in, ] 163&nbsp;feet, and throw the ] 136&nbsp;feet.<ref name="NYTobit"/> Thorpe entered the U.S. Olympic trials for both the pentathlon and the decathlon.


], a ] and ] officer, won the gold medal in the 10,000-meter run at the ]. He was the only American ever to win the Olympic gold in this event. An unknown before the Olympics, Mills finished second in the U.S. Olympic trials.
===Music and art===
{{main|Native American music}}


], part ] from ], became the first American male to medal in ] in the Olympics, taking silver at age 20 in the ] in the ] at ], ]. Six years later at the 1970 World Championships, Kidd won the gold medal in the ] event and took the bronze medal in the slalom.
], often exhibited a sophisticated and well-developed style.]]


] (]), an uneven bars specialist was an alternate for the ] U.S. gymnastics team, the ].<ref name="ashloc">{{cite web |last1=Penny |first1=Brandon |title=Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman Lead Olympic Women's Gymnastics Team |url=https://www.teamusa.org/News/2016/July/10/US-Olympic-Team-Trials-For-Womens-Gymnastics |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160712204824/http://www.teamusa.org/News/2016/July/10/US-Olympic-Team-Trials-For-Womens-Gymnastics |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 12, 2016 |website=Team USA |publisher=United States Olympic Committee |access-date=January 28, 2019 |date=July 10, 2016}}</ref> In 2016, ] (]) also helped Team USA win the gold medal at the ]. With the win, he became just the fourth member of Team USA to capture the NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal in the same year, joining ], ], and ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2016/08/kyrie_irving_helps_team_usa_wi.html|title=Kyrie Irving helps Team USA win gold medal at 2016 Olympics, joins elite company|date=August 22, 2016}}</ref>
Traditional ] is almost entirely ], but there are notable exceptions. Native American music often includes ]ming and/or the playing of rattles or other percussion instruments but little other instrumentation. ]s and whistles made of wood, cane, or bone are also played, generally by individuals, but in former times also by large ensembles (as noted by Spanish ] ]). The tuning of these flutes is not precise and depends on the length of the wood used and the hand span of the intended player, but the finger holes are most often around a whole step apart and, at least in Northern California, a flute was not used if it turned out to have an interval close to a half step.


===Literature===
Performers with Native American parentage have occasionally appeared in American popular music, such as ],<ref>Turner, T. "I, Tina". Harper Collins. 1987. ISBN 0-380-70097-2</ref> ], ], ], ], ] and ]. Some, such as ], have used music to comment on life in Native America, and others, such as ] integrate traditional sounds with modern sounds in instrumental recordings. A variety of small and medium-sized recording companies offer an abundance of recent music by Native American performers young and old, ranging from pow-wow drum music to hard-driving rock-and-roll and rap.
{{Main|Native American literature}}
{{See also|List of writers from peoples Indigenous to the Americas|Postcolonial literature}}


Native American literature, composed of both ] and written literature, has a long history. Relevantly, it is considered a series of literatures reflecting the varied traditions and histories of different tribes. Modern authors cover a wide range of genres and include ], ], ], ], ], ], and many more.
The most widely practiced public musical form among Native Americans in the United States is that of the pow-wow. At ]s, such as the annual ] in ], ], members of drum groups sit in a circle around a large drum. Drum groups play in unison while they sing in a native language and dancers in colorful regalia dance clockwise around the drum groups in the center. Familiar pow-wow songs include honor songs, intertribal songs, crow-hops, sneak-up songs, grass-dances, two-steps, welcome songs, going-home songs, and war songs. Most indigenous communities in the United States also maintain traditional songs and ceremonies, some of which are shared and practiced exclusively within the community.<ref>{{cite book |author=Bierhosrt, John |title=A Cry from the Earth: Music of North American Indians |publisher=Ancient City Press |year=1992}}</ref>


===Music===
Native American art comprises a major category in the world art collection. Native American contributions include ](]), ]s, ], ]s, ]s, ], and ].
{{Main|Native American music}}
{{See also| Native American hip hop | Indigenous metal music}}
]r at the Seafair Indian Days ], ], ]]]
] from ]]]


Traditional Native American music is almost entirely ], but there are notable exceptions. Native American music often includes ] or the playing of rattles or other percussion instruments but little other instrumentation. ] and whistles made of wood, cane, or bone are also played, generally by individuals, but in former times also by large ensembles (as noted by Spanish ] ]). The tuning of modern flutes is typically ].
The integrity of certain Native American artworks is now protected by an act of Congress that prohibits representation of art as Native American when it is not the product of an enrolled Native American artist. art is spelled with an A


Performers with Native American parentage have occasionally appeared in American popular music such as ], ], ], ], and ] (members are also of Mexican descent). Some, such as ], have used music to comment on life in Native America. Other musicians such as ], ] and ] integrate traditional sounds with modern sounds in instrumental recordings, whereas the music by artist ] is derived from ancestral heritage as well as nature. A variety of small and medium-sized recording companies offer an abundance of recent music by Native American performers young and old, ranging from pow-wow drum music to hard-driving rock-and-roll and rap. In the International world of ballet dancing ] was considered America's first major ],<ref name=SunTimes_obit>{{cite news|title=American prima ballerina Maria Tallchief dies at 88|first=Hedy|last=Weiss|date=April 12, 2013|work=Chicago Sun Times|url=http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/19439381-421/american-prima-ballerina-maria-tallchief-dies-at-88.html|access-date=April 15, 2013|archive-date=April 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130416013816/http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/19439381-421/american-prima-ballerina-maria-tallchief-dies-at-88.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and was the first person of Native American descent to hold the rank.<ref name=Time_obit>{{cite news|url=https://entertainment.time.com/2013/04/12/the-silent-song-of-maria-tallchief-americas-prima-ballerina-1925-2013/|title=The Silent Song of Maria Tallchief: America's Prima Ballerina (1925–2013)|magazine=]|date=April 12, 2013|first=Howard|last=Chua-Eoan|access-date=April 16, 2013}}</ref> along with her sister ] both became star ballerinas.
===Economy===


The most widely practiced public musical form among Native Americans in the United States is that of the ]. At pow-wows, such as the annual ] in ], members of drum groups sit in a circle around a large drum. Drum groups play in unison while they sing in a native language and dancers in colorful regalia dance clockwise around the drum groups in the center. Familiar pow-wow songs include honor songs, intertribal songs, crow-hops, sneak-up songs, grass-dances, two-steps, welcome songs, going-home songs, and war songs. Most Indigenous communities in the United States also maintain traditional songs and ceremonies, some of which are shared and practiced exclusively within the community.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Bierhosrt, John |title=A Cry from the Earth: Music of North American Indians |publisher=Ancient City Press |year=1992}}{{page needed|date=March 2021}}</ref>
] Native Americans.]]


===Art===
The ], or ], prepared and buried large amounts of dried meat and fish. ] tribes crafted seafaring dugouts 40–50 feet long for fishing. Farmers in the Eastern Woodlands tended fields of maize with hoes and digging sticks, while their neighbors in the Southeast grew tobacco as well as food crops. On the Plains, some tribes engaged in agriculture but also planned buffalo hunts in which herds were driven over bluffs. Dwellers of the Southwest deserts hunted small animals and gathered acorns to grind into flour with which they baked wafer-thin bread on top of heated stones. Some groups on the region's mesas developed irrigation techniques, and filled storehouses with grain as protection against the area's frequent ].
{{Further|petroglyph|pictogram|petroform|Visual arts by indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous ceramics of the Americas|Native American jewelry}}


The ], living around the ] and extending east and north, used strings or belts called '']'' that served a dual function: the knots and beaded designs mnemonically chronicled tribal stories and legends, and further served as a medium of exchange and a unit of measure. The keepers of the articles were seen as tribal dignitaries.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.tolatsga.org/iro.html |title = Iroquois History |access-date = February 23, 2006|last = Sultzmann|first = Leo |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060404181034/http://www.tolatsga.org/iro.html |archive-date= Apr 4, 2006 }}</ref>
In the early years, as these native peoples encountered European explorers and settlers and engaged in trade, they exchanged food, crafts, and furs for blankets, iron and steel implements, horses, trinkets, firearms, and alcoholic beverages.


] crafted impressive items associated with their religious ceremonies. '']'' dancers wore elaborately painted and decorated masks as they ritually impersonated various ancestral spirits.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/kachina|title=Kachina|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=September 3, 2018}}</ref> Pueblo people are particularly noted for their traditional high-quality pottery, often with geometric designs and floral, animal and bird motifs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pueblo-pottery|title=Pueblo Pottery|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=September 3, 2018}}</ref> Sculpture was not highly developed, but carved stone and wood fetishes were made for religious use. Superior weaving, embroidered decorations, and rich dyes characterized the textile arts. Both turquoise and shell jewelry were created, as were formalized pictorial arts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reference.com/history/arts-crafts-pueblo-indians-75b95e4adf7c95e7#|title=What Are the Arts and Crafts of the Pueblo Indians? |website=Reference.com|date=August 4, 2015|access-date=September 3, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903215230/https://www.reference.com/history/arts-crafts-pueblo-indians-75b95e4adf7c95e7 |archive-date= September 3, 2018 }}</ref>
====Barriers to economic development====


] spirituality focused on the maintenance of a harmonious relationship with the spirit world, often achieved by ceremonial acts, usually incorporating ]. For the Navajo, the sand painting is not merely a representational object, but a dynamic spiritual entity with a life of its own, which helped the patient at the center of the ceremony re-establish a connection with the life force. These vivid, intricate, and colorful sand creations were erased at the end of the healing ceremony.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://navajopeople.org/navajo-sand-painting.htm|title = Navajo Sandpaintings |website = Navajo People - The Diné |access-date = September 3, 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110903010631/http://navajopeople.org/navajo-sand-painting.htm|archive-date = September 3, 2011|url-status = dead}}</ref>
Today, other than tribes successfully running boop, many tribes struggle. There are an estimated 2.1 million Native Americans, and they are the most impoverished of all ethnic groups. According to the ], an estimated 400,000 Native Americans reside on reservation land. While some tribes have had success with gaming, only 40% of the 562 federally recognized tribes operate ].<ref name="NIGA">{{cite web |url=http://www.indiangaming.org/library/indian-gaming-facts/index.shtml |title=NIGA: Indian Gaming Facts}}</ref> According to a 2007 survey by the ], only 1 percent of Native Americans own and operate a business.<ref name="SBA">{{cite web |url=http://www.america.gov/st/diversity-english/2007/December/20071221175918ABretnuH0.3369257.html|title=Number of U.S. ] Owned Businesses Increasing}}</ref> Native Americans rank at the bottom of nearly every social statistic: highest teen suicide rate of all minorities at 18.5%, highest rate of teen pregnancy, highest high school drop out rate at 54%, lowest ], and ] rates between 50% to 90%.


It has been estimated that the Native American arts and crafts industry brings in more than a billion USD in gross sales annually, nationwide.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Cornell|first1=Maraya|title=Biggest Fake Native American Art Conspiracy Revealed|url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/native-american-indian-art-fake-forgery-hopi-zuni0/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315080714/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/native-american-indian-art-fake-forgery-hopi-zuni0/|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 15, 2018|access-date=March 18, 2018|work=National Geographic News|publisher=]|date=March 15, 2018}}</ref>
The barriers to ] on Indian reservations often cited by others and two experts ]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hks.harvard.edu/hpaied/people/kalt.htm |title=Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development |accessdate=2008-06-17 |last=Kalt |first=Joseph |}}</ref> and ]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://udallcenter.arizona.edu/staff/scornell.html |title=Co-director, Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development |accessdate=2008-06-17 |last=Cornell |first=Stephen |}}</ref> of ], in their classic report: ''What Can Tribes Do? Strategies and Institutions in American Indian Economic Development'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://64.233.179.104/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=cache:Wpg98i7NcJEJ:www.ksg.harvard.edu/hpaied/docs/reloading%2520the%2520dice.pdf+author:%22Cornell%22+intitle:%22What+Can+Tribes+Do%3F+Strategies+and+Institutions+in+...%22+ |title=What Can Tribes Do? Strategies and Institutions in American Indian Economic Development|accessdate=2008-06-17 |last=Cornell, S. |first=Kalt, J.|}}</ref> are as follows (incomplete list, see full Kalt & Cornell report):


Native American art comprises a major category in the world art collection. Native American contributions include ], ]s, ], ]s, ], ], and ]. ] was a Cherokee artist who taught students from many tribes at Haskell Institute (now ]) in the 1940s, the ''Golden Age'' of Native American painters. The integrity of certain Native American artworks is protected by the ], which prohibits the representation of art as Native American when it is not the product of an enrolled Native American artist. Attorney Gail Sheffield and others claim that this law has had "the unintended consequence of sanctioning discrimination against Native Americans whose tribal affiliation was not officially recognized".<ref>Gail Sheffield, ''The Arbitrary Indian: The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990''. University of Oklahoma Press, 1997.</ref> Native artists such as ] (]) who was not enrolled ran the risk of fines or imprisonment if they continued to sell their art while affirming their Indian heritage.<ref>James J. Kilpatrick, " {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221418/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1992-12-13/news/9203060467_1_indian-tribe-indian-arts-indian-blood |date=March 3, 2016}}". Broward & Palm Beach ''Sun-Sentinel'', December 13, 1992.</ref><ref>Sam Blackwell, "." ''The Southeast Missourian'', October 6, 2000.</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Smoot |first1=D. E. |title=Judge rejects state's effort to restrict Native art |url=https://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/news/tribal_news/judge-rejects-state-s-effort-to-restrict-native-art/article_251107b5-eb84-55de-852d-868a4992ad51.html |access-date=August 5, 2019 |work=] |date=May 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805170311/https://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/news/tribal_news/judge-rejects-state-s-effort-to-restrict-native-art/article_251107b5-eb84-55de-852d-868a4992ad51.html |archive-date=August 5, 2019 |location=Tahlequah, Oklahoma}}</ref>
* Lack of access to capital.
* Lack of human capital (education, skills, technical expertise) and the means to develop it.
* ] lack effective planning.
* Reservations are poor in natural resources.
* Reservations have natural resources, but lack sufficient control over them.
* Reservations are disadvantaged by their distance from markets and the high costs of transportation.
* ] cannot persuade investors to locate on reservations because of intense competition from non-Indian communities.
* The ] is inept, corrupt, and/or uninterested in reservation development.
* Tribal politicians and bureaucrats are inept or corrupt.
* On-reservation factionalism destroys stability in tribal decisions.
* The instability of tribal government keeps outsiders from investing.
* Entrepreneurial skills and experience are scarce.
* Non-Indian management techniques will work, but are absent.
* Tribal cultures get in the way.


==Interracial relations==
One of the major barriers for overcoming the economic strife is the lack of entrepreneurial knowledge and experience across ]. “A general lack of education and experience about business is a significant challenge to prospective entrepreneurs,” also says another report on Native American ] by the ] in 2004. “Native American communities that lack entrepreneurial traditions and recent experiences typically do not provide the support that entrepreneurs need to thrive. Consequently, experiential entrepreneurship education needs to be embedded into school curricula and after-school and other community activities. This would allow students to learn the essential elements of entrepreneurship from a young age and encourage them to apply these elements throughout life.”<ref name="CFED">{{cite web |url=http://www.energizingentrepreneurs.org/content/cr.php?id=4&sel=5 |title=Native Entrepreneurship: Challenges and opportunities for rural communities - CFED, Northwest Area Foundation Dec. 2004}}</ref>. One publication devoted to addressing these issues is '']'' magazine.
]
i was here


Interracial relations between Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans is a complex issue that has been mostly neglected with "few in-depth studies on interracial relationships".<ref name="lin">{{Cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1546/is_n4_v11/ai_18953815|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050609074754/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1546/is_n4_v11/ai_18953815|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 9, 2005|title=The Indian connection|first=Mary A. |last=Dempsey |access-date=September 19, 2008 |year=1996 |publisher=American Visions}}</ref><ref name="takingAssToHeart">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/takingassimilati0000elli |url-access=registration |page= |title=Taking assimilation to heart |first=Katherine|last=Ellinghaus|isbn=978-0-8032-1829-1 |year=2006 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press}}</ref>
===Native Americans and African Americans===


===Assimilation===
{{seealso|Black Indians}}
{{further|Cultural assimilation of Native Americans}}


European impact was immediate, widespread, and profound already during the early years of colonization and the creation of the countries which currently exist in the Americas. Europeans living among Native Americans were often called "white indians". They "lived in native communities for years, learned native languages fluently, attended native councils, and often fought alongside their native companions".<ref name="white_indians">{{cite web|url=http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/background/nat_white_ind.html|title=Sharing Choctaw History|access-date=February 5, 2008|publisher=A First Nations Perspective, Galafilm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226024218/http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/background/nat_white_ind.html|archive-date=December 26, 2007}}
]
</ref>


Early contact was often charged with tension and emotion, but also had moments of friendship, cooperation, and intimacy.<ref name="white_red_relations1">{{cite web|url=http://www.artsofcitizenship.umich.edu/sos/topics/native/early.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510222953/http://www.artsofcitizenship.umich.edu/sos/topics/native/early.html|archive-date=May 10, 2008|title=Native Americans: Early Contact|access-date=May 19, 2009|publisher=Students on Site}}</ref> Marriages took place in English, French, Russian and Spanish colonies between Native Americans and Europeans though Native American women were also the victims of rape.<ref name="udayu">{{cite web|url=http://academic.udayton.edu/Race/05intersection/Gender/rape.htm|title="The Realities of Enslaved Female Africans in America", excerpted from ''Failing Our Black Children: Statutory Rape Laws, Moral Reform and the Hypocrisy of Denial''|first=Gloria J.|last=Browne-Marshall|access-date=June 20, 2009|year=2009|publisher=University of Daytona|archive-date=November 5, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105133059/http://academic.udayton.edu/race/05intersection/gender/rape.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The earliest record of African and Native American relations occurred in April, 1502, when the first Africans kidnapped were brought to ] to serve as slaves. Some escaped and somewhere inland on Santo Domingo life birthed the first circle of African-Native Americans.<ref name="first">{{cite web |url=http://www.africanamericans.com/BlackIndians.htm|title=Black Indians|author=William Loren Katz |accessdate=2008-08-11 |date=2008 |publisher=AfricanAmericans.com }}</ref> In addition, an example of African slaves' escaping from European colonists and being absorbed by American Indians occurred as far back as 1526. In June of that year, Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon established a Spanish colony near the mouth of the ] in what is now eastern ]. The Spanish settlement was named ]. Amongst the settlement were 100 enslaved Africans. In 1526, the first African slaves fled the colony and took refuge with local Native Americans<ref>''Muslims in American History : A Forgotten Legacy'' by Dr. Jerald F. Dirks. ISBN 1-59008-044-0 Page 204.</ref>


There was fear on both sides, as the different peoples realized how different their societies were.<ref name="white_red_relations1"/> Many whites regarded Native people as "savages" because the Native people were not Protestant or Roman Catholic and therefore the Native people were not considered to be human beings.<ref name="white_red_relations1"/> The Native American author, Andrew J. Blackbird, wrote in his ''History of the ] and ] Indians of Michigan'' (1897), that white settlers introduced some immoralities into Native American tribes. Many Native Americans suffered because the Europeans introduced alcohol. Many Native people do not break down alcohol in the same way as people of Eurasian background. Many Native people were learning what their body could ] of this new substance and died as a result of imbibing too much.<ref name="white_red_relations1"/>
European Colonists created treaties with Native American tribes requesting the return of any ]. For example, in 1726, the British Governor of New York exacted a promise from the Iroquois to return all runaway slaves who had joined up with them. This same promise was extracted from the Huron Natives in 1764 and from the Delaware Natives in 1765.<ref>Katz WL 1997 p103 </ref> Numerous advertisements requested the return of African Americans who had married Native Americans or who spoke a Native-American language. Individuals in some tribes, especially the Cherokee, owned African ]; however, other tribes incorporated African Americans, slave or freemen, into the tribe. Interracial relations between Native Americans and African Americans has been apart of ] that has been neglected.<ref name="lin">{{cite web |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1546/is_n4_v11/ai_18953815|title=The Indian connection|author=Mary A. Dempsey|accessdate=2008-09-19 |date=1996 |publisher= American Visions}}</ref>


Blackbird wrote:
===Notable Native Americans of the United States===
{{blockquote|The Ottawas and Chippewas were quite virtuous in their primitive state, as there were no illegitimate children reported in our old traditions. But very lately this evil came to exist among the Ottawas-so lately that the second case among the Ottawas of 'Arbor Croche' is yet living in 1897. And from that time this evil came to be quite frequent, for immorality has been introduced among these people by evil white persons who bring their vices into the tribes.<ref name="white_red_relations1"/>}}
:''See: ]''


], ]. The Osage woman was married to a French soldier.]]
===Population===
], 1855]]
The U.S. government had two purposes when making land agreements with Native Americans: to open up more land for white settlement,<ref name="white_red_relations1"/> and to "ease tensions" (in other words assimilate Native people to Eurasian social ways) between whites and Native Americans by forcing the Native Americans to use the land in the same way as did the whites—for subsistence farms.<ref name="white_red_relations1"/> The government used a variety of strategies to achieve these goals; many treaties required Native Americans to become farmers in order to keep their land.<ref name="white_red_relations1"/> Government officials often did not translate the documents which Native Americans were forced to sign, and native chiefs often had little or no idea what they were signing.<ref name="white_red_relations1"/>


] was one of the first Native Americans to become certified as a ], after he graduated from Boston University.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipl.org/div/natam/bin/browse.pl/A29 |title=Indian Achievement Award |publisher=Ipl.org |access-date=August 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100703034312/http://www.ipl.org/div/natam/bin/browse.pl/A29 |archive-date=July 3, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.answers.com/topic/charles-eastman |title=Charles A. Eastman |publisher=Answers.com |access-date=August 22, 2010}}</ref>]]
]'s forces defeated an American force of nearly 1000 U.S Army soliders and other causualties at the Battle of the Wabash in 1791.]]
For a Native American man to marry a white woman, he had to get consent of her parents, as long as "he can prove to support her as a white woman in a good home".<ref name="white_reds">
{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/takingassimilati0000elli |url-access=registration |page= |title=Taking assimilation to heart |first=Katherine|last=Ellinghaus |isbn=978-0-8032-1829-1 |year=2006 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press}}
</ref> In the early 19th century, the ] Tecumseh and blonde hair, blue-eyed Rebecca Galloway had an interracial affair. In the late 19th century, three European American middle-class women teachers at ] married Native American men whom they had met as students.<ref name="white_red_marriages">{{cite web|url=http://www.vahistorical.org/publications/Abstract_1083_ellinghaus.htm|title=Virginia Magazine of History and Biography|access-date=May 19, 2009|publisher=Virginia Historical Society|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081018202023/http://www.vahistorical.org/publications/Abstract_1083_ellinghaus.htm|archive-date=October 18, 2008}}</ref>


As European American women started working independently at missions and Indian schools in the western states, there were more opportunities for their meeting and developing relationships with Native American men. For instance, ], a man of European and ] origin whose father sent both his sons to ], got his medical degree at ] and returned to the West to practice. He married ], whom he met in South Dakota. He was the grandson of ], a military officer from Maine, and a chief's daughter. Goodale was a young European American teacher from Massachusetts and a reformer, who was appointed as the U.S. superintendent of Native American education for the reservations in the Dakota Territory. They had six children together.
] was called the "greatest athlete in the world" by ]. ]]


===European enslavement===
] was one of the first Native Americans to become a ].<ref>http://www.ipl.org/div/natam/bin/browse.pl/A29 Indian Achievement Award.</ref><ref></ref>]]
{{main|Slavery among Native Americans in the United States|Slavery among Indigenous peoples of the Americas}}


The majority of Native American tribes did practice some form of slavery before the European introduction of African slavery into North America, but none exploited slave labor on a large scale. Most Native American tribes did not barter captives in the pre-colonial era, although they sometimes exchanged enslaved individuals with other tribes in peace gestures or in exchange for their own members.<ref name="laubchap1">{{cite book|last1=Lauber |first1=Almon Wheeler |title=Indian Slavery in Colonial Times Within the Present Limits of the United States Chapter 1: Enslavement by the Indians Themselves |date=1913 |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=25–48 |publisher=]}}</ref> When Europeans arrived as ] in North America, Native Americans changed their practice of ] dramatically. Native Americans began selling war captives to Europeans rather than integrating them into their own societies as they had done before. As the demand for labor in the ] grew with the cultivation of ], Europeans enslaved Native Americans for the ], and some were exported to the "sugar islands". The British settlers, especially those in the southern colonies, purchased or captured Native Americans to use as forced labor in cultivating tobacco, rice, and indigo. Accurate records of the numbers enslaved do not exist because vital statistics and census reports were at best infrequent.<ref name="laub">Lauber (1913), "The Number of Indian Slaves" , in ''Indian Slavery'', pp. 105–117.</ref> Scholars estimate tens to hundreds of thousands of Native Americans may have been enslaved by the Europeans, being sold by Native Americans themselves or Europeans.<ref>Gallay, Alan. (2002) ''The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of the English Empire in the American South 1670–171''. New York: Yale University Press. {{ISBN|0-300-10193-7}}.</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title=The other slavery: The uncovered story of Indian enslavement in America|last=Reséndez|first=Andrés|date=2016|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=978-0-544-94710-8|location=Boston|page=324}}</ref>
In 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that about 1.0 percent of the U.S. population was of ] or ] descent. This population is unevenly distributed across the country.<ref></ref> Below, are all 50 states, (the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) are listed by the proportion of residents citing ] or ] ancestry, based on 2006 estimates:


In Colonial America, slavery soon became ], with those enslaved by the institution consisting of ethnic groups (non-Christian Native Americans and Africans) who were foreign to the Christian, European colonists. The ] define the terms of ] in 1705:
<div style="width:60%; -moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;">
: ] - 13.1%
: ] - 9.7%
: ] - 8.6%
: ] - 6.8%
: ] - 6.3%
: ] - 5.2%
: ] - 4.5%
: ] - 2.2%
: ] - 1.8%
: ] - 1.5%
: ] - 1.2%
: ] - 1.1%
: ] - 1.1%
: ] - 1.1%
: ] - 1.0%
: ] - 0.9%
: ] - 0.9%
: ] - 0.9%
: ] - 0.9%
: ] - 0.8%
: ] - 0.7%
: ] - 0.6%
: ] - 0.5%
: ] - 0.5%
: ] - 0.5%
: ] - 0.4%
: ] - 0.4%
: ] - 0.4%
: ] - 0.4%
: ] - 0.4%
: ] - 0.3%
: ] - 0.3%
: ] - 0.3%
: ] - 0.3%
: ] - 0.3%
: ] - 0.3%
: ] - 0.3%
: ] - 0.2%
: ] - 0.2%
: ] - 0.2%
: ] - 0.2%
: ] - 0.2%
: ] - 0.2%
: ] - 0.2%
: ] - 0.2%
: ] - 0.2%
: ] - 0.2%
: ] - 0.2%
: ] - 0.2%
: ] - 0.1%
:
: ] - 0.3%
:
:] - 0.2%
</div>


{{blockquote|All servants imported and brought into the Country&nbsp;... who were not Christians in their native Country&nbsp;... shall be accounted and be slaves. All Negro, mulatto and Indian slaves within this dominion&nbsp;... shall be held to be real estate. If any slave resists his master&nbsp;... correcting such slave, and shall happen to be killed in such correction&nbsp;... the master shall be free of all punishment&nbsp;... as if such accident never happened.|Virginia General Assembly declaration, 1705<ref name="pbsafna">{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1narr3.html |title=The Terrible Transformation:From Indentured Servitude to Racial Slavery |access-date=2010-01-07 |year=2009 |publisher=PBS}}</ref>}}
In 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that about less than 1.0 percent of the U.S. population was of ] or ] descent. This population is unevenly distributed across 26 states.<ref></ref> Below, are the 26 states that had at least 0.1%. They are listed by the proportion of residents citing ] or ] ancestry, based on 2006 estimates:


The slave trade of Native Americans lasted only until around 1750. It gave rise to a series of devastating wars among the tribes, including the ]. The ] of the early 18th century, combined with the increasing importation of African slaves, effectively ended the Native American slave trade by 1750. Colonists found that Native American slaves could easily escape, as they knew the country. The wars cost the lives of numerous colonial slave traders and disrupted their early societies. The remaining Native American groups banded together to face the Europeans from a position of strength. Many surviving Native American peoples of the southeast strengthened their loose coalitions of language groups and joined confederacies such as the ], the ], and the ] for protection. Even after the Indian Slave Trade ended in 1750, the enslavement of Native Americans continued (mostly through kidnappings) in the west and in the ].<ref name="ism">{{cite book |title=Race and the Cherokee Nation |chapter=Indian Slavery and Memory: Interracial sex from the slaves' perspective |first=Fay A. |last=Yarbrough |year=2008 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |pages=112–123}}</ref><ref>Castillo, E.D. 1998. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061214031402/http://www.ceres.ca.gov/nahc/califindian.html |date=December 14, 2006}}, California Native American Heritage Commission, 1998. Retrieved October 24, 2007.</ref> Both Native American and African enslaved women suffered rape and sexual harassment by male slaveholders and other white men.<ref name="udayu"/>
] was a ] chief who made "one of the most beautiful and profound environmental statements ever made," photograph taken in the 1860s]]


===Native American and African relations===
<div style="width:60%; -moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;">
{{Further|Black Indians|Native American slave ownership}}
:] - 8.7
:] - 0.7
:] - 0.6
:] - 0.4
:] - 0.4
:] - 0.4
:] - 0.2
:] - 0.2
:] - 0.1
:] - 0.1
:] - 0.1
:] - 0.1
:] - 0.1
:] - 0.1
:] - 0.1
:] - 0.1
:] - 0.1
:] - 0.1
:] - 0.1
:] - 0.1
:] - 0.1
:] - 0.1
:] - 0.1
:] - 0.1
:] - 0.1
:] - 0.1
</div>


African- and Native- Americans have interacted for centuries. The earliest record of Native American and African contact occurred in April 1502, when Spanish colonists transported the first Africans to ] to serve as slaves.<ref>''Muslims in American History : A Forgotten Legacy'' by Jerald F. Dirks. {{ISBN|1-59008-044-0}} p. 204.</ref>
==See also==


]s, 1890. The nickname was given to the "Black Cavalry" by the Native American tribes they fought.]]
] was a prominent Native American leader of the ] ] who defended his people against the encroachment of the ] on their tribal lands for over 25 years.]]
Sometimes Native Americans resented the presence of African Americans.<ref name="Red, White pg. 99">{{cite book |title =Red, White, and Black: Symposium on Indians in the Old South|date= April 26, 1971|page= 99|publisher= Southern Anthropological Society|isbn=978-0-8203-0308-6|editor-last = Hudson|editor-first = Charles M.}}</ref> The "Catawaba tribe in 1752 showed great anger and bitter resentment when an African American came among them as a trader".<ref name="Red, White pg. 99"/> To gain favor with Europeans, the Cherokee exhibited the strongest color prejudice of all Native Americans.<ref name="Red, White pg. 99"/> Because of European fears of a unified revolt of Native Americans and African Americans, the colonists tried to encourage hostility between the ethnic groups: "Whites sought to convince Native Americans that African Americans worked against their best interests."<ref>Red, White, and Black, p. 105, {{ISBN|0-8203-0308-9}}.</ref> In 1751, South Carolina law stated:


{{blockquote|The carrying of Negroes among the Indians has all along been thought detrimental, as an intimacy ought to be avoided.<ref name="hid">{{cite web |url=http://www.colorq.org/MeltingPot/article.aspx?d=America&x=blackIndians |title=Black Indians (Afro-Native Americans) |author=ColorQ |access-date=2009-05-29 |year=2009 |publisher=ColorQ}}</ref>}}
]


In addition, in 1758 the governor of South Carolina James Glen wrote:
<div style="font-size:95%; -moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;">


{{blockquote|it has always been the policy of this government to create an aversion in them to Negroes.<ref name="afch">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xpusu6xQq6QC&q=afro+cherokee+smallpox&pg=PA33 |title=Ties That Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom |first=Tiya |last=Miles |year=2008 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520250024}}</ref>}}
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*] {{smaller|(list of ]s by cultural area)}}
*]
*]
*]
*]
*] {{smaller|(historical treatment)}}
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*] (ITEC)
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*] magazine
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*] {{smaller|(includes Native American treaties)}}
*]
*]
*]
*]
</div>


Europeans considered both races inferior and made efforts to make both Native Americans and Africans enemies. Native Americans were rewarded if they returned escaped slaves, and African Americans were rewarded for fighting in the late 19th-century ].<ref name="nawomen">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UYWs-GQDiOkC&pg=PA214|title=Women in early America|first=Dorothy A.|last=Mays|year=2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-429-5}}</ref><ref name="cherslav"/><ref name="infr">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sHJMNVV31T0C&pg=PA3|title=Race and the Cherokee Nation|first=Fay A.|last=Yarbrough|year=2007|publisher=Univ of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0-8122-4056-6}}</ref>
==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}


According to the ], "Native Americans, during the transitional period of Africans becoming the primary race enslaved, were enslaved at the same time and shared a common experience of enslavement. They worked together, lived together in communal quarters, produced collective recipes for food, shared herbal remedies, myths and legends, and in the end they intermarried."<ref name="afrna">{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/history/ethnography/aah/aaheritage/lowCountry_furthRdg1.htm |title=African American Heritage and Ethnography: Work, Marriage, Christianity |author=National Park Service |date=May 30, 2009 |publisher=National Park Service}}</ref><ref name="slavbeg">{{cite book |title=Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage |chapter=Their Mixing is to be Prevented |first=William Loren |last=Katz |year=1996 |publisher=Atheneum Books For Young Readers |pages=109–125}}</ref> Because of a shortage of men due to warfare, many tribes encouraged marriage between the two groups, to create stronger, healthier children from the unions.<ref name="nadis">{{cite web|url=http://www.djembe.dk/no/19/08biwapi.html |title=Black Indians want a place in history |first=Nomad |last=Winterhawk |access-date=May 29, 2009 |year=1997 |work=Djembe Magazine |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090714113317/http://www.djembe.dk/no/19/08biwapi.html |archive-date=July 14, 2009}}</ref>
==References==
<div style="font-size:95%; -moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;">
* Adams, David Wallace. ''Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience 1875–1928'', , 1975. ISBN 0-7006-0735-8 (hbk); ISBN 0-7006-0838-9 (pbk).
* Bierhorst, John. ''A Cry from the Earth: Music of North American Indians''. ISBN 0-941270-53-X.
*]. 1969. ''Custer Died for Your Sins: an Indian Manifesto.'' New York: Macmillan.
* Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR), Title 50: Wildlife and Fisheries PART 22—EAGLE PERMITS
* Hirschfelder, Arlene B.; Byler, Mary G.; & Dorris, Michael. ''Guide to research on North American Indians''. American Library Association (1983). ISBN 0-8389-0353-3.
* Johnston, Eric F. ''The Life of the Native American'', Atlanta, GA: Tradewinds Press (2003).
* Johnston, Eric. ''The Life Of the Native''. Philadelphia, PA: E.C. Biddle, etc. 1836–44. University of Georgia Library.
* Jones, Peter N. ''Respect for the Ancestors: American Indian Cultural Affiliation in the American West''. Boulder, CO: Bauu Press (2005). ISBN 0-9721349-2-1.
* Nichols, Roger L. ''Indians in the United States & Canada, A Comparative History''. University of Nebraska Press (1998). ISBN 0-8032-8377-6.
* Pohl, Frances K. . ''A Social History of American Art.'' New York: Thames & Hudson, 2002 (pages 54–56 & 105–106 & 110–111)
* Shanley, Kathryn Winona. "", ''MELUS'', Vol. 29, 2004
*Shanley, Kathryn Winona. "", ''American Indian Quarterly'', Vol. 21, No. 4 (Autumn, 1997), pp. 675–702 doi:10.2307/1185719
* Krech, Shepard. ''The Ecological Indian: Myth and History'', New York: W.W. Norton, 1999. 352 p. ISBN 0393047555
* Sletcher, Michael, "North American Indians", in Will Kaufman and Heidi Macpherson, eds., ''Britain and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History'', New York: Oxford University Press, 2005, 2 vols.
* Snipp, C.M. ''American Indians: The first of this land''. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1989.
* Sturtevant, William C. (Ed.). ''Handbook of North American Indians'' (Vol. 1–20). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. (Vols. 1–3, 16, 18–20 not yet published), (1978–present).
* Tiller, Veronica E. (Ed.). ''Discover Indian Reservations USA: A Visitors' Welcome Guide''. Foreword by ]. Denver, CO: Council Publications, 1992. ISBN 0-9632580-0-1.
</div>


In the 18th century, many Native American women married freed or ] African men due to a decrease in the population of men in Native American villages.<ref name="nawomen"/> Records show that many Native American women bought African men but, unknown to the European sellers, the women freed and married the men into their tribe.<ref name="nawomen"/> When African men married or had children by a Native American woman, their children were born free, because the mother was free (according to the principle of '']'', which the colonists incorporated into law).<ref name="nawomen"/>
==Further reading==

*Calloway, Colin G., ''The American Revolution in Indian Country: Crisis and Diversity in Native American Communities'' (Cambridge University Press, 1995)
While numerous tribes used captive enemies as servants and slaves, they also often adopted younger captives into their tribes to replace members who had died. In the Southeast, a few Native American tribes began to adopt a slavery system similar to that of the American colonists, buying African American slaves, especially the ], ], and ]. Though less than 3% of Native Americans owned slaves, divisions grew among the Native Americans over slavery.<ref name="wil">{{cite web|url=http://www.williamlkatz.com/Essays/History/AfricansIndians.php |title=Africans and Indians: Only in America |author=William Loren Katz |access-date=May 6, 2009 |year=2008 |publisher=William Loren Katz |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513235755/http://www.williamlkatz.com/Essays/History/AfricansIndians.php |archive-date=May 13, 2008}}</ref> Among the Cherokee, records show that slaveholders in the tribe were largely the children of European men who had shown their children the economics of slavery.<ref name="cherslav">{{cite web|url=http://www.coax.net/people/lwf/SLAVE_RV.HTM |title=CHEROKEE SLAVE REVOLT OF 1842 |first=Art T. |last=Burton |access-date=May 29, 2009 |year=1996 |publisher=LWF COMMUNICATIONS |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090929002527/http://coax.net/people/lwf/SLAVE_RV.HTM |archive-date=September 29, 2009}}</ref> As European colonists took slaves into frontier areas, there were more opportunities for relationships between African and Native American peoples.<ref name="nawomen"/>
*Downes, Randolph C., ''Council Fires on the Upper Ohio: A Narrative of Indian Affairs in the Upper Ohio Valley until 1795'' (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1940)

*Ellinghaus, Katherine., ''Taking Assimilation to Heart: Marriages of White Women and Indigenous Men in the United States and Australia, 1887-1937'', (Published by U of Nebraska Press, 2006)
==Race, ethnicity, and citizenship==
*Ely, Mike,''Native Blood: The Myth of Thanksgiving'' (Kasama project, 2007).
{{Main|Native American identity|Native Americans in United States elections}}
*Graymont, Barbara, ''The Iroquois in the American Revolution'' (Syracuse University Press)
] became one of the first two Native American women elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.]]
*O’Donnell, James, ''Southern Indians in the American Revolution'' (University of Tennessee Press, 1973)
] of South Dakota, the only ] elected to the U.S. House of Representatives]]
] became one of the first two Native American women elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.]]
], a citizen of the Choctaw Nation with mixed-African American heritage, nominated by President ] in 2019 to be a federal judge in Texas]]
] became the first Alaska Native elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.]]

Native American identity is determined by the tribal community that the individual or group is seeking to identify with.<ref name=TallBear1>{{cite journal|author=Kimberly TallBear |authorlink=Kim TallBear|title=DNA, Blood, and Racializing the Tribe|journal=Wíčazo Ša Review|date= 2003 |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=81–107 |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |jstor=140943|doi=10.1353/wic.2003.0008|s2cid=201778441 }}</ref><ref name="nhpr">{{cite news |last1=Furukawa |first1=Julia |title=Review of genealogies, other records fails to support local leaders' claims of Abenaki ancestry |url=https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2023-05-22/review-of-genealogies-other-records-fails-to-support-local-leaders-claims-of-abenaki-ancestry |access-date=7 July 2023 |work=New Hampshire Public Radio |date=May 22, 2023}}</ref> While it is common for non-Natives to consider it a racial or ethnic identity, it is considered by Native Americans in the United States to be a political identity, based on citizenship and immediate family relationships.<ref name=TallBear1/><ref name="nhpr"/> As culture can vary widely between the 574 extant ], the idea of a single unified "Native American" racial identity is a European construct that does not have an equivalent in tribal thought.<ref name=TallBear1/>

In the 2010 Census, nearly 3 million people indicated that their "race" was Native American (including Alaska Native).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|title=U.S. Census website|author=United States Census Bureau|website=Census.gov|access-date=August 30, 2017}}</ref> Of these, more than 27% specifically indicated "Cherokee" as their ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nerve.com/life/why-do-so-many-people-claim-they-have-cherokee-in-their-blood|title=Why Do So Many People Claim They Have Cherokee In Their Blood? – Nerve|website=nerve.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history/2015/10/cherokee_blood_why_do_so_many_americans_believe_they_have_cherokee_ancestry.html|title=Why Do So Many Americans Think They Have Cherokee Blood?|author1-link=Gregory D. Smithers|first=Gregory D.|last=Smithers|date=October 1, 2015|journal=Slate}}</ref> Many of the ] or some other "]". This phenomenon has been dubbed the "]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyyonder.com/cherokee-syndrome/2011/02/10/3170/|title=The Cherokee Syndrome – Daily Yonder|website=dailyyonder.com|date=February 10, 2011}}</ref> Across the US, numerous individuals cultivate an ] as Native American, sometimes through ] or ]s.<ref name="auto">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/21/magazine/the-newest-indians.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529190012/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/21/magazine/the-newest-indians.html |archive-date=2015-05-29 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=The Newest Indians|first=Jack|last=Hitt|date=August 21, 2005|work=The New York Times}}</ref>

Some tribes (particularly some in the ]) are primarily made up of individuals with an unambiguous ], despite having a large number of mixed-race citizens with prominent non-Native ancestry. More than 75% of those enrolled in the ] have less than one-quarter Cherokee blood,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/03/us/03cherokee.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070305161740/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/03/us/03cherokee.html |archive-date=2007-03-05 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Putting to a Vote the Question 'Who Is Cherokee?'|first=Evelyn|last=Nieves|date=March 3, 2007|work=The New York Times}}</ref> and the former ], ], is 1/32 Cherokee, amounting to about 3%.

Historically, numerous Native Americans ], e.g. through ] and ]. In many cases, this process occurred through ] of children sent off to ] far from their families. Those who could eventually ] gained the advantage of ], yet often paid for it with the loss of community connections.<ref name="auto"/> With the enforcement of ], Indian blood could be diluted over generations through intermarrying with non-Native populations, as well as intermarrying with members of tribes that also required high blood-quantum, solely from one tribe.<ref>{{cite web|date=June 10, 2010|title=Blood_Quantum_II|url=http://nas.ucdavis.edu/Forbes/Blood_Quantum_II.html|access-date=February 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610050121/http://nas.ucdavis.edu/Forbes/Blood_Quantum_II.html|archive-date=June 10, 2010}}</ref> "Kill the Indian, save the man" was a mantra of nineteenth-century U.S. assimilation policies.<ref name="TallBear 31–66">{{Cite book|last=TallBear |first=Kim |title=Native American DNA |date=September 1, 2013|publisher=University of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-0-8166-6585-3|pages=31–66|doi=10.5749/minnesota/9780816665853.001.0001}}</ref>

Native Americans are more likely than any other racial group to practice ] among the different tribes and non-Natives, resulting in an ever-declining proportion of Indigenous blood among those who claim a Native American identity (tribes often count only the Indian blood from their own tribal background in the enrollment process, disregarding intertribal heritages).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-14089253|title=Blood affects US Indian identity|first=Paul|last=Adams|date=July 10, 2011|via=bbc.com|work=BBC News}}</ref> Some tribes ] those with low blood quantum. Disenrollment has become a contentious issue in ].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/native-news/what-percentage-indian-do-you-have-to-be-in-order-to-be-a-member-of-a-tribe-or-nation/|title=What Percentage Indian Do You Have to Be in Order to Be a Member of a Tribe or Nation? – Indian Country Media Network|website=indiancountrymedianetwork.com|access-date=August 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171021152949/https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/native-news/what-percentage-indian-do-you-have-to-be-in-order-to-be-a-member-of-a-tribe-or-nation/|archive-date=October 21, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/politics/disappearing-indians-part-ii-the-hypocrisy-of-race-in-deciding-whos-enrolled/|title=Disappearing Indians, Part II: The Hypocrisy of Race In Deciding Who's Enrolled – Indian Country Media Network|website=indiancountrymedianetwork.com|access-date=August 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922094009/https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/politics/disappearing-indians-part-ii-the-hypocrisy-of-race-in-deciding-whos-enrolled/|archive-date=September 22, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Tribal enrollment===
{{Further|List of federally recognized tribes in the United States|State-recognized tribes|Cherokee freedmen controversy|Cherokee descent|Tribal disenrollment}}

Requirements for tribal citizenship vary by tribe, but are generally based on who one's parents and grandparents are, as known and documented by community members and tribal records. Among the tribal nations, qualification for enrolling those who were not logged at birth by their parents may be based upon a required percentage of Native American "blood" (or the "]") of an individual, or upon documented ] from an ancestor on a specific census or register.

Tribal rules regarding the recognition of members who have heritage from multiple tribes also vary, but most do not allow citizenship in multiple tribes at once. For those that do, usually citizens consider one of their citizenships primary, and their other heritage to be "descent". Federally recognized tribes do not accept genetic ethnicity percentages results as appropriate evidence of Native American identity, as they cannot indicate specific tribe, or even whether or not someone is Native American. Unless requested for a paternity test, they do not advise applicants to submit such things.<ref name="TallBear 31–66"/>

To receive tribal services, a Native American must be a citizen of (or enrolled in) a ]. While each tribal government makes its own rules for the eligibility of citizens, the federal government has its own qualifications for federally-funded services. Federal scholarships for Native Americans require the student to be enrolled in a federally recognized tribe ''and'' to be of at least one-quarter Native American ], as attested to by a ] (CDIB) card issued by the federal government.

Tribal membership conflicts have led to a number of legal disputes, court cases, and the formation of activist groups. One example of this is the ]. The ] requires documented direct genealogical descent from a Cherokee person listed in the early 1906 ]. The Freedmen are descendants of African Americans once enslaved by the Cherokees, who were granted, by federal treaty, citizenship in the ] as freedmen after the ]. The ], in the early 1980s, passed a law to require that all members must prove descent from a Cherokee Native American (not Cherokee Freedmen) listed on the Dawes Rolls, resulting in the exclusion of some individuals and families who had been active in Cherokee culture for years.

===Increased self-identification===
Since the 2000 census, people may identify as being of more than one race.<ref name="2010 Census AMAN" /> Since the 1960s, the number of people claiming Native American ancestry has grown significantly and, by the 2000 census, the number had more than doubled. Sociologists attribute this dramatic change to "ethnic shifting" or "ethnic shopping"; they believe that it reflects a willingness of people to question their birth identities and adopt new ethnicities which they find more compatible.

The author ] writes:

{{blockquote|The reaction from lifelong Indians runs the gamut. It is easy to find Native Americans who denounce many of these new Indians as members of the ]. But it is also easy to find Indians like Clem Iron Wing, an elder among the ], who sees this flood of new ethnic claims as magnificent, a surge of Indians 'trying to come home.' Those Indians who ridicule Iron Wing's lax sense of tribal membership have retrofitted the old genocidal system of blood quantum—measuring racial purity by blood—into the new standard for real Indianness, a choice rich with paradox.<ref name="Newest Indians"/>}}

Journalist Mary Annette Pember (]) writes that non-Natives identifying with Native American identity may be a result of a person's increased interest in ], the romanticization of what they believe the cultures to be, and family lore of Native American ancestors in the distant past. However, there are different issues if a person wants to pursue enrollment as a citizen of a tribal nation. Different tribes have different requirements for citizenship. Often those who live as non-Natives, yet claim distant heritage, say they are simply reluctant to enroll, arguing that it is a method of control initiated by the federal government. However, it is the tribes that set their own enrollment criteria, and "the various enrollment requirements are often a hurdle that ethnic shoppers are unable to clear." Says Grayson Noley, (Choctaw), of the ], "If you have to search for proof of your heritage, it probably isn't there."<ref name=EthnicFraud/> In other cases, there are some individuals who are 100% Native American but, if all of their recent ancestors are from different tribes, ] could result in them not meeting the citizenship criteria for any one of those individual tribes. Pember concludes:

{{blockquote|The subjects of genuine American Indian blood, cultural connection and recognition by the community are extremely contentious issues, hotly debated throughout Indian country and beyond. The whole situation, some say, is ripe for misinterpretation, confusion and, ultimately, exploitation.<ref name=EthnicFraud>{{cite web|url=https://diverseeducation.com/article/6918/|title=Ethnic Fraud|date=January 25, 2007|website=diverseeducation}}</ref>|title=|source=}}

===Admixture and genetics===
] around 1877; they include men with some European and African ancestry.<ref>Charles Hudson, ''The Southeastern Indians'', 1976, p. 479.</ref>]]

Intertribal marriage is historically common among many Native American tribes, both prior to European contact and in the present. Historically, tribal conflicts might result in the eventual adoption of, or marriages with, captives taken in warfare, with former foes becoming full members of the community. Individuals often have ancestry from more than one tribe, and this became increasingly common after so many tribes lost family members to ] bringing disease, war and massacres. Bands or entire tribes were often reduced to very small numbers, and at times split or merged to form stronger communities in reaction to these pressures.<ref name="eurekalert.org">, ''Eureka Alert'', Department of Energy Public Newslist</ref>

Tribes with long trading histories with Europeans show a higher rate of European admixture, reflecting admixture events between Native American women and European men.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Singh Malhi | first=Ripan | title=Distribution of Y chromosomes among native North Americans: A study of Athapaskan population history | journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology | publisher=Wiley | volume=137 | issue=4 | year=2008 | issn=0002-9483 | doi=10.1002/ajpa.20883 | pages=412–424| pmid=18618732 | pmc=2584155 }}</ref><ref name="eurekalert.org"/>

The ] has also said that ] testing is not a valid means of determining Native American ancestry, and that the concept of using genetic testing to determine who is or is not Native American threatens ].<ref name="genej">{{cite web | last=Marks | first=Jonathan | title=Genetic "Markers"- Not a Valid Test of Native Identity | website=Indigenous People's Council on Biocolonialism | url=http://www.ipcb.org/publications/briefing_papers/files/identity.html | access-date=2023-08-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725075627/http://www.ipcb.org/publications/briefing_papers/files/identity.html|archive-date= 25 July 2008|url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Fitzgerald">{{cite book |last1=Fitzgerald |first1=Kathleen J. |title=Recognizing Race and Ethnicity: Power, Privilege, and Inequality |date=3 June 2020 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-51440-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4T_pDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT102 |language=en}}</ref> Author of ''Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science'', ] (]), agrees, stating that not only is there no DNA test that can indicate a tribe, but "there is no DNA-test to prove you're Native American."<ref name=CBCTallBear>{{cite news|last1=Geddes|first1=Linda|title='There is no DNA test to prove you're Native American' |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22129554-400-there-is-no-dna-test-to-prove-youre-native-american/ |accessdate=31 May 2019 |work=]|date=5 February 2014|archive-date=March 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315112433/https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22129554-400-there-is-no-dna-test-to-prove-youre-native-american/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=NativeDNA>{{Cite book| title=Native American DNA: Tribal-belonging and the false Promise of Genetic Science| isbn=| last1=TallBear| first1=Kim| author-link= Kim TallBear|year=2013|pages= 132–136}}</ref> Tallbear writes in ''Native American DNA'' that while a DNA test may bring up some markers associated with some Indigenous or Asian populations, the science in these cases is problematic,<ref name=CBCTallBear/> as Indigenous identity is not about one distant (and possibly nonexistent) ancestor, but rather political citizenship, culture, kinship, and daily, lived experience as part of an Indigenous community.<ref name=NativeDNA/> She adds that a person, "… could have up to two Native American grandparents and show no sign of Native American ancestry. For example, a genetic male could have a maternal grandfather (from whom he did not inherit his Y chromosome) and a paternal grandmother (from whom he did not inherit his mtDNA) who were descended from Native American founders, but mtDNA and Y-chromosome analyses would not detect them."<ref name="TallBear 31–66"/>

Given all these factors, DNA testing is not sufficient to qualify a person for specific tribal membership, as the ethnicity admixture tests cannot distinguish among Native American tribes. They cannot even reliably indicate Native American ancestry:<ref name="bldl2"/>

<blockquote>"Native American markers" are not found solely among Native Americans. While they occur more frequently among Native Americans, they are also found in people in other parts of the world.<ref name="bldl2">{{cite web |url=http://www.weyanoke.org/historyculture/hc-DNAandIndianAncestry.html |title=Can DNA Determine Who is American Indian? |last=TallBear |first=Kim |access-date=2009-10-27 |year=2008 |publisher=The WEYANOKE Association |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724191733/http://www.weyanoke.org/historyculture/hc-DNAandIndianAncestry.html |archive-date=July 24, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref></blockquote>

The only use of DNA testing by legitimate tribes is that some, such as the ], may use DNA for paternity tests, or similar confirmation that an applicant who was not enrolled at birth is the biological child of an enrolled tribal member. It is solely about confirming or ruling out biological paternity, and has no relationship to race or ethnicity.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |title=Meshkawi Tribe Enrollment |url=https://www.meskwaki.org/about-us/enrollment/ |access-date=August 11, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Meshkawi Tribal Constitution - Sec. 10-4106| newspaper=Google Docs |url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qHYvNQxCV_1YMSoFIrmsyQeqGZBhOSJe/view?pli=1|access-date=August 11, 2023|quote=. Burden of Proof. (b) To meet its burden to establish paternity, an applicant must submit a DNA test which uses a twelve- (12) marker protocol, or certified test results from another DNA company which has a degree of accuracy which is as great as or greater than that provided by a DNA test which uses a 12-marker protocol, certified by a competent court, and which establishes paternity necessary for membership. The cost of the paternity test shall be borne by the Tribe.}}</ref>

====African American admixtures====
{{Main|Black Indians in the United States#Genealogy and genetics}}

] testing and research has provided some data about the extent of Native American ancestry among African Americans, which varies in the general population. Based on the work of ], ] historian ] hosted a popular, and at times controversial, ] series, '']'', in which geneticists said DNA evidence shows that Native American ancestry is far less common among African Americans than previously believed.<ref name="Root2">{{cite web|last=Gates|first=Henry Louis Jr.|url= https://www.theroot.com/high-cheekbones-and-straight-black-hair-1790878167 |title=High Cheekbones and Straight Black Hair?| work=]|date=29 Dec 2014|access-date=19 July 2019}}</ref><ref name=GatesNPR>{{cite web|url= https://www.npr.org/2019/01/21/686531998/historian-henry-louis-gates-jr-on-dna-testing-and-finding-his-own-roots |title=Historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. On DNA Testing And Finding His Own Roots - Transcript| work=]|date=21 Jan 2017|access-date=19 July 2019}}</ref> Their conclusions were that while almost all African Americans are racially mixed, and many have family stories of Native heritage, usually these stories turn out to be inaccurate,<ref name="Root2"/><ref name=GatesNPR/> with only 5 percent of African American people showing more than 2 percent Native American ancestry.<ref name=Root2/>

Gates summarized these statistics to mean that, "If you have 2 percent Native American ancestry, you had one such ancestor on your family tree five to nine generations back (150 to 270 years ago)."<ref name="Root2" /> Their findings also concluded that the most common "non-Black" mix among African Americans is English and ]. Some critics thought the PBS series did not sufficiently explain the limitations of DNA testing for assessment of heritage.<ref name="hur">{{cite news |author=Troy Duster |year=2008 |title=Deep Roots and Tangled Branches |url=http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=3908 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726082531/http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=3908 |archive-date=2011-07-26 |access-date=2008-10-02 |newspaper=Chronicle of Higher Education}}</ref> Another study, published in the '']'', also indicated that, despite how common these family stories are, relatively few African Americans who have these stories actually turned out to have detectable Native American ancestry.<ref name="AJHG1">{{cite journal |author=Esteban Parra |display-authors=etal |year=1998 |title=Estimating African American Admixture Proportions by Use of Population-Specific Alleles |url= |journal=American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=63 |issue=6 |pages=1839–1851 |doi=10.1086/302148 |pmc=1377655 |pmid=9837836}}</ref> A study reported in the ''American Journal of Human Genetics'' stated, "We analyzed the European genetic contribution to 10 populations of African descent in the United States (Maywood, Illinois; Detroit; New York; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Baltimore; Charleston, South Carolina; New Orleans; and Houston)&nbsp;... mtDNA haplogroups analysis shows no evidence of a significant maternal Amerindian contribution to any of the 10 populations."<ref name="AJHG">{{cite journal |last1=Parra |first1=Esteban J. |year=1998 |title=Estimating African American Admixture Proportions by Use of Population |url= |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=63 |issue=6 |pages=1839–1851 |doi=10.1086/302148 |pmc=1377655 |pmid=9837836}}</ref> Despite this, some still insist that most African Americans have at least some Native American heritage.<ref name="dstu">{{cite web |author=Sherrel Wheeler Stewart |year=2008 |title=More Blacks are Exploring the African-American/Native American Connection |url=http://www.rlnn.com/ArtOct06/MoreBlacksAfricanAmerNativeAmerConnection.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061031200938/http://www.rlnn.com/ArtOct06/MoreBlacksAfricanAmerNativeAmerConnection.html |archive-date=October 31, 2006 |access-date=2008-08-06 |publisher=BlackAmericaWeb.com}}</ref>

An autosomal study from 2019 found small but detectable amounts of Native American ancestry among African-Americans, ranging from an average of 1.2% in the ] region, to 1.9% on the ]. The median amount of Native ancestry in African-Americans was found to be 1% nationwide.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jordan |first1=I. King |last2=Rishishwar |first2=Lavanya |last3=Conley |first3=Andrew B. |date=2019-09-23 |title=Native American admixture recapitulates population-specific migration and settlement of the continental United States |journal=PLOS Genetics |language=en |volume=15 |issue=9 |pages=e1008225 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1008225 |doi-access=free |issn=1553-7404 |pmc=6756731 |pmid=31545791}}</ref>

==== White and Hispanic admixtures ====
An ] DNA study published in 2019 found evidence of minimal Native American ancestry among non-Hispanic White Americans, ranging from an average of 0.18% in the ] region to 0.93% in the ] region. However, the majority of White Americans were found to have no detectable Native American ancestry, with the median amount of European ancestry being 99.8% in White participants.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jordan |first1=I. King |last2=Rishishwar |first2=Lavanya |last3=Conley |first3=Andrew B. |date=2019-09-23 |title=Native American admixture recapitulates population-specific migration and settlement of the continental United States |journal=PLOS Genetics |language=en |volume=15 |issue=9 |pages=e1008225 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1008225 |doi-access=free |issn=1553-7404 |pmc=6756731 |pmid=31545791}}</ref>

] Americans, on the other hand, were found to have a large and varying amount of Native American ancestry, with a median of 38% nationwide. This ancestry was the highest among Hispanics from the ] (Texas and Oklahoma) at 43.2%, and the West Coast, at 42.6%, reflecting the predominant ] population in these regions. Hispanics from the Mid-Atlantic, on the other hand, averaged only 11.1% Native American ancestry, reflecting the predominant ] and ] populations among Hispanics from that region.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jordan |first1=I. King |last2=Rishishwar |first2=Lavanya |last3=Conley |first3=Andrew B. |date=2019-09-23 |title=Native American admixture recapitulates population-specific migration and settlement of the continental United States |journal=PLOS Genetics |language=en |volume=15 |issue=9 |pages=e1008225 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1008225 |doi-access=free |issn=1553-7404 |pmc=6756731 |pmid=31545791}}</ref>

====DNA====
{{Main|Genetic history of indigenous peoples of the Americas}}
{{See also|Y-DNA haplogroups in Indigenous peoples of the Americas}}

The ] primarily focuses on ] and ]. "Y-DNA" is passed solely along the ] line, from father to son, while "mtDNA" is passed down the ] line, from mother to offspring of both sexes. Neither ], and thus Y-DNA and mtDNA change only by chance mutation at each generation with no intermixture between parents' genetic material.<ref name="nomenclature">{{cite journal |year=2002 |title=A Nomenclature System for the Tree of Human Y-Chromosomal Binary Haplogroups |pages=339–348 |volume=12|issue=2|doi=10.1101/gr.217602 |last1=Consortium |first1=T. Y C. |journal=Genome Research |pmid=11827954 |pmc=155271}} </ref> ] "atDNA" markers are also used, but differ from mtDNA or Y-DNA in that they overlap significantly.<ref name="Griffiths"/> Autosomal DNA is generally used to measure the average continent-of-ancestry ] in the entire ] and related ].<ref name="Griffiths">{{Cite book |last=Griffiths |first=Anthony J. F. |title=An Introduction to genetic analysis |year=1999|publisher=W.H. Freeman |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7167-3771-1|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?highlight=autosome&rid=iga.section.222|access-date=February 3, 2010}}</ref> Within mtDNA, genetic scientists have found specific nucleotide sequences that they have classified as "Native American markers" because the sequences are understood to have been inherited through the generations of genetic females within populations first found in the "New World". There are five primary Native American mtDNA haplogroups in which there are clusters of closely linked markers inherited together. All five haplogroups have been identified by researchers as "prehistoric Native North American samples", and it is commonly asserted that the majority of living Native Americans possess one of the common five mtDNA haplogroup markers.<ref name="TallBear 31–66"/>

The genetic pattern indicates Indigenous Americans experienced two very distinctive genetic episodes; first with the initial-peopling of the Americas, and secondly with ].<ref name="SpencerWells3">{{Cite book |first1=Spencer |last1=Wells |first2=Mark |last2=Read |title=The Journey of Man&nbsp;— A Genetic Odyssey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WAsKm-_zu5sC&pg=PP1|format=Digitised online by Google books |publisher=Random House |isbn= 978-0-8129-7146-0 |year=2002}}</ref><ref name="Genebase">{{cite web|title=Learn about Y-DNA Haplogroup Q. Genebase Tutorials |author=Wendy Tymchuk |url=http://www.genebase.com/tutorial/item.php?tuId=16 |format=Verbal tutorial possible |publisher=Genebase Systems |year=2008 |access-date=November 21, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100622001311/http://www.genebase.com/tutorial/item.php?tuId=16 |archive-date=June 22, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |author=Orgel L |title=Prebiotic chemistry and the origin of the RNA world|url=http://www.d.umn.edu/~pschoff/documents/OrgelRNAWorld.pdf |journal=Crit Rev Biochem Mol Biol |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=99–123 |pmid=15217990 |doi=10.1080/10409230490460765 |year=2004 |access-date=January 19, 2010|citeseerx=10.1.1.537.7679|s2cid=4939632 }}</ref> The former is the determinant factor for the number of ] lineages, ] mutations and founding ]s present in today's Indigenous American ].<ref name="Genebase"/>

The most popular theory is that human settlement of the Americas occurred in stages from the ], with an initial 15,000 to 20,000-year layover on ] for the small ].<ref name="SpencerWells3"/><ref name="First">{{Cite web|title=First Americans Endured 20,000-Year Layover&nbsp;— Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News |url=http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/02/13/beringia-native-american.html |access-date=November 18, 2009 |publisher=] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010092348/http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/02/13/beringia-native-american.html |archive-date=October 10, 2012}} {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313061401/http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/02/13/beringia-native-american-02.html |date=March 13, 2012}}</ref><ref name="first2">{{cite web |title=New World Settlers Took 20,000-Year Pit Stop |first=Ker |last=Than |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/02/080214-america-layover.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080219013512/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/02/080214-america-layover.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 19, 2008 |work=National Geographic Society |year=2008 |access-date=January 23, 2010}}</ref> The ] diversity and distributions of the Y lineage specific to South America indicates that certain ] populations have been isolated since the initial colonization of the region.<ref name="subclades">{{cite web|title=Summary of knowledge on the subclades of Haplogroup Q |url=http://64.40.115.138/file/lu/6/52235/NTIyMzV9K3szNTc2Nzc=.jpg?download=1 |publisher=Genebase Systems |year=2009 |access-date=November 22, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510204204/http://64.40.115.138/file/lu/6/52235/NTIyMzV9K3szNTc2Nzc%3D.jpg?download=1 |archive-date=May 10, 2011}}</ref> The ], ] and ] populations exhibit ] mutations, however, that are distinct from other Indigenous Amerindians, and that have various mtDNA and atDNA mutations.<ref name="NaDene">{{Cite journal |doi=10.1073/pnas.95.23.13994 |author=Ruhlen M |title=The origin of the Na-Dene |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=95 |issue=23 |pages=13994–6 |year=1998 |pmid=9811914 |pmc=25007|bibcode=1998PNAS...9513994R |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Zhivotovsky">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Zegura SL, Karafet TM, Zhivotovsky LA, Hammer MF |title=High-resolution SNPs and microsatellite haplotypes point to a single, recent entry of Native American Y chromosomes into the Americas |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=164–75 |year=2004 |pmid=14595095 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msh009 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="inuit">{{cite journal |title=mtDNA Variation among Greenland Eskimos. The Edge of the Beringian Expansion |vauthors=Saillard J, Forster P, Lynnerup N, Bandelt HJ, Nørby S |year=2000 |doi=10.1086/303038 |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=67 |issue=3|pages=718–726 |pmid=10924403 |pmc=1287530}}</ref> This suggests that the paleo-Indian migrants into the northern extremes of North America and ] were descended from a later, independent migrant population.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The peopling of the New World&nbsp;— Perspectives from Molecular Anthropology |journal=Annual Review of Anthropology |year=2004 |volume=33 |doi=10.1146/annurev.anthro.33.070203.143932 |pages=551–583 |last1=Schurr |first1=Theodore G.|s2cid=4647888}}</ref><ref name="Nadene1">{{cite journal|title=Native American Mitochondrial DNA Analysis Indicates That the Amerind and the Nadene Populations Were Founded by Two Independent Migrations|author=A. Torroni |volume=130 |pages=153–162 |pmid=1346260 |year=1992 |issue=1 |pmc=1204788|journal=Genetics|doi=10.1093/genetics/130.1.153 |display-authors=etal}}</ref>

Genetic analyses of HLA I and HLA II genes as well as HLA-A, -B, and -DRB1 gene frequencies links the ] of northern ] and southeastern ] to some ], especially to populations on the ] such as ]. Scientists suggest that the main ancestor of the Ainu and of some Native American groups can be traced back to ] groups in ].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tokunaga |first1=Katsushi |last2=Ohashi |first2=Jun |last3=Bannai |first3=Makoto |last4=Juji |first4=Takeo |title=Genetic link between Asians and native Americans: evidence from HLA genes and haplotypes |journal=Human Immunology |date=September 2001 |volume=62 |issue=9 |pages=1001–1008 |doi=10.1016/S0198-8859(01)00301-9 |pmid=11543902}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal bar|Indigenous peoples of the Americas|United States}}
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] (notable Native Americans)
* ]
* ]

==References==
{{Reflist|24em}}


==External links== ==External links==
{{Sister project links|d=Q49297|wikt=American Indian|c=Category:Native American people of the United States|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|s=no|species=no}}
{{commons|Native Americans}}
* of the ], part of the ]
*
* * of the ]
* from the ]
* (searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; ] & )
* of the ], part of the ]
* at University of South Carolina Library's Digital Collections Page
* at the University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections * of the ] – a law library of federal Indian and tribal law
*


{{Native American topics}}
{{Template group
{{Navboxes|list1=
|list =
{{Demographics of the United States}} {{Demography of the United States}}
{{Race in the 2000 U.S. Census}}
{{Indigenous peoples of the Americas}} {{Indigenous peoples of the Americas}}
{{Native American rights}} {{Native American rights}}
{{Cultural areas of indigenous North Americans}}
{{Indigenous peoples by continent}}
{{American Indian Movement}}
}} }}
{{Authority control}}


]
]
]
] ]
] ]
] ]
]
] ]
] ]
]
]

{{Link FA|fr}}
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]

Revision as of 08:28, 28 December 2024

Indigenous peoples of the United States

This article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. Consider splitting content into sub-articles, condensing it, or adding subheadings. Please discuss this issue on the article's talk page. (October 2024)
Ethnic group
Native Americans
Proportion of Native Americans in each county as of the 2020 US census
Total population
Alone (one race)
Increase 3,727,135 (2020 census)
Increase 1.12% of the total US population

In combination (multiracial)
Increase 5,938,923 (2020 census)
Increase 1.79% of the total US population

Alone or in combination
Increase 9,666,058 (2020 census)
Increase 2.92% of the total US population
Regions with significant populations
Predominantly in Alaska, the Western and Midwestern, with smaller communities in the Eastern United States.
California California631,016
Oklahoma Oklahoma332,791
Arizona Arizona319,512
Texas Texas278,948
New Mexico New Mexico212,241
Languages
English
Native American languages
(including Navajo, Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Tlingit, Haida, Dakota, Seneca, Lakota, Western Apache, Keres, Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Kiowa, Comanche, Osage, Zuni, Pawnee, Shawnee, Winnebago, Ojibwe, Cree, O'odham)
Spanish
Native Pidgin (extinct)
French
Religion
Related ethnic groups
Part of a series on
Native Americans in the United States
Native America
History
Culture
Wars
Political movements
Religion
Groups
Ethnic subdivisions
Languages
Demographics
Geography
by region
by state
Lists
Comanche Indians Chasing Buffalo with Lances and Bows, a mid-19th century portrait depicting the Comanche tribe by George Catlin, now on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.

Native Americans (also called American Indians, First Americans, or Indigenous Americans) are the Indigenous peoples of the United States, particularly of the lower 48 states and Alaska. They may also include any Americans whose origins lie in any of the indigenous peoples of North or South America. The United States Census Bureau publishes data about "American Indians and Alaska Natives", whom it defines as anyone "having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America ... and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment". The census does not, however, enumerate "Native Americans" as such, noting that the latter term can encompass a broader set of groups, e.g. Native Hawaiians, which it tabulates separately.

The European colonization of the Americas from 1492 resulted in a precipitous decline in the size of the Native American population because of newly introduced diseases, including weaponized diseases and biological warfare by colonizers, wars, ethnic cleansing, and enslavement. Numerous scholars have classified elements of the colonization process as comprising genocide against Native Americans. As part of a policy of white settler colonialism, European settlers continued to wage war and perpetrated massacres against Native American peoples, removed them from their ancestral lands, and subjected them to one-sided government treaties and discriminatory government policies. Into the 20th century, these policies focused on forced assimilation.

When the United States was established, Native American tribes were considered semi-independent nations, because they generally lived in communities which were separate from communities of white settlers. The federal government signed treaties at a government-to-government level until the Indian Appropriations Act of 1871 ended recognition of independent Native nations, and started treating them as "domestic dependent nations" subject to applicable federal laws. This law did preserve rights and privileges, including a large degree of tribal sovereignty. For this reason, many Native American reservations are still independent of state law and the actions of tribal citizens on these reservations are subject only to tribal courts and federal law. The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 granted US citizenship to all Native Americans born in the US who had not yet obtained it. This emptied the "Indians not taxed" category established by the United States Constitution, allowed Natives to vote in elections, and extended the Fourteenth Amendment protections granted to people "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States. However, some states continued to deny Native Americans voting rights for decades. Titles II through VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 comprise the Indian Civil Rights Act, which applies to Native American tribes and makes many but not all of the guarantees of the U.S. Bill of Rights applicable within the tribes.

Since the 1960s, Native American self-determination movements have resulted in positive changes to the lives of many Native Americans, though there are still many contemporary issues faced by them. Today, there are over five million Native Americans in the US, about 80% of whom live outside reservations. As of 2020, the states with the highest percentage of Native Americans are Alaska, Oklahoma, Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas.

Background

The cultural areas of Indigenous peoples of North America during the Pre-Columbian era, according to anthropologist Alfred Kroeber

Beginning toward the end of the 15th century, the migration of Europeans to the Americas led to centuries of population, cultural, and agricultural transfer and adjustment between Old and New World societies, a process known as the Columbian exchange. Because most Native American groups had preserved their histories by means of oral traditions and artwork, the first written accounts of the contact were provided by Europeans.

Ethnographers classify the Indigenous peoples of North America into ten geographical regions which are inhabited by groups of people who share certain cultural traits, called cultural areas. The ten cultural areas are:

At the time of the first contact, the Indigenous cultures were different from those of the proto-industrial and mostly Christian immigrants. Some Northeastern and Southwestern cultures, in particular, were matrilineal and they were organized and operated on a more collective basis than the culture which Europeans were familiar with. Most Indigenous American tribes treated their hunting grounds and agricultural lands as land that could be used by their entire tribe. Europeans had developed concepts of individual property rights with respect to land that were extremely different. The differences in cultures, as well as the shifting alliances among different nations during periods of warfare, caused extensive political tension, ethnic violence, and social disruption.

Native Americans suffered high fatality rates from contact with European diseases that were new to them, and to which they had not acquired immunity. Smallpox epidemics are thought to have caused the greatest loss of life for Indigenous populations. "The decline of native American populations was rapid and severe, probably the greatest demographic disaster ever. Old World diseases were the primary killer. In many regions, particularly the tropical lowlands, populations fell by 90 percent or more in the first century after the contact."

Estimates of pre-Columbian population of the United States vary from 4 to 18 million. Jeffrey Ostler writes: "Most Indigenous communities were eventually afflicted by a variety of diseases, but in many cases this happened long after Europeans first arrived. When severe epidemics did hit, it was often less because Native bodies lack immunity than because European colonialism disrupted Native Communities and damaged their resources, making them more vulnerable to pathogens."

After the thirteen British colonies revolted against Great Britain and established the United States, President George Washington and Secretary of War Henry Knox conceived the idea of "civilizing" Native Americans in preparation for their assimilation as U.S. citizens. Assimilation, whether it was voluntary, as it was with the Choctaw, or forced, was consistently maintained as a matter of policy by consecutive American administrations.

During the 19th century, the ideology known as manifest destiny became integral to the American nationalist movement. Westward expansion of European American populations after the American Revolution resulted in increasing pressure on Native Americans and their lands, warfare, and rising tensions. In 1830, the U.S. Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, authorizing the federal government to relocate Native Americans from their homelands within established states to lands west of the Mississippi River, in order to accommodate continued European American expansion. This resulted in what amounted to the ethnic cleansing or genocide of many tribes, who were subjected to brutal forced marches. The most infamous of these came to be known as the Trail of Tears.

Contemporary Native Americans have a unique relationship with the United States because they may be members of nations, tribes, or bands that have sovereignty and treaty rights upon which federal Indian law and a federal Indian trust relationship are based. Cultural activism since the late 1960s has increased the participation of Indigenous peoples in American politics. It has also led to expanded efforts to teach and preserve Indigenous languages for younger generations, and to establish a more robust cultural infrastructure: Native Americans have founded independent newspapers and online media outlets, including First Nations Experience, the first Native American television channel; established Native American studies programs, tribal schools universities, museums, and language programs. Literature is at the growing forefront of American Indian studies in many genres, with the notable exception of fiction—some traditional American Indians experience fictional narratives as insulting when they conflict with traditional oral tribal narratives.

The terms used to refer to Native Americans have at times been controversial. The ways Native Americans refer to themselves vary by region and generation, with many older Native Americans self-identifying as "Indians" or "American Indians", while younger Native Americans often identify as "Indigenous" or "Aboriginal". The term "Native American" has not traditionally included Native Hawaiians or certain Alaskan Natives, such as Aleut, Yup'ik, or Inuit peoples. By comparison, the Indigenous peoples of Canada are generally known as First Nations, Inuit and Métis (FNIM).

History

Main articles: History of Native Americans in the United States and Population history of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas
A map showing the approximate location of the ice-free corridor and Paleo-Indian settlements during the era of Clovis culture
Shriver Circle Earthworks and the Mound City Group (on the left), c. 200 BCE to c. 500 CE, depicted in a 2019 portrait

The history of Native Americans in the United States began before the founding of the U.S., tens of thousands of years ago with the settlement of the Americas by the Paleo-Indians. The Eurasian migration to the Americas occurred over millennia via Beringia, a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska, as early humans spread southward and eastward, forming distinct cultures and societies. Archaeological evidence suggests these migrations began 60,000 years ago and continued until around 12,000 years ago. Some may have arrived even before this time fishing in kayaks along what is known as the "Kelp Highway". The early inhabitants by land were classified as Paleo-Indians, who spread throughout the Americas, diversifying into numerous culturally distinct nations. Major Paleo-Indian cultures included the Clovis and Folsom traditions, identified through unique spear points and large-game hunting methods, especially during the Lithic stage.

Around 8000 BCE, as the climate stabilized, new cultural periods like the Archaic stage arose, during which hunter-gatherer communities developed complex societies across North America. The Mound Builders created large earthworks, such as at Watson Brake and Poverty Point, which date to 3500 BCE and 2200 BCE, respectively, indicating early social and organizational complexity. By 1000 BCE, Native societies in the Woodland period developed advanced social structures and trade networks, with the Hopewell tradition connecting the Eastern Woodlands to the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. This period led to the Mississippian culture, with large urban centers like Cahokia—a city with complex mounds and a population exceeding 20,000 by 1250 CE.

From the 15th century onward, European contact drastically reshaped the Americas. Explorers and settlers introduced diseases, causing massive Indigenous population declines, and engaged in violent conflicts with Native groups. By the 19th century, westward U.S. expansion, rationalized by Manifest destiny, pressured tribes into forced relocations like the Trail of Tears, which decimated communities and redefined Native territories. Despite resistance in events like the Sioux Uprising and Battle of Little Bighorn, Native American lands continued to be reduced through policies like the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and later the Dawes Act, which undermined communal landholding.

The Rescue sculpture stood outside the U.S. Capitol between 1853 and 1958. Commissioned by the U.S. government, its sculptor Horatio Greenough wrote that it was "to convey the idea of the triumph of the whites over the savage tribes".

A justification for the policy of conquest and subjugation of the Indigenous people emanated from the stereotyped perceptions of Native Americans as "merciless Indian savages" (as described in the United States Declaration of Independence). Sam Wolfson in The Guardian writes, "The declaration's passage has often been cited as an encapsulation of the dehumanizing attitude toward Indigenous Americans that the US was founded on."

Native American nations on the plains in the west continued armed conflicts with the U.S. throughout the 19th century, through what were called generally Indian Wars. Notable conflicts in this period include the Dakota War, Great Sioux War, Snake War, Colorado War, and Texas-Indian Wars. Expressing the frontier anti-Indian sentiment, Theodore Roosevelt believed the Indians were destined to vanish under the pressure of white civilization, stating in an 1886 lecture:

I don't go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of ten are, and I shouldn't like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth.

A mass grave for the dead Lakota after the Wounded Knee Massacre, which took place on December 29, 1890, during the Indian Wars

One of the last and most notable events during the Indian wars was the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. In the years leading up to it the U.S. government had continued to seize Lakota lands. A Ghost Dance ritual on the Northern Lakota reservation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, led to the U.S. Army's attempt to subdue the Lakota. The dance was part of a religious movement founded by the Northern Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka that told of the return of the Messiah to relieve the suffering of Native Americans and promised that if they would live righteous lives and perform the Ghost Dance properly, the European American colonists would vanish, the bison would return, and the living and the dead would be reunited in an Edenic world. On December 29 at Wounded Knee, gunfire erupted, and U.S. soldiers killed up to 300 Indians, mostly old men, women, and children.

Days after the massacre, the author L. Frank Baum wrote:

The Pioneer has before declared that our only safety depends upon the total extermination of the Indians. Having wronged them for centuries, we had better, in order to protect our civilization, follow it up by one more wrong and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the face of the earth.

In the 20th century, Native Americans served in significant numbers during World War II, marking a turning point for Indigenous visibility and involvement in broader American society. Post-war, Native activism grew, with movements such as the American Indian Movement (AIM) drawing attention to Indigenous rights. Landmark legislation like the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 recognized tribal autonomy, leading to the establishment of Native-run schools and economic initiatives. Tribal sovereignty has continued to evolve, with legal victories and federal acknowledgments supporting cultural revitalization.

By the 21st century, Native Americans had achieved increased control over tribal lands and resources, although many communities continue to grapple with the legacy of displacement and economic challenges. Urban migration has also grown, with over 70% of Native Americans residing in cities by 2012, navigating issues of cultural preservation and discrimination. Continuing legal and social efforts address these concerns, building on centuries of resilience and adaptation that characterize Indigenous history across the Americas.

Demographics

Further information: Modern social statistics of Native Americans See also: Population history of Indigenous peoples of the Americas
Proportion of Indigenous Americans (including Native Hawaiians) in each U.S. state, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico as of the 2020 U.S. census
Proportion of Indigenous Americans (Including Native Hawaiians) in each county of the fifty states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico as of the 2020 United States census
The American Indian and Alaskan Native (alone/single race) populations as of 2020

According to the 2020 census, the U.S. population was 331.4 million. Of this, 3.7 million people, or 1.1 percent, reported American Indian or Alaska Native ancestry alone. In addition, 5.9 million people (1.8 percent), reported American Indian or Alaska Native in combination with one or more other races.

The definition of American Indian or Alaska Native used in the 2010 census was as follows:

According to Office of Management and Budget, "American Indian or Alaska Native" refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.

Despite generally referring to groups indigenous to the continental US and Alaska, this demographic as defined by the US Census Bureau includes all Indigenous people of the Americas, including Mesoamerican peoples such as the Maya, as well as Canadian and South American natives. In 2022, 634,503 Indigenous people in the United States identified with Central American Indigenous groups, 875,183 identified with the Indigenous people of Mexico, and 47,518 identified with Canadian First Nations. Of the 3.2 million Americans who identified as American Indian or Alaska Native alone in 2022, around 45% are of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, with this number growing as increasing numbers of Indigenous people from Latin American countries immigrate to the US and more Latinos self-identify with indigenous heritage. Of groups Indigenous to the United States, the largest self-reported tribes are Cherokee (1,449,888), Navajo (434,910), Choctaw (295,373), Blackfeet (288,255), Sioux (220,739), and Apache (191,823). 205,954 respondents specified an Alaska Native identity.

Native Hawaiians are counted separately from Native Americans by the census, being classified as Pacific Islanders. According to 2022 estimates, 714,847 Americans reported Native Hawaiian ancestry.

The 2010 census permitted respondents to self-identify as being of one or more races. Self-identification dates from the census of 1960; prior to that the race of the respondent was determined by the opinion of the census taker. The option to select more than one race was introduced in 2000. If American Indian or Alaska Native was selected, the form requested the individual provide the name of the "enrolled or principal tribe".

Population since 1880

Censuses counted around 346,000 Native Americans in 1880 (including 33,000 in Alaska and 82,000 in Oklahoma, back then known as Indian Territory), around 274,000 in 1890 (including 25,500 in Alaska and 64,500 in Oklahoma), 362,500 in 1930 and 366,500 in 1940, including those on and off reservations in the 48 states and Alaska. Native American population rebounded sharply from 1950, when they numbered 377,273; it reached 551,669 in 1960, 827,268 in 1970, with an annual growth rate of 5%, four times the national average. Total spending on Native Americans averaged $38 million a year in the late 1920s, dropping to a low of $23 million in 1933, and returning to $38 million in 1940. The Office of Indian Affairs counted more American Indians than the Census Bureau until 1930:

American Indians according to the Census Bureau and the Office of Indian Affairs 1890-1930
Decade American Indians, Census Bureau American Indians, Office of Indian Affairs Alaska Natives
1890 248,253 249,278 25,354
1900 237,196 270,544 29,536
1910 265,683 304,950 25,331
1920 244,437 336,337 26,558
1930 332,397 340,541 29,983

American Indians and Alaska Natives as percentage of the total population between 1880 and 2020:

American Indian and Alaska Native as percentage of population by U.S. state and territory (1880–2020)
State/Territory 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
Alabama Alabama 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.2% 0.4% 0.5% 0.6% 0.7%
Alaska Alaska 98.7% 79.1% 46.5% 39.4% 48.3% 50.6% 44.8% 26.3% 19.1% 16.8% 16.0% 15.6% 15.6% 14.8% 21.9%
Arizona Arizona 37.5% 34.0% 21.5% 14.3% 9.9% 10.0% 11.0% 8.8% 6.4% 5.4% 5.6% 5.6% 5.0% 4.6% 6.3%
Arkansas Arkansas 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.4% 0.5% 0.7% 0.8% 0.9%
California California 2.4% 1.4% 1.0% 0.7% 0.5% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2% 0.2% 0.5% 0.9% 0.8% 1.0% 1.0% 1.6%
Colorado Colorado 1.4% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.4% 0.6% 0.8% 1.0% 1.1% 1.3%
Connecticut Connecticut 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.3% 0.3% 0.4%
Delaware Delaware 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.3% 0.3% 0.5% 0.5%
 Florida 0.3% 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.3% 0.3% 0.4% 0.4%
Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.3% 0.3% 0.5%
Hawaii Hawaii 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.3% 0.5% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3%
Idaho Idaho 10.0% 4.8% 2.6% 1.1% 0.7% 0.8% 0.7% 0.6% 0.8% 0.9% 1.1% 1.4% 1.4% 1.4% 1.4%
Illinois Illinois 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.3% 0.8%
Indiana Indiana 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.3% 0.3% 0.4%
Iowa Iowa 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.3% 0.3% 0.4% 0.5%
Kansas Kansas 0.2% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.4% 0.7% 0.9% 0.9% 1.0% 1.1%
Kentucky Kentucky 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.3%
Louisiana Louisiana 0.1% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.3% 0.4% 0.6% 0.7% 0.7%
 Maine 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.4% 0.5% 0.6% 0.6% 0.6%
Maryland Maryland 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.2% 0.3% 0.3% 0.4% 0.5%
Massachusetts Massachusetts 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.3% 0.3%
Michigan Michigan 1.1% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.4% 0.6% 0.6% 0.6% 0.6%
Minnesota Minnesota 1.1% 0.8% 0.5% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.5% 0.6% 0.9% 1.1% 1.1% 1.1% 1.2%
Mississippi Mississippi 0.2% 0.2% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.3% 0.4% 0.5% 0.6%
Missouri Missouri 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.3% 0.4% 0.4% 0.5% 0.5%
Montana Montana 38.3% 7.8% 4.7% 0.8% 2.0% 2.8% 3.0% 2.8% 3.1% 3.9% 4.7% 6.0% 6.2% 6.3% 9.3%
Nebraska Nebraska 1.0% 0.6% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2% 0.2% 0.3% 0.3% 0.4% 0.4% 0.6% 0.8% 0.9% 1.2% 1.2%
Nevada Nevada 13.9% 10.9% 12.3% 6.4% 6.3% 5.3% 4.3% 3.1% 2.3% 1.6% 1.7% 1.6% 1.3% 1.2% 1.4%
 New Hampshire 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2%
New Jersey New Jersey 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.3% 0.6%
New Mexico New Mexico 23.2% 9.4% 6.7% 6.3% 5.4% 6.8% 6.5% 6.2% 5.9% 7.2% 8.1% 8.9% 9.5% 9.4% 12.4%
New York (state) New York 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.3% 0.4% 0.6% 0.7%
North Carolina North Carolina 0.1% 0.1% 0.3% 0.4% 0.5% 0.5% 0.6% 0.1% 0.8% 0.9% 1.1% 1.2% 1.2% 1.3% 1.2%
North Dakota North Dakota 13.0% 4.3% 2.2% 1.1% 1.0% 1.2% 1.6% 1.7% 1.9% 2.3% 3.1% 4.1% 4.9% 5.4% 7.2%
South Dakota South Dakota 20.6% 5.7% 5.0% 3.3% 2.6% 3.2% 3.6% 3.6% 3.8% 4.9% 6.5% 7.3% 8.3% 8.8% 11.1%
Ohio Ohio 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.3%
Oklahoma Oklahoma 100.0% 24.9% 8.2% 4.5% 2.8% 3.9% 2.7% 2.4% 2.8% 3.8% 5.6% 8.0% 7.9% 8.6% 16.0%
Oregon Oregon 3.5% 1.6% 1.2% 0.8% 0.6% 0.5% 0.4% 0.4% 0.5% 0.6% 1.0% 1.4% 1.3% 1.4% 4.4%
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2%
Rhode Island Rhode Island 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.3% 0.4% 0.5% 0.6% 0.7%
South Carolina South Carolina 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.3% 0.4% 0.5%
Tennessee Tennessee 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.3% 0.3% 0.4%
Texas Texas 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.2% 0.3% 0.4% 0.6% 0.7% 1.0%
Utah Utah 0.9% 1.6% 0.9% 0.8% 0.6% 0.6% 0.7% 0.6% 0.8% 1.1% 1.3% 1.4% 1.3% 1.2% 1.3%
 Vermont 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.2% 0.3% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4%
Virginia Virginia 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.3% 0.4% 0.5%
Washington (state) Washington 20.8% 3.1% 1.9% 1.0% 0.7% 0.7% 0.7% 0.6% 0.7% 1.0% 1.5% 1.7% 1.6% 1.5% 4.1%
 West Virginia 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2%
Wisconsin Wisconsin 0.8% 0.6% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.6% 0.8% 0.9% 1.0% 1.0%
Wyoming Wyoming 9.6% 2.9% 1.8% 1.0% 0.7% 0.8% 0.9% 1.1% 1.2% 1.5% 1.5% 2.1% 2.3% 2.4% 4.8%
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.3% 0.3% 0.5%
 Puerto Rico 0.4% 0.5% 0.5%
 United States 0.7% 0.4% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2% 0.3% 0.4% 0.6% 0.8% 0.9% 0.9% 1.1%

Absolute numbers of American Indians and Alaska Natives between 1880 and 2020 (since 1890 according to the Census Bureau):

American Indian and Alaska Native population by U.S. state and territory (1880–2020)
State/Territory 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
Alabama Alabama 213 1143 177 909 405 465 464 928 1276 2443 9239 16506 22430 28218 33625
Alaska Alaska 32996 25354 29536 25331 26558 29983 32458 33863 42522 50814 64103 85698 98043 104871 111575
Arizona Arizona 22199 29981 26480 29201 32989 43726 55076 65761 83387 95812 154175 203527 255879 296529 319512
Arkansas Arkansas 195 250 66 460 106 408 278 533 580 2014 12713 12773 17808 22248 27177
California California 20385 16624 15377 16371 17360 19212 18675 19947 39014 91018 227757 242164 333346 362801 631016
Colorado Colorado 2684 1092 1437 1482 1383 1395 1360 1567 4288 8836 20682 27776 44241 56010 74129
Connecticut Connecticut 255 228 153 152 159 162 201 333 923 2222 4822 6654 9639 11256 16051
Delaware Delaware 5 4 9 5 2 5 14 0 597 656 1380 2019 2731 4181 5148
Florida Florida 780 171 358 74 518 587 690 1011 2504 6677 24714 36335 53541 71458 94795
Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia 124 68 19 95 125 43 106 333 749 2347 9876 13348 21737 32151 50618
Hawaii Hawaii 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 472 1126 2833 5099 3535 4164 4370
Idaho Idaho 3585 4223 4226 3488 3098 3638 3537 3800 5231 6687 10405 13780 17645 21441 25621
Illinois Illinois 140 98 16 188 194 469 624 1443 4704 11413 19118 21836 31006 43963 96498
Indiana Indiana 246 343 243 279 125 285 223 438 948 3887 9495 12720 15815 18462 26086
Iowa Iowa 821 457 382 471 529 660 733 1084 1708 2992 6311 7349 8989 11084 14486
Kansas Kansas 1499 1682 2130 2444 2276 2454 1165 2381 5069 8672 17829 21965 24936 28150 30995
Kentucky Kentucky 50 71 102 234 57 22 44 234 391 1531 4497 5769 8616 10120 12801
Louisiana Louisiana 848 628 593 780 1069 1536 1801 409 3587 5294 12841 18541 25477 30579 31657
Maine Maine 625 559 798 892 830 1012 1251 1522 1879 2195 4360 5998 7098 8568 7885
Maryland Maryland 15 44 3 55 32 50 73 314 1538 4239 8946 12972 15423 20420 31845
Massachusetts Massachusetts 369 428 587 688 555 874 769 1201 2118 4475 8996 12241 15015 18850 24018
Michigan Michigan 17390 5625 6354 7519 5614 7080 6282 7000 9701 16854 44712 55638 58479 62007 61261
Minnesota Minnesota 8498 10096 9182 9053 8761 11077 12528 12533 15496 23128 36527 49909 54967 60916 68641
Mississippi Mississippi 1857 2036 2203 1253 1105 1458 2134 2502 3119 4113 6836 8525 11652 15030 16450
Missouri Missouri 113 128 130 313 171 578 330 547 1723 5405 14820 19835 25076 27376 30518
Montana Montana 23313 11206 11343 10745 10956 14798 16841 16606 21181 27130 37623 47679 56068 62555 67612
Nebraska Nebraska 4541 6431 3322 3502 2888 3256 3401 3954 5545 6624 9059 12410 14896 18427 23102
Nevada Nevada 9603 5156 5216 5240 4907 4871 4747 5025 6681 7933 14256 19637 26420 32062 43932
New Hampshire New Hampshire 63 16 22 34 28 64 50 74 135 361 1342 2134 2964 3150 3031
New Jersey New Jersey 74 84 63 168 106 213 211 621 1699 4706 10028 14970 19492 29026 51186
New Mexico New Mexico 33224 15044 13144 20573 19512 28941 34510 41901 56255 72788 106585 134355 173483 193222 212241
New York (state) New York 5958 6044 5257 6046 5503 6973 8651 10640 16491 28355 43508 62651 82461 106906 149690
North Carolina North Carolina 1230 1516 5687 7851 11824 16579 22546 3742 38129 44406 65808 80155 99551 122110 130032
North Dakota North Dakota 8329 8174 6968 6486 6254 8387 10114 10766 11736 14369 19905 25917 31329 36591 38914
Ohio Ohio 130 206 42 127 151 435 338 1146 1910 6654 15300 20358 24486 25292 30720
Oklahoma Oklahoma 82334 64456 64445 74825 57337 92725 63125 53769 64689 98468 171092 252420 273230 321687 332791
Oregon Oregon 6249 4971 4951 5090 4590 4776 4594 5820 8026 13510 29783 38496 45211 53203 62993
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania 184 1081 1639 1503 337 523 441 1141 2122 5533 10928 14733 18348 26843 31052
Rhode Island Rhode Island 77 180 35 284 110 318 196 385 932 1390 3186 4071 5121 6058 7385
South Carolina South Carolina 131 173 121 331 304 959 1234 554 1098 2241 6655 8246 13718 19524 24303
South Dakota South Dakota 20230 19854 20225 19137 16384 21833 23347 23344 25794 32365 45525 50575 62283 71817 77748
Tennessee Tennessee 352 146 108 216 56 161 114 339 638 2276 6946 10039 15152 19994 28044
Texas Texas 992 708 470 702 2109 1001 1103 2736 5750 17957 50296 65877 118362 170972 278948
Utah Utah 1257 3456 2623 3123 2711 2869 3611 4201 6961 11273 19994 24283 29684 32927 41644
Vermont Vermont 11 34 5 26 24 36 16 30 57 229 1041 1696 2420 2207 2289
Virginia Virginia 85 349 354 539 824 779 198 1056 2155 4853 9867 15282 21172 29225 40007
Washington (state) Washington 18594 11181 10039 10997 9061 11253 11394 13816 21076 33386 61233 81483 93301 103869 121468
West Virginia West Virginia 29 9 12 36 7 18 25 160 181 751 2317 2458 3606 3787 3706
Wisconsin Wisconsin 10798 9930 8372 10142 9611 11548 12265 12196 14297 18924 30553 39387 47228 54526 60428
Wyoming Wyoming 2203 1844 1686 1486 1343 1845 2349 3237 4020 4980 8192 9479 11133 13336 13898
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. 5 25 22 68 37 40 190 330 587 956 986 1466 1713 2079 3193
 United States 345,888 273,607 266,732 291,014 270,995 362,380 366,427 377,273 551,669 827,268 1,519,995 1,959,234 2,475,956 2,932,248 3,727,135
Non-Hispanic 345,888 273,607 266,732 291,014 270,995 362,380 366,427 377,273 551,669 800,409 1,425,250 1,793,773 2,068,883 2,247,098 2,251,699
  1. In Florida in 1880 there were reported 180 taxed Indians and 600 inhabitants of unknown race, possibly also Indians.
  2. For Oklahoma one count reported 76585 Indians in 1880 (including 59187 in Five Civilized Tribes), another count reported 79769 or 79469 (including 64000 in Five Civilized Tribes) and yet another reported 82334 (including 64000 in Five Civilized Tribes) as of 1884.

Population distribution

This U.S. Census Bureau map depicts the locations of differing Native American groups, including Indian reservations, as of 2000; present-day Oklahoma in the Southwestern United States, which was once designated as an Indian Territory before Oklahoma's statehood in 1907, is highlighted in blue.

78% of Native Americans live outside a reservation. Full-blood individuals are more likely to live on a reservation than mixed-blood individuals. The Navajo, with 286,000 full-blood individuals, is the largest tribe if only full-blood individuals are counted; the Navajo are the tribe with the highest proportion of full-blood individuals, 86.3%. The Cherokee have a different history; it is the largest tribe, with 819,000 individuals, and it has 284,000 full-blood individuals.

Urban migration

Further information: Urban Indian

As of 2012, 70% of Native Americans live in urban areas, up from 45% in 1970 and 8% in 1940. Urban areas with significant Native American populations include Minneapolis, Denver, Phoenix, Tucson, Chicago, Oklahoma City, Houston, New York City, and Los Angeles. Many live in poverty. Racism, unemployment, drugs and gangs are common problems which Indian social service organizations such as the Little Earth housing complex in Minneapolis attempt to address.

Population by tribal grouping

Below are numbers for U.S. citizens self-identifying to selected tribal groupings, according to the 2010 U.S. census.

2010 Native American distribution by tribal group
Tribal grouping Tribal flag Tribal seal American Indian & Alaska Native Alone one tribal grouping reported American Indian & Alaska Native Alone more than one tribal grouping reported American Indian & Alaska Native Mixed one tribal grouping reported American Indian & Alaska Native Mixed more than one tribal grouping reported American Indian & Alaska Native tribal grouping alone or mixed in any combination
Total 2,879,638 52,610 2,209,267 79,064 5,220,579
Apache 63,193 6,501 33,303 8,813 111,810
Arapaho 8,014 388 2,084 375 10,861
Blackfeet 27,279 4,519 54,109 19,397 105,304
Canadian & French American Indian 6,433 618 6,981 790 14,822
Central American Indian 15,882 572 10,865 525 27,844
Cherokee 284,247 16,216 468,082 50,560 819,105
Cheyenne
(Northern and Southern) 		11,375 1,118 5,311 1,247 19,051
Chickasaw 27,973 2,233 19,220 2,852 52,278
Chippewa 112,757 2,645 52,091 3,249 170,742
Choctaw 103,910 6,398 72,101 13,355 195,764
Colville 8,114 200 2,148 87 10,549
Comanche 12,284 1,187 8,131 1,728 23,330
Cree 2,211 739 4,023 1,010 7,983
Creek 48,352 4,596 30,618 4,766 88,332
Crow 10,332 528 3,309 1,034 15,203
Delaware (Lenape) 7,843 372 9,439 610 18,264
Hopi 12,580 2,054 3,013 680 18,327
Houma 8,169 71 2,438 90 10,768
Iroquois 40,570 1,891 34,490 4,051 81,002
Kiowa 9,437 918 2,947 485 13,787
Lumbee 62,306 651 10,039 695 73,691
Menominee 8,374 253 2,330 176 11,133
Mexican American Indian 121,221 2,329 49,670 2,274 175,494
Navajo 286,731 8,285 32,918 4,195 332,129
Osage 8,938 1,125 7,090 1,423 18,576
Ottawa 7,272 776 4,274 711 13,033
Paiute 9,340 865 3,135 427 13,767
Pima 22,040 1,165 3,116 334 26,655
Potawatomi 20,412 462 12,249 648 33,771
Pueblo 49,695 2,331 9,568 946 62,540
Puget Sound Salish 14,320 215 5,540 185 20,260
Seminole 14,080 2,368 12,447 3,076 31,971
Shoshone 7,852 610 3,969 571 13,002
Sioux 112,176 4,301 46,964 6,669 170,110
South American Indian 20,901 479 25,015 838 47,233
Spanish American Indian 13,460 298 6,012 181 19,951
Tohono O'odham 19,522 725 3,033 198 23,478
Ute 7,435 785 2,802 469 11,491
Yakama 8,786 310 2,207 224 11,527
Yaqui 21,679 1,516 8,183 1,217 32,595
Yuman 7,727 551 1,642 169 10,089
All other American Indian tribes 270,141 12,606 135,032 11,850 429,629
American Indian tribes, not specified 131,943 117 102,188 72 234,320
Alaska Native tribes, specified 98,892 4,194 32,992 2,772 138,850
Alaskan Athabaskans 15,623 804 5,531 526 22,484
Aleut 11,920 723 6,108 531 19,282
Inupiat 24,859 877 7,051 573 33,360
Tlingit-Haida 15,256 859 9,331 634 26,080
Tsimshian 2,307 240 1,010 198 3,755
Yup'ik 28,927 691 3,961 310 33,889
Alaska Native tribes, not specified 19,731 173 9,896 133 29,933
American Indian or Alaska Native tribes, not specified 693,709 no data 852,253 1 1,545,963

Tribal sovereignty

Main articles: Tribal sovereignty in the United States, Native American tribe, and Indian reservation
Indian reservations in the continental United States

There are 573 federally recognized tribal governments and 326 Indian reservations in the United States. These tribes possess the right to form their own governments, to enforce laws (both civil and criminal) within their lands, to tax, to establish requirements for membership, to license and regulate activities, to zone, and to exclude persons from tribal territories. Limitations on tribal powers of self-government include the same limitations applicable to states; for example, neither tribes nor states have the power to make war, engage in foreign relations, or coin money (this includes paper currency). In addition, there are a number of tribes that are recognized by individual states, but not by the federal government. The rights and benefits associated with state recognition vary from state to state.

Many Native Americans and advocates of Native American rights point out that the U.S. federal government's claim to recognize the "sovereignty" of Native American peoples falls short, given that the United States wishes to govern Native American peoples and treat them as subject to U.S. law. Such advocates contend that full respect for Native American sovereignty would require the U.S. government to deal with Native American peoples in the same manner as any other sovereign nation, handling matters related to relations with Native Americans through the Secretary of State, rather than the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Bureau of Indian Affairs reports on its website that its "responsibility is the administration and management of 55,700,000 acres (225,000 km) of land held in trust by the United States for American Indians, Indian tribes, and Alaska Natives". Many Native Americans and advocates of Native American rights believe that it is condescending for such lands to be considered "held in trust" and regulated in any fashion by any entity other than their own tribes.

Some tribal groups have been unable to document the cultural continuity required for federal recognition. To achieve federal recognition and its benefits, tribes must prove continuous existence since 1900. The federal government has maintained this requirement, in part because through participation on councils and committees, federally recognized tribes have been adamant about groups' satisfying the same requirements as they did. The Muwekma Ohlone of the San Francisco Bay Area are pursuing litigation in the federal court system to establish recognition. Many of the smaller eastern tribes, long considered remnants of extinct peoples, have been trying to gain official recognition of their tribal status. Several tribes in Virginia and North Carolina have gained state recognition. Federal recognition confers some benefits, including the right to label arts and crafts as Native American and permission to apply for grants that are specifically reserved for Native Americans. But gaining federal recognition as a tribe is extremely difficult; to be established as a tribal group, members have to submit extensive genealogical proof of tribal descent and continuity of the tribe as a culture.

Native peoples are concerned about the effects of abandoned uranium mines on or near their lands.

In July 2000, the Washington State Republican Party adopted a resolution recommending that the federal and legislative branches of the U.S. government terminate tribal governments. In 2007, a group of Democratic Party congressmen and congresswomen introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to terminate Federal recognition of the Cherokee Nation. This was related to their voting to exclude Cherokee Freedmen as members of the tribe unless they had a Cherokee ancestor on the Dawes Rolls, although all Cherokee Freedmen and their descendants had been members since 1866.

As of 2004, various Native Americans are wary of attempts by others to gain control of their reservation lands for natural resources, such as coal and uranium in the West.

The State of Maine is the only State House Legislature that allows Representatives from Indian Tribes. The three nonvoting members represent the Penobscot Nation, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, and Passamaquoddy Tribe. These representatives can sponsor any legislation regarding American Indian affairs or co-sponsor any pending State of Maine legislation. Maine is unique regarding Indigenous leadership representation.

In the state of Virginia, Native Americans face a unique problem. Until 2017 Virginia previously had no federally recognized tribes but the state had recognized eight. This is related historically to the greater impact of disease and warfare on the Virginia Indian populations, as well as their intermarriage with Europeans and Africans. Some people confused ancestry with culture, but groups of Virginia Indians maintained their cultural continuity. Most of their early reservations were ended under the pressure of early European settlement.

Some historians also note the problems of Virginia Indians in establishing documented continuity of identity, due to the work of Walter Ashby Plecker (1912–1946). As registrar of the state's Bureau of Vital Statistics, he applied his own interpretation of the one-drop rule, enacted in law in 1924 as the state's Racial Integrity Act. It recognized only two races: "white" and "colored".

Plecker, a segregationist, believed that the state's Native Americans had been "mongrelized" by intermarriage with African Americans; to him, ancestry determined identity, rather than culture. He thought that some people of partial black ancestry were trying to "pass" as Native Americans. Plecker thought that anyone with any African heritage had to be classified as colored, regardless of appearance, amount of European or Native American ancestry, and cultural/community identification. Plecker pressured local governments into reclassifying all Native Americans in the state as "colored" and gave them lists of family surnames to examine for reclassification based on his interpretation of data and the law. This led to the state's destruction of accurate records related to families and communities who identified as Native American (as in church records and daily life). By his actions, sometimes different members of the same family were split by being classified as "white" or "colored". He did not allow people to enter their primary identification as Native American in state records. In 2009, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee endorsed a bill that would grant federal recognition to tribes in Virginia.

As of 2000, the largest groups in the United States by population were Navajo, Cherokee, Choctaw, Sioux, Chippewa, Apache, Blackfeet, Iroquois, and Pueblo. In 2000, eight of ten Americans with Native American ancestry were of mixed ancestry. It is estimated that by 2100 that figure will rise to nine out of ten.

Civil rights movement

Main articles: Civil rights movement, Jim Crow Laws, Martin Luther King Jr., National Congress of American Indians, National Indian Youth Council, Native American Rights Fund, and Brown v. Board of Education
A group of NIYC demonstrators holding signs in front of the BIA office.
National Indian Youth Council demonstrations, March 1970, Bureau of Indian Affairs Office

The civil rights movement was a very significant moment for the rights of Native Americans and other people of color. Native Americans faced racism and prejudice for hundreds of years, and this increased after the American Civil War. Native Americans, like African Americans, were subjected to the Jim Crow Laws and segregation in the Deep South especially after they were made citizens through the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. As a body of law, Jim Crow institutionalized economic, educational, and social disadvantages for Native Americans, and other people of color living in the south. Native American identity was especially targeted by a system that only wanted to recognize white or colored, and the government began to question the legitimacy of some tribes because they had intermarried with African Americans. Native Americans were also discriminated and discouraged from voting in the southern and western states.

In the south segregation was a major problem for Native Americans seeking education, but the NAACP's legal strategy would later change this. Movements such as Brown v. Board of Education was a major victory for the Civil Rights Movement headed by the NAACP, and inspired Native Americans to start participating in the Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King Jr. began assisting Native Americans in the south in the late 1950s after they reached out to him. At that time the remaining Creek in Alabama were trying to completely desegregate schools in their area. In this case, light-complexioned Native children were allowed to ride school buses to previously all white schools, while dark-skinned Native children from the same band were barred from riding the same buses. Tribal leaders, upon hearing of King's desegregation campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, contacted him for assistance. He promptly responded and, through his intervention, the problem was quickly resolved. King would later make trips to Arizona visiting Native Americans on reservations, and in churches encouraging them to be involved in the Civil Rights Movement. In King's book Why We Can't Wait he writes:

Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of Negroes on our shores, the scar of racial hatred had already disfigured colonial society. From the sixteenth century forward, blood flowed in battles over racial supremacy. We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe out its Indigenous population. Moreover, we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade. Indeed, even today we have not permitted ourselves to reject or to feel remorse for this shameful episode. Our literature, our films, our drama, our folklore all exalt it.

Native Americans would then actively participate and support the NAACP, and the civil rights movement. The National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) would soon rise in 1961 to fight for Native American rights during the Civil Rights Movement, and were strong King supporters. During the 1963 March on Washington there was a sizable Native American contingent, including many from South Dakota, and many from the Navajo nation. Native Americans also participated the Poor People's Campaign in 1968. The NIYC were very active supporters of the Poor People's Campaign unlike the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI); the NIYC and other Native organizations met with King in March 1968 but the NCAI disagreed on how to approach the anti-poverty campaign; the NCAI decided against participating in the march. The NCAI wished to pursue their battles in the courts and with Congress, unlike the NIYC. The NAACP also inspired the creation of the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) which was patterned after the NAACP's Legal Defense and Education Fund. Furthermore, the NAACP continued to organize to stop mass incarceration and end the criminalization of Native Americans and other communities of people of color. The following is an excerpt from a statement from Mel Thom on May 1, 1968, during a meeting with Secretary of State Dean Rusk: (It was written by members of the Workshop on American Indian Affairs and the NIYC)

We have joined the Poor People's Campaign because most of our families, tribes, and communities number among those suffering most in this country. We are not begging. We are demanding what is rightfully ours. This is no more than the right to have a decent life in our own communities. We need guaranteed jobs, guaranteed income, housing, schools, economic development, but most important- we want them on our own terms. Our chief spokesman in the federal government, the Department of Interior, has failed us. In fact it began failing us from its very beginning. The Interior Department began failing us because it was built upon and operates under a racist, immoral, paternalistic and colonialistic system. There is no way to improve upon racism, immorality and colonialism; it can only be done away with. The system and power structure serving Indian peoples is a sickness which has grown to epidemic proportions. The Indian system is sick. Paternalism is the virus and the secretary of the Interior is the carrier.

Contemporary issues

Main article: Contemporary Native American issues in the United States See also: Environmental Justice and Social Justice

Native American struggles amid poverty to maintain life on the reservation or in larger society have resulted in a variety of health issues, some related to nutrition and health practices. The community suffers a vulnerability to and disproportionately high rate of alcoholism:

It has long been recognized that Native Americans are dying of diabetes, alcoholism, tuberculosis, suicide, and other health conditions at shocking rates. Beyond disturbingly high mortality rates, Native Americans also suffer a significantly lower health status and disproportionate rates of disease compared with all other Americans.

— U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (September 2004)

Recent studies also point to rising rates of stroke, heart disease, and diabetes in the Native American population.

Societal discrimination and racism

Further information: Stereotypes of Native Americans and Racism against Native Americans in the United States
A discriminatory sign posted above a bar. Birney, Montana, 1941
Chief Plenty Coups and seven Crow prisoners under guard at Crow agency, Montana, 1887

Native Americans have been subjected to discrimination for centuries. In response to being labeled "merciless Indian savages" in the Declaration of Independence, Simon Moya-Smith, culture editor at Indian Country Today, states, "Any holiday that would refer to my people in such a repugnant, racist manner is certainly not worth celebrating. is a day we celebrate our resiliency, our culture, our languages, our children and we mourn the millions — literally millions — of indigenous people who have died as a consequence of American imperialism."

In a study conducted in 2006–2007, non-Native Americans admitted they rarely encountered Native Americans in their daily lives. This is largely due to the number of Native Americans having dwindled since white settler colonialism, while those who survived were forcibly moved into reservations; both of these factors were referenced by Adolf Hitler in 1928 when he admiringly stated the US had "gunned down the millions of Redskins to a few hundred thousand, and now keep the modest remnant under observation in a cage". While sympathetic toward Native Americans and expressing regret over the past, most people had only a vague understanding of the problems facing Native Americans today. For their part, Native Americans told researchers that they believed they continued to face prejudice, mistreatment, and inequality in the broader society.

Affirmative action issues

Federal contractors and subcontractors, such as businesses and educational institutions, are legally required to adopt equal opportunity employment and affirmative action measures intended to prevent discrimination against employees or applicants for employment on the basis of "color, religion, sex, or national origin". For this purpose, a Native American is defined as "A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains a tribal affiliation or community attachment". The passing of the Indian Relocation Act saw a 56% increase in Native American city dwellers over 40 years. The Native American urban poverty rate exceeds that of reservation poverty rates due to discrimination in hiring processes. However, self-reporting is permitted: "Educational institutions and other recipients should allow students and staff to self-identify their race and ethnicity unless self-identification is not practicable or feasible."

Self-reporting opens the door to "box checking" by people who, despite not having a substantial relationship to Native American culture, innocently or fraudulently check the box for Native American.

The difficulties that Native Americans face in the workforce, for example, a lack of promotions and wrongful terminations are attributed to racial stereotypes and implicit biases. Native American business owners are seldom offered auxiliary resources that are crucial for entrepreneurial success.

Sexual violence as a tool for settler colonialism

Throughout history, settler colonialism has remained a violent and destructive tool to displace and exterminate Native American peoples. The use of sexual violence to perpetuate this is very common. Musocgee Creek law professor Sarah Deer highlights the high number of Native women who still experience this violence: "Since 1999 a variety of reports and studies have come to the same conclusion- namely, that Native women in particular suffer the highest rate of per capita rape in the United States." The continued acts of sexual violence against Native women have been perpetuated by colonization and the actions of colonizers. Native women through time have been portrayed as extremely sexual which only enforces sexual violence. Deer explains, "Dispossession and relocation of indigenous peoples on this continent both necessitated and precipitated a highly gendered and sexualized dynamic in which Native women's bodies became commodities- bought and sold for the purposes of sexual gratification (or profit), invariably transporting them far away from their homes."

Native American mascots in sports

Main article: Native American mascot controversy Further information: NCAA Native American mascot decision
Protest against the name of the Washington Redskins in Minneapolis, November 2014

American Indian activists in the United States and Canada have criticized the use of Native American mascots in sports, as perpetuating stereotypes. This is considered cultural appropriation. There has been a steady decline in the number of secondary school and college teams using such names, images, and mascots. Some tribal team names have been approved by the tribe in question, such as the Seminole Council of Florida approving use of their name for the teams of Florida State University.The NCAA allows the use even though the NCAA "continues to believe the stereotyping of Native Americans is wrong."

Among professional teams, the NBA's Golden State Warriors discontinued use of Native American-themed logos in 1971. The NFL's Washington Commanders, formerly the Washington Redskins, changed their name in 2020, as the term is considered to be a racial slur.

MLB's Cleveland Guardians were formerly known as the Cleveland Indians. Their use of a caricature called Chief Wahoo faced protest for decades. Starting in 2019, Chief Wahoo ceased to be a logo for Cleveland Indians, though Chief Wahoo merchandise could still be sold in the Cleveland-area. On December 13, 2020, The New York Times reported that Cleveland would be officially changing their name. On November 19, 2021, the team officially became the Cleveland Guardians.

Historical depictions in art

Secotan Indians' dance in North Carolina. Watercolor by John White, 1585.

Native Americans have been depicted by American artists in various ways at different periods. A number of 19th- and 20th-century United States and Canadian painters, often motivated by a desire to document and preserve Native culture, specialized in Native American subjects. Among the most prominent of these were Elbridge Ayer Burbank, George Catlin, Seth Eastman, Paul Kane, W. Langdon Kihn, Charles Bird King, Joseph Henry Sharp, and John Mix Stanley.

Eagle Dance of the Sac and Fox Indians, painting by George Catlin, c. 1845

In the 20th century, early portrayals of Native Americans in movies and television roles were first performed by European Americans dressed in mock traditional attire. Examples included The Last of the Mohicans (1920), Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans (1957), and F Troop (1965–1967). In later decades, Native American actors such as Jay Silverheels in The Lone Ranger television series (1949–1957) came to prominence. The roles of Native Americans were limited and not reflective of Native American culture. By the 1970s some Native American film roles began to show more complexity, such as those in Little Big Man (1970), Billy Jack (1971), and The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), which depicted Native Americans in minor supporting roles.

For years, Native people on American television were relegated to secondary, subordinate roles. During the years of the series Bonanza (1959–1973), no major or secondary Native characters appeared on a consistent basis. The series The Lone Ranger (1949–1957), Cheyenne (1955–1963), and Law of the Plainsman (1959–1963) had Native characters who were essentially aides to the central white characters. This continued in such series as How the West Was Won. These programs resembled the "sympathetic" yet contradictory film Dances With Wolves of 1990, in which, according to Ella Shohat and Robert Stam, the narrative choice was to relate the Lakota story as told through a Euro-American voice, for wider impact among a general audience. Like the 1992 remake of The Last of the Mohicans and Geronimo: An American Legend (1993), Dances with Wolves employed a number of Native American actors, and made an effort to portray Indigenous languages. In 1996, Plains Cree actor Michael Greyeyes would play renowned Native American warrior Crazy Horse in the 1996 television film Crazy Horse, and would also later play renowned Sioux chief Sitting Bull in the 2017 movie Woman Walks Ahead.

The 1998 film Smoke Signals, which was set on the Coeur D'Alene Reservation and discussed hardships of present-day American Indian families living on reservations, featured numerous Native American actors as well. The film was the first feature film to be produced and directed by Native Americans, and was also the first feature to include an exclusive Native American cast. At the annual Sundance Film Festival, Smoke Signals would win the Audience Award and its producer Chris Eyre, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, would win the Filmmaker's Trophy. In 2009, We Shall Remain (2009), a television documentary by Ric Burns and part of the American Experience series, presented a five-episode series "from a Native American perspective". It represented "an unprecedented collaboration between Native and non-Native filmmakers and involves Native advisors and scholars at all levels of the project". The five episodes explore the impact of King Philip's War on the northeastern tribes, the "Native American confederacy" of Tecumseh's War, the U.S.-forced relocation of Southeastern tribes known as the Trail of Tears, the pursuit and capture of Geronimo and the Apache Wars, and concludes with the Wounded Knee incident, participation by the American Indian Movement, and the increasing resurgence of modern Native cultures since.

Differences in terminology

Further information: Native American name controversy

The most common of the modern terms to refer to Indigenous peoples of the United States are Indians, American Indians, and Native Americans. Up to the early to mid 18th century, the term Americans was not applied to people of European heritage in North America. Instead it was equivalent to the term Indians. As people of European heritage began using the term Americans to refer instead to themselves, the word Indians became historically the most often employed term.

The term Indians, long laden with racist stereotypes, began to be widely replaced in the 1960s with the term Native Americans, which recognized the Indigeneity of the people who first made the Americas home. But as the term Native Americans became popular, the American Indian Movement saw pejorative connotations in the term native and reappropriated the term Indian, seeing it as witness to the history of violence against the many nations that lived in the Americas before European arrival.

The term Native American was introduced in the United States in preference to the older term Indian to distinguish the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from the people of India. It may have been coined by Mohican Sachem John Wannuaucon Quinney, in an 1852 address to the US Congress where he argued against proposed resettlement.

The term Amerindian, a portmanteau of "American Indian", was coined in 1902 by the American Anthropological Association. However, it has been controversial since its creation. It was immediately rejected by some leading members of the Association, and, while adopted by many, it was never universally accepted. While never popular in Indigenous communities themselves, it remains a preferred term among some anthropologists, notably in some parts of Canada and the English-speaking Caribbean.

During World War II, draft boards typically classified American Indians from Virginia as Negroes.

In 1995, a plurality of Indigenous Americans, however, preferred the term American Indian and many tribes include the word Indian in their formal title.

Criticism of the neologism Native American comes from diverse sources. Russell Means, an Oglala Lakota activist, opposed the term Native American because he believed it was imposed by the government without the consent of Native people.

A 1995 U.S. Census Bureau survey found that more Native Americans in the United States preferred American Indian to Native American. Most American Indians are comfortable with Indian, American Indian, and Native American. That term is reflected in the name chosen for the National Museum of the American Indian, which opened in 2004 on the Mall in Washington, D.C..

Other commonly used terms are First Americans, First Nations, and Native Peoples.

Colonial ecological violence

Colonial ecological violence, defined by sociologist J. M. Bacon as the result of eco-social disruptions that "generate colonial ecological violence, a unique form of violence perpetrated by the settler-colonial state, private industry, and settler-colonial culture as a whole." The relocation and displacement of Native peoples is a result of the colonizer mindset that land is a commodity. By removing these communities from their Native land, settlers are preventing the ways of life and the use of culture-affirming resources. Gilio-Whitaker, highlights some of the ways in which these practices are reinforced, with the concept of environmental deprivation – "historical processes of land and resource dispossession calculated to bring about the destruction of Indigenous lives and cultures." The reason these lands are so important to Native populations is because, “Since a strong component of many Indigenous cultures is a robust relationship to place, it serves to reason that forced removals, settler resource appropriation, and the ecological damage perpetuated by US settle colonial society contribute to significant "conflict" between "traditional cultural values" and "those of majority culture".

Colonial ecological violence in the Pacific Northwest

The Karuk tribe in Klamath, California are one of the many victims to colonial ecological violence. One of the major ways of life to the Karuk tribe is the use of fires to maintain and regulate their environment. Sociologist Kari Marie Norgaard goes into detail about how colonialism disrupted these ways of life. These fires were also used to correct travel routes and optimized hunting, which is a major part of Karuk life. In 1905, the Klamath National Forest was established which prevented the burning of fires on Karuk land- "Fire exclusion, then, has simultaneously produced indigenous exclusion, erasure, and replacement." Norgaard explains that this land is one of the most economically wealthy spots due to the establishment of the forest, which only further demonstrates the ways in which settler-colonialism enables and continues to negatively impact the land that Indigenous people live(d) on.

Colonial ecological violence in the Great Lakes region of North America

The Potawatomi tribe had long occupied the Great Lakes region of Northern America, up until they were displaced and spread out around the US. They had previously lived on 30 million acres of land, building cultural, familial, and other-than-human relationships for generations. (Whyte, 2016) Citizen Potawatomi environmental philosopher Kyle Powys Whyte highlights the ways in which this displacement has had violent and detrimental impacts on the tribe. “The consequences of capitalist economics, such as deforestation, water pollution, the clearing of land for large scale agriculture and urbanization, generate immediate disruptions on ecosystems "rapidly" rendering them very different from what they were like before, undermining Indigenous knowledge systems and Indigenous peoples' capacity to cultivate landscapes and adjust to environmental change.”

Colonial ecological violence in the Northeast

The Miami tribe, which now occupies Oklahoma, once resided in Oxford, Ohio, where Miami University now is placed. Historian Jeffrey Ostler provides insight into the forced movement of the Miami tribe off their land. In 1818, the tribe agreed to give up a large amount of land to U.S. officials (enough to create twenty-two Indiana counties. It was not until 1826 that Lewis Cass informed them and nearby Potawatomi, "You must remove or perish." This plan did not work, but the officials persisted and eventually the Miami tribe would be forced off their land in 1846. Miami University has a land acknowledgement document and a center dedicated to working with the Miami tribe of Oklahoma, though this is the only tribe from the original Miami tribe that is accredited by the U.S. government.

Gambling industry

Main article: Native American gaming
Sandia Casino, owned by the Sandia Pueblo of New Mexico

Because Indian reservations have tribal sovereignty, states have limited ability to forbid gambling there, as codified by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. Tribes run casinos, bingo halls, and other gambling operations, and as of 2011, there were 460 such operations run by 240 tribes, with a total annual revenue of $27 billion.

Financial services

Numerous tribes around the country have entered the financial services market including the Otoe-Missouria, Tunica-Biloxi, and the Rosebud Sioux. Because of the challenges involved in starting a financial services business from scratch, many tribes hire outside consultants and vendors to help them launch these businesses and manage the regulatory issues involved. Similar to the tribal sovereignty debates that occurred when tribes first entered the gaming industry, the tribes, states, and federal government are currently in disagreement regarding who possesses the authority to regulate these e-commerce business entities.

Crime on reservations

Prosecution of serious crime, historically endemic on reservations, was required by the 1885 Major Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. §§1153, 3242, and court decisions to be investigated by the federal government, usually the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and prosecuted by United States Attorneys of the United States federal judicial district in which the reservation lies.

A December 13, 2009 New York Times article about growing gang violence on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation estimated that there were 39 gangs with 5,000 members on that reservation alone. Navajo country recently reported 225 gangs in its territory.

As of 2012, a high incidence of rape continued to impact Native American women and Alaskan native women. According to the Department of Justice, 1 in 3 Native women have suffered rape or attempted rape, more than twice the national rate. About 46 percent of Native American women have been raped, beaten, or stalked by an intimate partner, according to a 2010 study by the Centers for Disease Control. According to Professor N. Bruce Duthu, "More than 80 percent of Indian victims identify their attacker as non-Indian".

Barriers to economic development

Today, other than tribes successfully running casinos, many tribes struggle, as they are often located on reservations isolated from the main economic centers of the country. The estimated 2.1 million Native Americans are the most impoverished of all ethnic groups. According to the 2000 census, an estimated 400,000 Native Americans reside on reservation land. While some tribes have had success with gaming, only 40% of the 562 federally recognized tribes operate casinos. According to a 2007 survey by the U.S. Small Business Administration, only 1% of Native Americans own and operate a business.

The barriers to economic development on Native American reservations have been identified by Joseph Kalt and Stephen Cornell of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development at Harvard University, in their report: What Can Tribes Do? Strategies and Institutions in American Indian Economic Development (2008), are summarized as follows:

  • Lack of access to capital
  • Lack of human capital (education, skills, technical expertise) and the means to develop it
  • Reservations lack effective planning
  • Reservations are poor in natural resources
  • Reservations have natural resources but lack sufficient control over them
  • Reservations are disadvantaged by their distance from markets and the high costs of transportation
  • Tribes cannot persuade investors to locate on reservations because of intense competition from non-Native American communities
  • The Bureau of Indian Affairs is inept, corrupt or uninterested in reservation development
  • Tribal politicians and bureaucrats are inept or corrupt
  • On-reservation factionalism destroys stability in tribal decisions
  • The instability of tribal government keeps outsiders from investing. The lack of international recognition Native American tribal sovereignty weakens their political-economic legitimacy. (Many tribes adopted constitutions by the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act model, with two-year terms for elected positions of chief and council members deemed too short by the authors for getting things done)
  • Entrepreneurial skills and experience are scarce
Teacher with picture cards giving English instruction to Navajo day school students

A major barrier to development is the lack of entrepreneurial knowledge and experience within Indian reservations. "A general lack of education and experience about business is a significant challenge to prospective entrepreneurs", was the report on Native American entrepreneurship by the Northwest Area Foundation in 2004. "Native American communities that lack entrepreneurial traditions and recent experiences typically do not provide the support that entrepreneurs need to thrive. Consequently, experiential entrepreneurship education needs to be embedded into school curriculum and after-school and other community activities. This would allow students to learn the essential elements of entrepreneurship from a young age and encourage them to apply these elements throughout life".

Discourse in Native American economic development

Some scholars argue that the existing theories and practices of economic development are not suitable for Native American communities—given the lifestyle, economic, and cultural differences, as well as the unique history of Native American-U.S. relations. Little economic development research has been conducted on Native American communities. The federal government fails to consider place-based issues of American Indian poverty by generalizing the demographic. In addition, the concept of economic development threatens to upend the multidimensionality of Native American culture. The dominance of federal government involvement in Indigenous developmental activities perpetuates and exacerbates the salvage paradigm.

Land ownership challenges

Native land owned by individual Native Americans sometimes cannot be developed because of fractionalization. Fractionalization occurs when a landowner dies, and their land is inherited by their children, but not subdivided. This means that one parcel might be owned by 50 different individuals. A majority of those holding interest must agree to any proposal to develop the land, and establishing this consent is time-consuming, cumbersome, and sometimes impossible.

Another landownership issue on reservations is checkerboarding, where tribal land is interspersed with land owned by the federal government on behalf of Natives, individually owned plots, and land owned by non-Native individuals. This prevents Tribal governments from securing plots of land large enough for economic development or agricultural uses. Because reservation land is owned "in trust" by the federal government, individuals living on reservations cannot build equity in their homes. This bars Native Americans from getting loans, as there is nothing that a bank can collect if the loan is not paid. Past efforts to encourage land ownership (such as the Dawes Act) resulted in a net loss of Tribal land. After they were familiarized with their smallholder status, Native American landowners were lifted of trust restrictions and their land would get transferred back to them, contingent on a transactional fee to the federal government. The transfer fee discouraged Native American land ownership, with 65% of tribal-owned land being sold to non-Native Americans by the 1920s. Activists against property rights point to historical evidence of communal ownership of land and resources by tribes. They claim that because of this history, property rights are foreign to Natives and have no place in the modern reservation system. Those in favor of property rights cite examples of tribes negotiating with colonial communities or other tribes about fishing and hunting rights in an area. Land ownership was also a challenge because of the different definitions of land that the Natives and the Europeans had. Most Native American tribes thought of property rights more as "borrowing" the land, while those from Europe thought of land as individual property.

Land ownership and bureaucratic challenges in historical context

State-level efforts such as the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act were attempts to contain tribal land in Native American hands. However, more bureaucratic decisions only expanded the bureaucracy. The knowledge disconnect between the decision-making bureaucracy and Native American stakeholders resulted in ineffective development efforts.

Traditional Native American entrepreneurship does not prioritize profit maximization; rather, business transactions must align with Native American social and cultural values. In response to Indigenous business philosophy, the federal government created policies that aimed to formalize their business practices, which undermined the Native American status quo. Additionally, legal disputes interfered with tribal land leasing, which were settled with the verdict against tribal sovereignty.

Often, bureaucratic overseers of development are far removed from Native American communities and lack the knowledge and understanding to develop plans or make resource allocation decisions. The top-down heavy involvement in developmental operations, does not mitigate incentives for bureaucrats to act in their self-interest. Such instances include reports that exaggerate results.

Geographic poverty

While Native American urban poverty is attributed to hiring and workplace discrimination in a heterogeneous setting, reservation and trust land poverty rates are endogenous to deserted opportunities in isolated regions.

Trauma

Historical trauma

Historical trauma is described as collective emotional and psychological damage throughout a person's lifetime and across multiple generations. Examples of historical trauma can be seen through the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890, where over 200 unarmed Lakota were killed, and the Dawes Allotment Act of 1887, when American Indians lost four-fifths of their land.

Impacts of intergenerational trauma

American Indian youth have higher rates of substance and alcohol use deaths than the general population. Many American Indians can trace the beginning of their substance and alcohol use to a traumatic event related to their offender's own substance use. A person's substance use can be described as a defense mechanism against the user's emotions and trauma. For American Indians alcoholism is a symptom of trauma passed from generation to generation and influenced by oppressive behaviors and policies by the dominant European-American society. Boarding schools were made to "Kill the Indian, Save the man". Shame among American Indians can be attributed to the hundreds of years of oppression and annihilation.

Food insecurity

An older Native American woman talks behind a table of beans, grains, and other produce. She is demonstrating the different traditional Native American foods.
A Native American woman talks behind a table of bowls of beans, grains, and other produce at an Indigenous food demonstration.

Studies are being conducted which show Native Americans often experience higher rates of food insecurity than other racial groups in the United States. The studies do not focus on the overall picture of Native American households, however, and tend to focus rather on smaller sample sizes in the available research. In a study that evaluated the level of food insecurity among Indigenous Americans, White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian: it was reported that over the 10-year span of 2000–2010, Indigenous people were reported to be one of the highest at-risk groups from a lack of access to adequate food, reporting anywhere from 20% to 30% of households suffering from this type of insecurity. There are many reasons that contribute to the issue, but overall, the biggest lie in high food costs on or near reservations, lack of access to well-paying jobs, and predisposition to health issues relating to obesity and mental health.

Society, language, and culture

Main article: Native American cultures of the United States Further information: Category:Archaeological cultures of North America
Three Native American women in Warm Springs Indian Reservation, Wasco County, Oregon (1902)

The culture of Pre-Columbian North America is usually defined by the concept of the culture area, namely a geographical region where shared cultural traits occur. The northwest culture area, for example, shared common traits such as salmon fishing, woodworking, and large villages or towns and a hierarchical social structure. Ethnographers generally classify the Indigenous peoples of North America into ten cultural areas based on geographical region.

Though cultural features, language, clothing, and customs vary enormously from one tribe to another, there are certain elements which are encountered frequently and shared by many tribes. Early European American scholars described the Native Americans as having a society dominated by clans.

European colonization of the Americas had a major impact on Native American cultures through what is known as the Columbian exchange, also known as the Columbian interchange, which was the widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, and ideas between the Americas and Eurasia (the Old World) in the 15th and 16th centuries, following Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage. The Columbian exchange generally had a destructive impact on Native American cultures through disease, and a 'clash of cultures', whereby European values of private land ownership, the family, and division of labor, led to conflict, appropriation of traditional communal lands and changed how the Indigenous tribes practiced slavery.

Geronimo, Chiricahua Apache leader. Photograph by Frank A. Rinehart (1898).

The impact of the Columbian exchange was not entirely negative, however. For example, the re-introduction of the horse to North America allowed the Plains Indians to revolutionize their ways of life by making hunting, trading, and warfare far more effective, and to greatly improve their ability to transport possessions and move their settlements.

The Great Plains tribes were still hunting the bison when they first encountered the Europeans. The Spanish reintroduction of the horse to North America in the 17th century and Native Americans' learning to use them greatly altered the Native Americans' cultures, including changing the way in which they hunted large game. Horses became such a valuable, central element of Native lives that they were counted as a measure of wealth by many tribes.

In the early years, as Native peoples encountered European explorers and settlers and engaged in trade, they exchanged food, crafts, and furs for blankets, iron and steel implements, horses, trinkets, firearms, and alcoholic beverages.

Ethno-linguistic classification

Main article: Indigenous languages of the Americas See also: American Indian English
Pre-contact: distribution of North American language families, including northern Mexico

The Na-Dené, Algic, and Uto-Aztecan families are the largest in terms of the number of languages. Uto-Aztecan has the most speakers (1.95 million) if the languages in Mexico are considered (mostly due to 1.5 million speakers of Nahuatl); Na-Dené comes in second with approximately 200,000 speakers (nearly 180,000 of these are speakers of Navajo), and Algic in third with about 180,000 speakers (mainly Cree and Ojibwe). Na-Dené and Algic have the widest geographic distributions: Algic currently spans from northeastern Canada across much of the continent down to northeastern Mexico (due to later migrations of the Kickapoo) with two outliers in California (Yurok and Wiyot); Na-Dené spans from Alaska and western Canada through Washington, Oregon, and California to the U.S. Southwest and northern Mexico (with one outlier in the Plains). Several families consist of only 2 or 3 languages. Demonstrating genetic relationships has proved difficult due to the great linguistic diversity present in North America. Two large (super-) family proposals, Penutian and Hokan have potential. However, even after decades of research, a large number of families remain.

Words used in English have been derived from Native American languages.

Language education

See also: Massachusett language § Current status
Oklahoma Cherokee language immersion school student writing in the Cherokee syllabary
The Cherokee language taught to preschoolers as a first language, at New Kituwah Academy

To counteract a shift to English, some Native American tribes have initiated language immersion schools for children, where an Indigenous American language is the medium of instruction. For example, the Cherokee Nation initiated a 10-year language preservation plan that involved raising new fluent speakers of the Cherokee language from childhood on up through school immersion programs as well as a collaborative community effort to continue to use the language at home. This plan was part of an ambitious goal that, in 50 years, will result in 80% or more of the Cherokee people being fluent in the language. The Cherokee Preservation Foundation has invested $3 million in opening schools, training teachers, and developing curricula for language education, as well as initiating community gatherings where the language can be actively used. Formed in 2006, the Kituwah Preservation & Education Program (KPEP) on the Qualla Boundary focuses on language immersion programs for children from birth to fifth grade, developing cultural resources for the general public and community language programs to foster the Cherokee language among adults.

There is also a Cherokee language immersion school in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, that educates students from pre-school through eighth grade. Because Oklahoma's official language is English, Cherokee immersion students are hindered when taking state-mandated tests because they have little competence in English. The Department of Education of Oklahoma said that in 2012 state tests: 11% of the school's sixth-graders showed proficiency in math, and 25% showed proficiency in reading; 31% of the seventh-graders showed proficiency in math, and 87% showed proficiency in reading; 50% of the eighth-graders showed proficiency in math, and 78% showed proficiency in reading. The Oklahoma Department of Education listed the charter school as a Targeted Intervention school, meaning the school was identified as a low-performing school but has not so that it was a Priority School. Ultimately, the school made a C, or a 2.33 grade point average on the state's A-F report card system. The report card shows the school getting an F in mathematics achievement and mathematics growth, a C in social studies achievement, a D in reading achievement, and an A in reading growth and student attendance. "The C we made is tremendous", said school principal Holly Davis, "here is no English instruction in our school's younger grades, and we gave them this test in English." She said she had anticipated the low grade because it was the school's first year as a state-funded charter school, and many students had difficulty with English. Eighth graders who graduate from the Tahlequah immersion school are fluent speakers of the language, and they usually go on to attend Sequoyah High School where classes are taught in both English and Cherokee.

Indigenous foodways

Further information: Indigenous cuisine of the Americas, Inuit cuisine, and Eastern Agricultural Complex
Ojibwe baby waits on a cradleboard while parents tend wild rice crops (Minnesota, 1940).

Historical diets of Native Americans differed dramatically from region to region. Different peoples might have relied more heavily on agriculture, horticulture, hunting, fishing, or gathering wild plants and fungi. Tribes developed diets best suited to their environments.

Iñupiat, Yupiit, Unangan, and fellow Alaska Natives fished, hunted, and harvested wild plants, but did not rely on agriculture. Coastal peoples relied more heavily on sea mammals, fish, and fish eggs, while inland peoples hunted caribou and moose. Alaskan Natives prepared and preserved dried and smoked meat and fish.

Frybread, made into an Indian taco

Pacific Northwest tribes crafted seafaring dugout canoes 40–50 feet (12–15 m) long for fishing. In the Eastern Woodlands, early peoples independently invented agricultural and by 1800 BCE developed the crops of the Eastern Agricultural Complex, which include squash (Cucurbita pepo ssp. ovifera), sunflower (Helianthus annuus var. macrocarpus), goosefoot (Chenopodium berlandieri), and marsh elder (Iva annua var. macrocarpa).

The Sonoran Desert region including parts of Arizona and California, part of a region known as Aridoamerica, relied heavily on the tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius) as a staple crop. This and other desert crops, mesquite bead pods, tunas (prickly pear fruit), cholla buds, saguaro cactus fruit, and acorns are being actively promoted today by Tohono O'odham Community Action. In the Southwest, some communities developed irrigation techniques while others, such as the Hopi dry-farmed. They filled storehouses with grain as protection against the area's frequent droughts.

Maize grown by Native Americans

Maize or corn, first cultivated in what is now Mexico was traded north into Aridoamerica and Oasisamerica, southwest. From there, maize cultivation spread throughout the Great Plains and Eastern Woodlands by 200 CE. Native farmers practiced polycropping maize, beans, and squash; these crops are known as the Three Sisters. The beans would replace the nitrogen, which the maize leached from the ground, as well as using corn stalks for support for climbing. The deficiencies of a diet heavily dependent on maize were mitigated by the common practice among Native Americans of converting maize kernels into hominy in a process called Nixtamalization.

The agriculture gender roles of the Native Americans varied from region to region. In the Southwest area, men prepared the soil with hoes. The women were in charge of planting, weeding, and harvesting the crops. In most other regions, the women were in charge of most agriculture, including clearing the land. Clearing the land was an immense chore since the Native Americans rotated fields.

Europeans in the eastern part of the continent observed that Native Americans cleared large areas for cropland. Their fields in New England sometimes covered hundreds of acres. Colonists in Virginia noted thousands of acres under cultivation by Native Americans.

Makah Native Americans and a whale, The King of the Seas in the Hands of the Makahs, 1910 photograph by Asahel Curtis

Early farmers commonly used tools such as the hoe, maul, and dibber. The hoe was the main tool used to till the land and prepare it for planting; then it was used for weeding. The first versions were made out of wood and stone. When the settlers brought iron, Native Americans switched to iron hoes and hatchets. The dibber was a digging stick, used to plant the seed. Once the plants were harvested, women prepared the produce for eating. They used the maul to grind the corn into a mash. It was cooked and eaten that way or baked as cornbread.

Religion

Main article: Native American religions
Baptism of Pocahontas was painted in 1840 by John Gadsby Chapman, who depicts Pocahontas, wearing white, being baptized Rebecca by Anglican minister Alexander Whiteaker (left) in Jamestown, Virginia. This event is believed to have taken place either in 1613 or 1614.

Native American religious practices, beliefs, and philosophies differ widely across tribes. These spiritualities, practices, beliefs, and philosophies may accompany adherence to another faith or can represent a person's primary religious, faith, spiritual or philosophical identity. Much Native American spirituality exists in a tribal-cultural continuum, and as such cannot be easily separated from tribal identity itself.

Cultural spiritual, philosophical, and faith ways differ from tribe to tribe and person to person. Some tribes include the use of sacred leaves and herbs such as tobacco, sweetgrass or sage. Many Plains tribes have sweatlodge ceremonies, though the specifics of the ceremony vary among tribes. Fasting, singing and prayer in the ancient languages of their people, and sometimes drumming are common.

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, the patron of ecologists, exiles, and orphans, was canonized by the Catholic Church

The Midewiwin Lodge is a medicine society inspired by the oral history and prophesies of the Ojibwa (Chippewa) and related tribes.

Another significant religious body among Native peoples is known as the Native American Church. It is a syncretistic church incorporating elements of Native spiritual practice from a number of different tribes as well as symbolic elements from Christianity. Its main rite is the peyote ceremony. Prior to 1890, traditional religious beliefs included Wakan Tanka. In the American Southwest, especially New Mexico, a syncretism between the Catholicism brought by Spanish missionaries and the native religion is common; the religious drums, chants, and dances of the Pueblo people are regularly part of Masses at Santa Fe's Saint Francis Cathedral. Native American-Catholic syncretism is also found elsewhere in the United States. (e.g., the National Kateri Tekakwitha Shrine in Fonda, New York, and the National Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville, New York). Some Native American tribes who practice Christianity, including the Lumbee, organized denominations, such as the Lumber River Conference of the Holiness Methodist Church.

The eagle feather law (Title 50 Part 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations) stipulates that only individuals of certifiable Native American ancestry enrolled in a federally recognized tribe are legally authorized to obtain eagle feathers for religious or spiritual use. The law does not allow Native Americans to give eagle feathers to non-Native Americans.

Gender roles

Main articles: Gender roles among the indigenous peoples of North America, Clan Mother, Matriarchy, Matrilineality, and Two-Spirit
Susan La Flesche Picotte was the first Native American woman to become a physician in the United States.

Gender roles are differentiated in many Native American tribes. Many Natives have retained traditional expectations of sexuality and gender and continue to do so in contemporary life despite continued and on-going colonial pressures.

Whether a particular tribe is predominantly matrilineal or patrilineal, often both sexes have some degree of decision-making power within the tribe. Many Nations, such as the Haudenosaunee Five Nations and the Southeast Muskogean tribes, have matrilineal or Clan Mother systems, in which property and hereditary leadership are controlled by and passed through the maternal lines. In these Nations, the children are considered to belong to the mother's clan. In Cherokee culture, women own the family property. When traditional young women marry, their husbands may join them in their mother's household.

Matrilineal structures enable young women to have assistance in childbirth and rearing and protect them in case of conflicts between the couple. If a couple separates or the man dies, the woman has her family to assist her. In matrilineal cultures the mother's brothers are usually the leading male figures in her children's lives; fathers have no standing in their wife and children's clan, as they still belong to their own mother's clan. Hereditary clan chief positions pass through the mother's line and chiefs have historically been selected on the recommendations of women elders, who could also disapprove of a chief.

Ball-play of the women, painting by George Catlin, c. 1835

In the patrilineal tribes, such as the Omaha, Osage, Ponca, and Lakota, hereditary leadership passes through the male line, and children are considered to belong to the father and his clan. In patrilineal tribes, if a woman marries a non-Native, she is no longer considered part of the tribe, and her children are considered to share the ethnicity and culture of their father.

In patriarchal tribes, gender roles tend to be rigid. Men have historically hunted, traded and made war while, as life-givers, women have primary responsibility for the survival and welfare of the families (and future of the tribe). Women usually gather and cultivate plants, use plants and herbs to treat illnesses, care for the young and the elderly, make all the clothing and instruments, and process and cure meat and skins from the game. Some mothers use cradleboards to carry an infant while working or traveling. In matriarchal and egalitarian nations, the gender roles are usually not so clear-cut and are even less so in the modern era.

At least several dozen tribes allowed polygyny to sisters, with procedural and economic limits.

Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota girls are encouraged to learn to ride, hunt and fight. Though fighting in war has mostly been left to the boys and men, occasionally women have fought as well, both in battles and in defense of the home, especially if the tribe was severely threatened.

Modern education

As of 2020 90% of Native American school-aged children attend public schools operated by school districts. Tribally-operated schools under contracts/grants with the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) and direct BIE-operated schools take about 8% of Native American students, including students who live in very rural remote areas.

In 1978, 215,000 (78%) of Native Americans attended school district-operated public schools, 47,000 (17%) attended schools directly operated by the BIA, 2,500 (1%) attended tribal or other schools that contracted with the BIA, and the remaining 9,000 (3%) attended missionary schools for Native American children or other private schools.

Sports

Jim Thorpe, gold medalist at the 1912 Olympics, in the pentathlon and decathlon events

Native American leisure time led to competitive individual and team sports. Jim Thorpe, Lewis Tewanima, Joe Hipp, Notah Begay III, Chris Wondolowski, Jacoby Ellsbury, Joba Chamberlain, Kyle Lohse, Sam Bradford, Jack Brisco, Tommy Morrison, Billy Mills, Angel Goodrich, Shoni Schimmel, and Kyrie Irving are well known professional athletes.

Ball players from the Choctaw and Lakota tribe in a 19th-century lithograph by George Catlin

Team sports

Native American ball sports, sometimes referred to as lacrosse, stickball, or baggataway, were often used to settle disputes, rather than going to war, as a civil way to settle potential conflict. The Choctaw called it isitoboli ("Little Brother of War"); the Onondaga name was dehuntshigwa'es ("men hit a rounded object"). There are three basic versions, classified as Great Lakes, Iroquoian, and Southern.

The game is played with one or two rackets or sticks and one ball. The object of the game is to land the ball in the opposing team's goal (either a single post or net) to score and to prevent the opposing team from scoring on your goal. The game involves as few as 20 or as many as 300 players with no height or weight restrictions and no protective gear. The goals could be from around 200 feet (61 m) apart to about 2 miles (3.2 km); in lacrosse the field is 110 yards (100 m).

Individual sports

Chunkey was a game that consisted of a stone-shaped disk that was about 1–2 inches in diameter. The disk was thrown down a 200-foot (61 m) corridor so that it could roll past the players at great speed. The disk would roll down the corridor, and players would throw wooden shafts at the moving disk. The object of the game was to strike the disk or prevent your opponents from hitting it.

Billy Mills crosses the finish line at the end of the 10,000-meter race at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

U.S. Olympics

Jim Thorpe, a Sauk and Fox Native American, was an all-around athlete playing football and baseball in the early 20th century. Future President Dwight Eisenhower injured his knee while trying to tackle the young Thorpe. In a 1961 speech, Eisenhower recalled Thorpe: "Here and there, there are some people who are supremely endowed. My memory goes back to Jim Thorpe. He never practiced in his life, and he could do anything better than any other football player I ever saw."

In the 1912 Olympics, Thorpe could run the 100-yard dash in 10 seconds flat, the 220 in 21.8 seconds, the 440 in 51.8 seconds, the 880 in 1:57, the mile in 4:35, the 120-yard high hurdles in 15 seconds, and the 220-yard low hurdles in 24 seconds. He could long jump 23 ft 6 in and high-jump 6 ft 5 in. He could pole vault 11 feet (3.4 m), put the shot 47 ft 9 in (14.55 m), throw the javelin 163 feet (50 m), and throw the discus 136 feet (41 m). Thorpe entered the U.S. Olympic trials for the pentathlon and the decathlon.

Louis Tewanima, Hopi people, was an American two-time Olympic distance runner and silver medalist in the 10,000-meter run in 1912. He ran for the Carlisle Indian School where he was a teammate of Jim Thorpe. His silver medal in 1912 remained the best U.S. achievement in this event until another Indian, Billy Mills, won the gold medal in 1964. Tewanima also competed at the 1908 Olympics, where he finished in ninth place in the marathon.

Ellison Brown, of the Narragansett people from Rhode Island, better known as "Tarzan" Brown, won two Boston Marathons (1936, 1939) and competed on the United States Olympic team in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany, but did not finish due to injury. He qualified for the 1940 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, but the games were canceled due to the outbreak of World War II.

Billy Mills, a Lakota and USMC officer, won the gold medal in the 10,000-meter run at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He was the only American ever to win the Olympic gold in this event. An unknown before the Olympics, Mills finished second in the U.S. Olympic trials.

Billy Kidd, part Abenaki from Vermont, became the first American male to medal in alpine skiing in the Olympics, taking silver at age 20 in the slalom in the 1964 Winter Olympics at Innsbruck, Austria. Six years later at the 1970 World Championships, Kidd won the gold medal in the combined event and took the bronze medal in the slalom.

Ashton Locklear (Lumbee), an uneven bars specialist was an alternate for the 2016 Summer Olympics U.S. gymnastics team, the Final Five. In 2016, Kyrie Irving (Sioux) also helped Team USA win the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. With the win, he became just the fourth member of Team USA to capture the NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal in the same year, joining LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Scottie Pippen.

Literature

Main article: Native American literature See also: List of writers from peoples Indigenous to the Americas and Postcolonial literature

Native American literature, composed of both oral literature and written literature, has a long history. Relevantly, it is considered a series of literatures reflecting the varied traditions and histories of different tribes. Modern authors cover a wide range of genres and include Tommy Orange, Joy Harjo, Louise Erdrich, Stephen Graham Jones, Rebecca Roanhorse, Tommy Pico, and many more.

Music

Main article: Native American music See also: Native American hip hop and Indigenous metal music
Fancy Dancer at the Seafair Indian Days Pow-Wow, Daybreak Star Cultural Center, Seattle, Washington
Jake Fragua, Jemez Pueblo from New Mexico

Traditional Native American music is almost entirely monophonic, but there are notable exceptions. Native American music often includes drumming or the playing of rattles or other percussion instruments but little other instrumentation. Flutes and whistles made of wood, cane, or bone are also played, generally by individuals, but in former times also by large ensembles (as noted by Spanish conquistador de Soto). The tuning of modern flutes is typically pentatonic.

Performers with Native American parentage have occasionally appeared in American popular music such as Rita Coolidge, Wayne Newton, Gene Clark, Blackfoot, and Redbone (members are also of Mexican descent). Some, such as John Trudell, have used music to comment on life in Native America. Other musicians such as R. Carlos Nakai, Joanne Shenandoah and Robert "Tree" Cody integrate traditional sounds with modern sounds in instrumental recordings, whereas the music by artist Charles Littleleaf is derived from ancestral heritage as well as nature. A variety of small and medium-sized recording companies offer an abundance of recent music by Native American performers young and old, ranging from pow-wow drum music to hard-driving rock-and-roll and rap. In the International world of ballet dancing Maria Tallchief was considered America's first major prima ballerina, and was the first person of Native American descent to hold the rank. along with her sister Marjorie Tallchief both became star ballerinas.

The most widely practiced public musical form among Native Americans in the United States is that of the pow-wow. At pow-wows, such as the annual Gathering of Nations in Albuquerque, New Mexico, members of drum groups sit in a circle around a large drum. Drum groups play in unison while they sing in a native language and dancers in colorful regalia dance clockwise around the drum groups in the center. Familiar pow-wow songs include honor songs, intertribal songs, crow-hops, sneak-up songs, grass-dances, two-steps, welcome songs, going-home songs, and war songs. Most Indigenous communities in the United States also maintain traditional songs and ceremonies, some of which are shared and practiced exclusively within the community.

Art

Further information: petroglyph, pictogram, petroform, Visual arts by indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous ceramics of the Americas, and Native American jewelry

The Iroquois, living around the Great Lakes and extending east and north, used strings or belts called wampum that served a dual function: the knots and beaded designs mnemonically chronicled tribal stories and legends, and further served as a medium of exchange and a unit of measure. The keepers of the articles were seen as tribal dignitaries.

Pueblo peoples crafted impressive items associated with their religious ceremonies. Kachina dancers wore elaborately painted and decorated masks as they ritually impersonated various ancestral spirits. Pueblo people are particularly noted for their traditional high-quality pottery, often with geometric designs and floral, animal and bird motifs. Sculpture was not highly developed, but carved stone and wood fetishes were made for religious use. Superior weaving, embroidered decorations, and rich dyes characterized the textile arts. Both turquoise and shell jewelry were created, as were formalized pictorial arts.

Navajo spirituality focused on the maintenance of a harmonious relationship with the spirit world, often achieved by ceremonial acts, usually incorporating sandpainting. For the Navajo, the sand painting is not merely a representational object, but a dynamic spiritual entity with a life of its own, which helped the patient at the center of the ceremony re-establish a connection with the life force. These vivid, intricate, and colorful sand creations were erased at the end of the healing ceremony.

It has been estimated that the Native American arts and crafts industry brings in more than a billion USD in gross sales annually, nationwide.

Native American art comprises a major category in the world art collection. Native American contributions include pottery, paintings, jewellery, weavings, sculpture, basketry, and carvings. Franklin Gritts was a Cherokee artist who taught students from many tribes at Haskell Institute (now Haskell Indian Nations University) in the 1940s, the Golden Age of Native American painters. The integrity of certain Native American artworks is protected by the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, which prohibits the representation of art as Native American when it is not the product of an enrolled Native American artist. Attorney Gail Sheffield and others claim that this law has had "the unintended consequence of sanctioning discrimination against Native Americans whose tribal affiliation was not officially recognized". Native artists such as Jeanne Rorex Bridges (Echota Cherokee) who was not enrolled ran the risk of fines or imprisonment if they continued to sell their art while affirming their Indian heritage.

Interracial relations

Lillian Gross, described as a "Mixed Blood" by the Smithsonian source, was of Cherokee and European American heritage. She identified with the Cherokee culture in which she was raised.

Interracial relations between Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans is a complex issue that has been mostly neglected with "few in-depth studies on interracial relationships".

Assimilation

Further information: Cultural assimilation of Native Americans

European impact was immediate, widespread, and profound already during the early years of colonization and the creation of the countries which currently exist in the Americas. Europeans living among Native Americans were often called "white indians". They "lived in native communities for years, learned native languages fluently, attended native councils, and often fought alongside their native companions".

Early contact was often charged with tension and emotion, but also had moments of friendship, cooperation, and intimacy. Marriages took place in English, French, Russian and Spanish colonies between Native Americans and Europeans though Native American women were also the victims of rape.

There was fear on both sides, as the different peoples realized how different their societies were. Many whites regarded Native people as "savages" because the Native people were not Protestant or Roman Catholic and therefore the Native people were not considered to be human beings. The Native American author, Andrew J. Blackbird, wrote in his History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan (1897), that white settlers introduced some immoralities into Native American tribes. Many Native Americans suffered because the Europeans introduced alcohol. Many Native people do not break down alcohol in the same way as people of Eurasian background. Many Native people were learning what their body could tolerate of this new substance and died as a result of imbibing too much.

Blackbird wrote:

The Ottawas and Chippewas were quite virtuous in their primitive state, as there were no illegitimate children reported in our old traditions. But very lately this evil came to exist among the Ottawas-so lately that the second case among the Ottawas of 'Arbor Croche' is yet living in 1897. And from that time this evil came to be quite frequent, for immorality has been introduced among these people by evil white persons who bring their vices into the tribes.

The 1725 return of an Osage bride from a trip to Paris, France. The Osage woman was married to a French soldier.
Five Indians and a Captive, painted by Carl Wimar, 1855

The U.S. government had two purposes when making land agreements with Native Americans: to open up more land for white settlement, and to "ease tensions" (in other words assimilate Native people to Eurasian social ways) between whites and Native Americans by forcing the Native Americans to use the land in the same way as did the whites—for subsistence farms. The government used a variety of strategies to achieve these goals; many treaties required Native Americans to become farmers in order to keep their land. Government officials often did not translate the documents which Native Americans were forced to sign, and native chiefs often had little or no idea what they were signing.

Charles Eastman was one of the first Native Americans to become certified as a medical doctor, after he graduated from Boston University.

For a Native American man to marry a white woman, he had to get consent of her parents, as long as "he can prove to support her as a white woman in a good home". In the early 19th century, the Shawnee Tecumseh and blonde hair, blue-eyed Rebecca Galloway had an interracial affair. In the late 19th century, three European American middle-class women teachers at Hampton Institute married Native American men whom they had met as students.

As European American women started working independently at missions and Indian schools in the western states, there were more opportunities for their meeting and developing relationships with Native American men. For instance, Charles Eastman, a man of European and Lakota origin whose father sent both his sons to Dartmouth College, got his medical degree at Boston University and returned to the West to practice. He married Elaine Goodale, whom he met in South Dakota. He was the grandson of Seth Eastman, a military officer from Maine, and a chief's daughter. Goodale was a young European American teacher from Massachusetts and a reformer, who was appointed as the U.S. superintendent of Native American education for the reservations in the Dakota Territory. They had six children together.

European enslavement

Main articles: Slavery among Native Americans in the United States and Slavery among Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The majority of Native American tribes did practice some form of slavery before the European introduction of African slavery into North America, but none exploited slave labor on a large scale. Most Native American tribes did not barter captives in the pre-colonial era, although they sometimes exchanged enslaved individuals with other tribes in peace gestures or in exchange for their own members. When Europeans arrived as colonists in North America, Native Americans changed their practice of slavery dramatically. Native Americans began selling war captives to Europeans rather than integrating them into their own societies as they had done before. As the demand for labor in the West Indies grew with the cultivation of sugar cane, Europeans enslaved Native Americans for the Thirteen Colonies, and some were exported to the "sugar islands". The British settlers, especially those in the southern colonies, purchased or captured Native Americans to use as forced labor in cultivating tobacco, rice, and indigo. Accurate records of the numbers enslaved do not exist because vital statistics and census reports were at best infrequent. Scholars estimate tens to hundreds of thousands of Native Americans may have been enslaved by the Europeans, being sold by Native Americans themselves or Europeans.

In Colonial America, slavery soon became racialized, with those enslaved by the institution consisting of ethnic groups (non-Christian Native Americans and Africans) who were foreign to the Christian, European colonists. The House of Burgesses define the terms of slavery in Virginia in 1705:

All servants imported and brought into the Country ... who were not Christians in their native Country ... shall be accounted and be slaves. All Negro, mulatto and Indian slaves within this dominion ... shall be held to be real estate. If any slave resists his master ... correcting such slave, and shall happen to be killed in such correction ... the master shall be free of all punishment ... as if such accident never happened.

— Virginia General Assembly declaration, 1705

The slave trade of Native Americans lasted only until around 1750. It gave rise to a series of devastating wars among the tribes, including the Yamasee War. The Indian Wars of the early 18th century, combined with the increasing importation of African slaves, effectively ended the Native American slave trade by 1750. Colonists found that Native American slaves could easily escape, as they knew the country. The wars cost the lives of numerous colonial slave traders and disrupted their early societies. The remaining Native American groups banded together to face the Europeans from a position of strength. Many surviving Native American peoples of the southeast strengthened their loose coalitions of language groups and joined confederacies such as the Choctaw, the Creek, and the Catawba for protection. Even after the Indian Slave Trade ended in 1750, the enslavement of Native Americans continued (mostly through kidnappings) in the west and in the Southern states. Both Native American and African enslaved women suffered rape and sexual harassment by male slaveholders and other white men.

Native American and African relations

Further information: Black Indians and Native American slave ownership

African- and Native- Americans have interacted for centuries. The earliest record of Native American and African contact occurred in April 1502, when Spanish colonists transported the first Africans to Hispaniola to serve as slaves.

Buffalo Soldiers, 1890. The nickname was given to the "Black Cavalry" by the Native American tribes they fought.

Sometimes Native Americans resented the presence of African Americans. The "Catawaba tribe in 1752 showed great anger and bitter resentment when an African American came among them as a trader". To gain favor with Europeans, the Cherokee exhibited the strongest color prejudice of all Native Americans. Because of European fears of a unified revolt of Native Americans and African Americans, the colonists tried to encourage hostility between the ethnic groups: "Whites sought to convince Native Americans that African Americans worked against their best interests." In 1751, South Carolina law stated:

The carrying of Negroes among the Indians has all along been thought detrimental, as an intimacy ought to be avoided.

In addition, in 1758 the governor of South Carolina James Glen wrote:

it has always been the policy of this government to create an aversion in them to Negroes.

Europeans considered both races inferior and made efforts to make both Native Americans and Africans enemies. Native Americans were rewarded if they returned escaped slaves, and African Americans were rewarded for fighting in the late 19th-century Indian Wars.

According to the National Park Service, "Native Americans, during the transitional period of Africans becoming the primary race enslaved, were enslaved at the same time and shared a common experience of enslavement. They worked together, lived together in communal quarters, produced collective recipes for food, shared herbal remedies, myths and legends, and in the end they intermarried." Because of a shortage of men due to warfare, many tribes encouraged marriage between the two groups, to create stronger, healthier children from the unions.

In the 18th century, many Native American women married freed or runaway African men due to a decrease in the population of men in Native American villages. Records show that many Native American women bought African men but, unknown to the European sellers, the women freed and married the men into their tribe. When African men married or had children by a Native American woman, their children were born free, because the mother was free (according to the principle of partus sequitur ventrem, which the colonists incorporated into law).

While numerous tribes used captive enemies as servants and slaves, they also often adopted younger captives into their tribes to replace members who had died. In the Southeast, a few Native American tribes began to adopt a slavery system similar to that of the American colonists, buying African American slaves, especially the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Creek. Though less than 3% of Native Americans owned slaves, divisions grew among the Native Americans over slavery. Among the Cherokee, records show that slaveholders in the tribe were largely the children of European men who had shown their children the economics of slavery. As European colonists took slaves into frontier areas, there were more opportunities for relationships between African and Native American peoples.

Race, ethnicity, and citizenship

Main articles: Native American identity and Native Americans in United States elections
Sharice Davids became one of the first two Native American women elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Ben Reifel of South Dakota, the only Lakota elected to the U.S. House of Representatives
Deb Haaland became one of the first two Native American women elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Ada Brown, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation with mixed-African American heritage, nominated by President Donald Trump in 2019 to be a federal judge in Texas
Mary Peltola became the first Alaska Native elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Native American identity is determined by the tribal community that the individual or group is seeking to identify with. While it is common for non-Natives to consider it a racial or ethnic identity, it is considered by Native Americans in the United States to be a political identity, based on citizenship and immediate family relationships. As culture can vary widely between the 574 extant federally recognized tribes in the United States, the idea of a single unified "Native American" racial identity is a European construct that does not have an equivalent in tribal thought.

In the 2010 Census, nearly 3 million people indicated that their "race" was Native American (including Alaska Native). Of these, more than 27% specifically indicated "Cherokee" as their ethnic origin. Many of the First Families of Virginia claim descent from Pocahontas or some other "Indian princess". This phenomenon has been dubbed the "Cherokee Syndrome". Across the US, numerous individuals cultivate an opportunistic ethnic identity as Native American, sometimes through Cherokee heritage groups or Indian Wedding Blessings.

Some tribes (particularly some in the Eastern United States) are primarily made up of individuals with an unambiguous Native American identity, despite having a large number of mixed-race citizens with prominent non-Native ancestry. More than 75% of those enrolled in the Cherokee Nation have less than one-quarter Cherokee blood, and the former Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, Bill John Baker, is 1/32 Cherokee, amounting to about 3%.

Historically, numerous Native Americans assimilated into colonial and later American society, e.g. through adopting English and converting to Christianity. In many cases, this process occurred through forced assimilation of children sent off to American Indian boarding schools far from their families. Those who could eventually pass for white gained the advantage of white privilege, yet often paid for it with the loss of community connections. With the enforcement of blood quantum laws, Indian blood could be diluted over generations through intermarrying with non-Native populations, as well as intermarrying with members of tribes that also required high blood-quantum, solely from one tribe. "Kill the Indian, save the man" was a mantra of nineteenth-century U.S. assimilation policies.

Native Americans are more likely than any other racial group to practice interracial or intertribal marriage among the different tribes and non-Natives, resulting in an ever-declining proportion of Indigenous blood among those who claim a Native American identity (tribes often count only the Indian blood from their own tribal background in the enrollment process, disregarding intertribal heritages). Some tribes disenroll those with low blood quantum. Disenrollment has become a contentious issue in Native American reservation politics.

Tribal enrollment

Further information: List of federally recognized tribes in the United States, State-recognized tribes, Cherokee freedmen controversy, Cherokee descent, and Tribal disenrollment

Requirements for tribal citizenship vary by tribe, but are generally based on who one's parents and grandparents are, as known and documented by community members and tribal records. Among the tribal nations, qualification for enrolling those who were not logged at birth by their parents may be based upon a required percentage of Native American "blood" (or the "blood quantum") of an individual, or upon documented lineal descent from an ancestor on a specific census or register.

Tribal rules regarding the recognition of members who have heritage from multiple tribes also vary, but most do not allow citizenship in multiple tribes at once. For those that do, usually citizens consider one of their citizenships primary, and their other heritage to be "descent". Federally recognized tribes do not accept genetic ethnicity percentages results as appropriate evidence of Native American identity, as they cannot indicate specific tribe, or even whether or not someone is Native American. Unless requested for a paternity test, they do not advise applicants to submit such things.

To receive tribal services, a Native American must be a citizen of (or enrolled in) a federally recognized tribe. While each tribal government makes its own rules for the eligibility of citizens, the federal government has its own qualifications for federally-funded services. Federal scholarships for Native Americans require the student to be enrolled in a federally recognized tribe and to be of at least one-quarter Native American blood quantum, as attested to by a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB) card issued by the federal government.

Tribal membership conflicts have led to a number of legal disputes, court cases, and the formation of activist groups. One example of this is the Cherokee Freedmen. The Cherokee Nation requires documented direct genealogical descent from a Cherokee person listed in the early 1906 Dawes Rolls. The Freedmen are descendants of African Americans once enslaved by the Cherokees, who were granted, by federal treaty, citizenship in the historic Cherokee Nation as freedmen after the Civil War. The modern Cherokee Nation, in the early 1980s, passed a law to require that all members must prove descent from a Cherokee Native American (not Cherokee Freedmen) listed on the Dawes Rolls, resulting in the exclusion of some individuals and families who had been active in Cherokee culture for years.

Increased self-identification

Since the 2000 census, people may identify as being of more than one race. Since the 1960s, the number of people claiming Native American ancestry has grown significantly and, by the 2000 census, the number had more than doubled. Sociologists attribute this dramatic change to "ethnic shifting" or "ethnic shopping"; they believe that it reflects a willingness of people to question their birth identities and adopt new ethnicities which they find more compatible.

The author Jack Hitt writes:

The reaction from lifelong Indians runs the gamut. It is easy to find Native Americans who denounce many of these new Indians as members of the wannabe tribe. But it is also easy to find Indians like Clem Iron Wing, an elder among the Lakota, who sees this flood of new ethnic claims as magnificent, a surge of Indians 'trying to come home.' Those Indians who ridicule Iron Wing's lax sense of tribal membership have retrofitted the old genocidal system of blood quantum—measuring racial purity by blood—into the new standard for real Indianness, a choice rich with paradox.

Journalist Mary Annette Pember (Ojibwe) writes that non-Natives identifying with Native American identity may be a result of a person's increased interest in genealogy, the romanticization of what they believe the cultures to be, and family lore of Native American ancestors in the distant past. However, there are different issues if a person wants to pursue enrollment as a citizen of a tribal nation. Different tribes have different requirements for citizenship. Often those who live as non-Natives, yet claim distant heritage, say they are simply reluctant to enroll, arguing that it is a method of control initiated by the federal government. However, it is the tribes that set their own enrollment criteria, and "the various enrollment requirements are often a hurdle that ethnic shoppers are unable to clear." Says Grayson Noley, (Choctaw), of the University of Oklahoma, "If you have to search for proof of your heritage, it probably isn't there." In other cases, there are some individuals who are 100% Native American but, if all of their recent ancestors are from different tribes, blood quantum laws could result in them not meeting the citizenship criteria for any one of those individual tribes. Pember concludes:

The subjects of genuine American Indian blood, cultural connection and recognition by the community are extremely contentious issues, hotly debated throughout Indian country and beyond. The whole situation, some say, is ripe for misinterpretation, confusion and, ultimately, exploitation.

Admixture and genetics

Members of the Creek (Muscogee) Nation in Oklahoma around 1877; they include men with some European and African ancestry.

Intertribal marriage is historically common among many Native American tribes, both prior to European contact and in the present. Historically, tribal conflicts might result in the eventual adoption of, or marriages with, captives taken in warfare, with former foes becoming full members of the community. Individuals often have ancestry from more than one tribe, and this became increasingly common after so many tribes lost family members to colonial invasions bringing disease, war and massacres. Bands or entire tribes were often reduced to very small numbers, and at times split or merged to form stronger communities in reaction to these pressures.

Tribes with long trading histories with Europeans show a higher rate of European admixture, reflecting admixture events between Native American women and European men.

The Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism has also said that haplogroup testing is not a valid means of determining Native American ancestry, and that the concept of using genetic testing to determine who is or is not Native American threatens tribal sovereignty. Author of Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science, Kim TallBear (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate), agrees, stating that not only is there no DNA test that can indicate a tribe, but "there is no DNA-test to prove you're Native American." Tallbear writes in Native American DNA that while a DNA test may bring up some markers associated with some Indigenous or Asian populations, the science in these cases is problematic, as Indigenous identity is not about one distant (and possibly nonexistent) ancestor, but rather political citizenship, culture, kinship, and daily, lived experience as part of an Indigenous community. She adds that a person, "… could have up to two Native American grandparents and show no sign of Native American ancestry. For example, a genetic male could have a maternal grandfather (from whom he did not inherit his Y chromosome) and a paternal grandmother (from whom he did not inherit his mtDNA) who were descended from Native American founders, but mtDNA and Y-chromosome analyses would not detect them."

Given all these factors, DNA testing is not sufficient to qualify a person for specific tribal membership, as the ethnicity admixture tests cannot distinguish among Native American tribes. They cannot even reliably indicate Native American ancestry:

"Native American markers" are not found solely among Native Americans. While they occur more frequently among Native Americans, they are also found in people in other parts of the world.

The only use of DNA testing by legitimate tribes is that some, such as the Meskwaki, may use DNA for paternity tests, or similar confirmation that an applicant who was not enrolled at birth is the biological child of an enrolled tribal member. It is solely about confirming or ruling out biological paternity, and has no relationship to race or ethnicity.

African American admixtures

Main article: Black Indians in the United States § Genealogy and genetics

DNA testing and research has provided some data about the extent of Native American ancestry among African Americans, which varies in the general population. Based on the work of geneticists, Harvard University historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr. hosted a popular, and at times controversial, PBS series, African American Lives, in which geneticists said DNA evidence shows that Native American ancestry is far less common among African Americans than previously believed. Their conclusions were that while almost all African Americans are racially mixed, and many have family stories of Native heritage, usually these stories turn out to be inaccurate, with only 5 percent of African American people showing more than 2 percent Native American ancestry.

Gates summarized these statistics to mean that, "If you have 2 percent Native American ancestry, you had one such ancestor on your family tree five to nine generations back (150 to 270 years ago)." Their findings also concluded that the most common "non-Black" mix among African Americans is English and Scots-Irish. Some critics thought the PBS series did not sufficiently explain the limitations of DNA testing for assessment of heritage. Another study, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, also indicated that, despite how common these family stories are, relatively few African Americans who have these stories actually turned out to have detectable Native American ancestry. A study reported in the American Journal of Human Genetics stated, "We analyzed the European genetic contribution to 10 populations of African descent in the United States (Maywood, Illinois; Detroit; New York; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Baltimore; Charleston, South Carolina; New Orleans; and Houston) ... mtDNA haplogroups analysis shows no evidence of a significant maternal Amerindian contribution to any of the 10 populations." Despite this, some still insist that most African Americans have at least some Native American heritage.

An autosomal study from 2019 found small but detectable amounts of Native American ancestry among African-Americans, ranging from an average of 1.2% in the West South Central region, to 1.9% on the West Coast. The median amount of Native ancestry in African-Americans was found to be 1% nationwide.

White and Hispanic admixtures

An autosomal DNA study published in 2019 found evidence of minimal Native American ancestry among non-Hispanic White Americans, ranging from an average of 0.18% in the Mid-Atlantic region to 0.93% in the Pacific region. However, the majority of White Americans were found to have no detectable Native American ancestry, with the median amount of European ancestry being 99.8% in White participants.

Hispanic Americans, on the other hand, were found to have a large and varying amount of Native American ancestry, with a median of 38% nationwide. This ancestry was the highest among Hispanics from the West South Central Region (Texas and Oklahoma) at 43.2%, and the West Coast, at 42.6%, reflecting the predominant Mexican-American population in these regions. Hispanics from the Mid-Atlantic, on the other hand, averaged only 11.1% Native American ancestry, reflecting the predominant Puerto Rican and Dominican-American populations among Hispanics from that region.

DNA

Main article: Genetic history of indigenous peoples of the Americas See also: Y-DNA haplogroups in Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The genetic history of Indigenous peoples of the Americas primarily focuses on human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups and human mitochondrial DNA haplogroups. "Y-DNA" is passed solely along the patrilineal line, from father to son, while "mtDNA" is passed down the matrilineal line, from mother to offspring of both sexes. Neither recombines, and thus Y-DNA and mtDNA change only by chance mutation at each generation with no intermixture between parents' genetic material. Autosomal "atDNA" markers are also used, but differ from mtDNA or Y-DNA in that they overlap significantly. Autosomal DNA is generally used to measure the average continent-of-ancestry genetic admixture in the entire human genome and related isolated populations. Within mtDNA, genetic scientists have found specific nucleotide sequences that they have classified as "Native American markers" because the sequences are understood to have been inherited through the generations of genetic females within populations first found in the "New World". There are five primary Native American mtDNA haplogroups in which there are clusters of closely linked markers inherited together. All five haplogroups have been identified by researchers as "prehistoric Native North American samples", and it is commonly asserted that the majority of living Native Americans possess one of the common five mtDNA haplogroup markers.

The genetic pattern indicates Indigenous Americans experienced two very distinctive genetic episodes; first with the initial-peopling of the Americas, and secondly with European colonization of the Americas. The former is the determinant factor for the number of gene lineages, zygosity mutations and founding haplotypes present in today's Indigenous American populations.

The most popular theory is that human settlement of the Americas occurred in stages from the Bering sea coast line, with an initial 15,000 to 20,000-year layover on Beringia for the small founding population. The micro-satellite diversity and distributions of the Y lineage specific to South America indicates that certain Amerindian populations have been isolated since the initial colonization of the region. The Na-Dené, Inuit and Indigenous Alaskan populations exhibit haplogroup Q-M242 (Y-DNA) mutations, however, that are distinct from other Indigenous Amerindians, and that have various mtDNA and atDNA mutations. This suggests that the paleo-Indian migrants into the northern extremes of North America and Greenland were descended from a later, independent migrant population.

Genetic analyses of HLA I and HLA II genes as well as HLA-A, -B, and -DRB1 gene frequencies links the Ainu people of northern Japan and southeastern Russia to some Indigenous peoples of the Americas, especially to populations on the Pacific Northwest Coast such as Tlingit. Scientists suggest that the main ancestor of the Ainu and of some Native American groups can be traced back to Paleolithic groups in Southern Siberia.

See also

Portals:

References

  1. ^ "Race and Ethnicity in the United States". United States Census Bureau. August 12, 2021. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  2. Siebens, J & T Julian. Native North American Languages Spoken at Home in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2006–2010. United States Census Bureau. December 2011.
  3. ^ Barry Pritzker, A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples (Oxford University Press, 2000), 331.
  4. Barry Pritzker, A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples (Oxford University Press, 2000), 335.
  5. "About the Topic of Race". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  6. "U.S. Census Bureau History: American Indians and Alaska Natives". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  7. Alibek, Ken (2004). "Smallpox: a disease and a weapon". International Journal of Infectious Diseases. 8. Elsevier BV: 3–8. doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2004.09.004. ISSN 1201-9712. PMID 15491869.
  8. Colonial Williamsburg, CW Journal (Spring 2004), "Colonial Germ Warfare"
  9. Fenn, Elizabeth A. (2001). Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775–82 (1st ed.). Hill and Wang. pp. 88–89, 275–276. ISBN 080907821X.
  10. Fenn, Elizabeth A (March 2000). "Biological Warfare in Eighteenth-Century North America: Beyond Jeffrey Amherst". Journal of American History. 86 (4): 1553. doi:10.2307/2567577. ISSN 0021-8723. JSTOR 2567577.
  11. Robertson, Roland G. (2001). Rotting Face: Smallpox and the American Indian (1st ed.). University of Nebraska Press. pp. 119, 124. ISBN 0870044192.
  12. Wolfe, Patrick (December 1, 2006). "Settler colonialism and the elimination of the native". Journal of Genocide Research. 8 (4): 387–409. doi:10.1080/14623520601056240. ISSN 1462-3528. S2CID 143873621.
  13. Hixson, W. (December 5, 2013). American Settler Colonialism: A History. Springer. ISBN 978-1-137-37426-4 – via Google Books.
  14. Whitt, Laurelyn; Clarke, Alan W. (2019). North American Genocides: Indigenous Nations, Settler Colonialism, and International Law. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-42550-6 – via Google Books.
  15. ""Civil Rights Act of 1968" full text" (PDF). U.S. Government Publishing Office. November 14, 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 8, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  16. Sánchez-Rivera, Ana I; Jacobs, Paul; Spence, Cody (December 3, 2023). "A Look at the Largest American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes and Villages in the Nation, Tribal Areas and States". US Census Bureau. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  17. "2020 Census: Native population increased by 86.5 percent". ICT News. August 13, 2021. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  18. Calloway, Colin G. "Native Americans First View Whites from the Shore". American Heritage, Spring 2009. Retrieved December 29, 2011
  19. "Culture Areas Index". the Canadian Museum of Civilization.
  20. ^ Mann, Charles C. (March 2002). "1491". The Atlantic.
  21. ^ William M. Denevan, "The Pristine Myth: The Landscape of the Americas in 1492", posted at Northern Arizona University, published in Sept. 1992, Annals of the Association of American Geographers
  22. Denevan, William M. (1992). "The Pristine Myth: The Landscape of the Americas in 1492". Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 82 (3): 369–385. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8306.1992.tb01965.x.
  23. "Native American". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved June 28, 2009.
  24. Their number become thinned: native American population dynamics in eastern North America. Published by the University of Tennessee Press in cooperation with the Newberry Library Center for the History of the American Indian. April 8, 1983. OCLC 9392931 – via Open WorldCat.
  25. ^ Ostler, Jeffrey (2019). Surviving Genocide : Native Nations and the United States from the American Revolution to Bleeding Kansas. New Haven Yale University Press.
  26. Perdue, Theda (2003). "Chapter 2 "Both White and Red"". Mixed Blood Indians: Racial Construction in the Early South. The University of Georgia Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-8203-2731-0.
  27. Remini, Robert (1998) . "Brothers, Listen ... You Must Submit". Andrew Jackson. History Book Club. p. 258. ISBN 978-0-06-080132-8.
  28. Miller, Eric (1994). "George Washington and Indians, Washington and the Northwest War, Part One". Eric Miller. Retrieved May 2, 2008.
  29. Jewett, Tom (1996–2009). "Thomas Jefferson's Views Concerning Native Americans". Archiving America. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
  30. "An Indian Candidate for Congress". Christian Mirror and N.H. Observer, Shirley, Hyde & Co. July 15, 1830.
  31. Kappler, Charles (1904). "Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties Vol. II, Treaties". Government Printing Office. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved April 16, 2008.
  32. U.S. Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs, Native American Faculty and Staff Association News. University of California, Davis. Accessed October 25, 2011.
  33. "FNX: First Nations Experience Television", Native American Faculty and Staff Association News. University of California, Davis. Accessed October 25, 2011.
  34. Read "America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I" at NAP.edu. National Academies Press. 2001. doi:10.17226/9599. ISBN 978-0-309-06838-3 – via www.nap.edu.
  35. "Reporter's Indigenous Terminology Guide". Native American Journalists Association. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Over time, Native American has been expandedsome in Alaska. - The absence of Hawaiian and other Alaskan groups implies that it does not include them.
  36. Boime, Albert (2004), A Social History of Modern Art, Volume 2: Art in an Age of Counterrevolution, 1815–1848, (Series: Social History of Modern Art); University of Chicago Press, p. 527.
  37. Out West. University of Nebraska Press. 2000. p. 96.
  38. "Facebook labels declaration of independence as 'hate speech'". The Guardian. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  39. Thornton, Russell (1990). American Indian Holocaust and Survival: A Population History since 1492. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-8061-2220-5
  40. Cary Michael Carney (1999). "Native American Higher Education in the United States". pp. 65–66. Transaction Publications
  41. ^ "Plains Humanities: Wounded Knee Massacre". University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  42. ""L. Frank Baum's Editorials on the Sioux Nation"". Archived from the original on December 9, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2007. Full text of both, with commentary by professor A. Waller Hastings
  43. "P1 RACE". U.S. Census. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  44. ^ Norris, Tina; Vines, Paula L.; Hoeffel, Elizabeth M. (January 2012). "The American Indian and Alaska Native Population: 2010" (PDF). U.S. Census. Retrieved June 2, 2010.
  45. United States Census Bureau. "About the Topic of Race". Census.gov. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  46. "Grid View: Table B02017 - Census Reporter". censusreporter.org. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  47. "Grid View: Table B03002 - Census Reporter". censusreporter.org. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  48. "Grid View: Table B02017 - Census Reporter". censusreporter.org. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  49. "Grid View: Table B02019 - Census Reporter". censusreporter.org. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  50. ^ Hitt, Jack (August 21, 2005). "The Newest Indians". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  51. Rosenthal, Jack (October 20, 1971). "1970 Census Finds Indian No Longer the Vanishing American". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  52. "Historical Census Statistics on Population Totals By Race, 1790 to 1990, and By Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, For The United States, Regions, Divisions, and States". Census.gov. Archived from the original on August 12, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  53. "The American Indian and Alaska Native Population: 2000" (PDF). Census.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  54. "State and County QuickFacts". Quickfacts.census.gov. February 20, 2013. Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  55. "Race and Ethnicity in the United States: 2010 Census and 2020 Census". Census.gov. August 12, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  56. Report on Indians taxed and Indians not taxed in the United States (except Alaska). Government Printing Office. 1894. pp. 23–24.
  57. Rogers, George W. (2011). The Future of Alaska: Economic Consequences of Statehood. New York, London: RFF Press. pp. 61, 75. ISBN 9781135999469.
  58. "Sex, General Nativity, And Color" (PDF). census.gov. pp. 486–487. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  59. Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Vol. II. Washington: Government Printing Office. 1886. pp. 853–861.
  60. Yurth, Cindy (January 26, 2012). "Census: Native count jumps by 27 percent". The Navajo Times. Tsé;yi' Bureau. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  61. Williams, Timothy (April 13, 2013). "Quietly, Indians Reshape Cities and Reservations". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 14, 2013. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
  62. "Table 7. American Indian and Alaska Native Population by Selected Tribal Groupings: 2010" (PDF).
  63. "American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2010".
  64. "Paiute" is a problematic cover term for non-contiguous and historically, ethnographically, and linguistically distinct tribes: Northern Paiute, Southern Paiute, and Owens Valley Paiute. The 2000 U.S. Census lumps these distinct groups into one term. Generally, the word "Paiute" was used in the 19th century for any Great Basin Native American who wasn't Shoshoni.
  65. "Federal Register" (PDF). Retrieved September 14, 2016.
  66. "Frequently Asked Questions, Bureau of Indian Affairs". Department of the Interior. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  67. "The U.S. Relationship To American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes". america.gov. Archived from the original on May 19, 2009. Retrieved February 8, 2006.
  68. Robertson, Lindsay (June 2001). "Native Americans and the Law: Native Americans Under Current United States Law". Archived from the original on April 16, 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  69. "Bureau of Indian affairs". Science. 68 (1774): 639. 1928. Bibcode:1928Sci....68..639.. doi:10.1126/science.68.1774.639. Archived from the original on November 29, 2007. Retrieved December 25, 2007.
  70. ^ "The black-and-white world of Walter Ashby Plecker". Pilotonline.com. Archived from the original on January 3, 2006. Retrieved February 8, 2006.
  71. "The Muwekman Ohlone". muwekma.org. Retrieved June 22, 2007.
  72. "Washington GOP plank to terminate tribes ignites firestorm". Archived from the original on September 2, 2000. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
  73. "National Congress of American Indians Opposes Bill to Terminate the Cherokee Nation". Tanasi Journal. Wisdom Keepers, Inc. July 7, 2007. Archived from the original on May 10, 2009. Retrieved November 6, 2009.
  74. "The Genocide and Relocation of the Dine'h (Navajo)". Senaa. Retrieved February 8, 2006.
  75. "Big Mountain Update 1 February 1997". LISTSERV at Wayne State University. Retrieved February 8, 2006.
  76. Leland, Charles G. & Cook, Michael W. Passamaquoddy Legends (Annotated Edition): extracted from Algonquin Legends of New England; or Myths and Folklore of the Micmac, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Tribes. (USA: Independently published. 2021).
  77. "Virginia tribes take another step on road to federal recognition". Richmond Times-Dispatch. October 23, 2009. Archived from the original on October 26, 2009.
  78. Gould, L. Scott (May 2001). "Mixing Bodies and Beliefs: The Predicament of Tribes". Columbia Law Review. 101 (4): 702–772. doi:10.2307/1123684. JSTOR 1123684.
  79. ^ Perdue, Theda (October 28, 2011). "Legacy of Jim Crow for Southern Native Americans". C-SPAN. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  80. ^ Lowery, Malinda Maynor (January 1, 2010). Lumbee Indians in the Jim Crow South: Race, Identity, and the Making of a Nation. Univ of North Carolina Press. pp. 0–339. ISBN 9780807833681. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  81. ^ Wolfley, Jeanette (1991). "Jim Crow, Indian Style: The Disenfranchisement of Native Americans". American Indian Law Review. 16 (1): 167–202. doi:10.2307/20068694. hdl:1903/22633. JSTOR 20068694.
  82. Cottrol, Robert J.; Diamond, Raymond T.; Ware, Leland B. (August 8, 2014). "NAACP v. Jim Crow". American Federation of Teachers. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  83. Brown v Board of Education Decision ~ Civil Rights Movement Archive
  84. ^ Bender, Albert (February 13, 2014). "Dr. King spoke out against the genocide of Native Americans". People's World. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  85. Leighton, David (April 2, 2017). "Street Smarts: MLK Jr. visited 'Papago' reservation near Tucson, was fascinated". The Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
  86. Rickert, Levi (January 16, 2017). "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: Our Nation was Born in Genocide". Native News Online. Archived from the original on November 26, 2018. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  87. Ross, Gyasi (January 11, 2018). "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Black People and Indigenous People: How We Cash This Damn Check". Huffington Post. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  88. ^ Garcia, Kevin (December 1, 2014). "The American Indian Civil Rights Movement: A case study in Civil Society Protest". Yesterday and Today. 12: 60–74. ISSN 2309-9003. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  89. ^ Cobb, Daniel M.(2008). Native Activism In Cold War America: The Struggle for Sovereignty, University Press of Kansas, Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-1597-1.
  90. Pineo, Christopher (January 21, 2016). "Navajos and locals in Gallup celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day". Navajo Times. Archived from the original on September 18, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
  91. Needle, Elana (January 18, 2019). "Nationwide Racial Equity Groups Organize in Support of Racial Healing Groups Support NDORH with Prayer Vigil and Tele Town Hall". NAACP. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  92. "Challenges to Health and Well-Being of Native American Communities". The Provider's Guide to Quality and Culture. Archived from the original on January 23, 2003. Retrieved June 22, 2007., Management of Science of Health
  93. "Broken Promises: Evaluating the Native American Health Care System" (PDF). United States Commission on Civil Rights. September 2004. Retrieved April 9, 2021. It has been long recognized that Native Americans are dying of diabetes, alcoholism, tuberculosis, suicide, and other health conditions at shocking rates.
  94. Schieb LJ (2014). "Trends and Disparities in Stroke Mortality by Region for American Indians and Alaska Natives". American Journal of Public Health. 104 (S3): S368-76. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2013.301698. PMC 4035883. PMID 24754653.
  95. Veazie M (2014). "Trends and Disparities in Heart Disease Mortality Among American Indians/Alaska Natives, 1990–2009". American Journal of Public Health. 104 (S3): S359-67. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2013.301715. PMC 4035888. PMID 24754556.
  96. Nuyujukian DS (2016). "Sleep Duration and Diabetes Risk in American Indian and Alaska Native Participants of a Lifestyle Intervention Project". Sleep. 39 (11): 1919–1926. doi:10.5665/sleep.6216. PMC 5070746. PMID 27450685.
  97. "Millions of Americans Have Nothing to Celebrate on the Fourth of July". Mic. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  98. Moon, David (2020). The American Steppes. Cambridge University Press. p. 44.
  99. "How American Racism Influenced Hitler". The New Yorker. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  100. "Walking a Mile: A Qualitative Study Exploring How Indians and Non-Indians Think About Each Other". Public Agenda. Archived from the original on September 19, 2008. Retrieved July 25, 2008.
  101. "[Executive Order 11246]--Equal employment opportunity". The Federal Register. Archived from the original on March 30, 2010. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
  102. "Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)". U.S. Department of Labor. Archived from the original on November 28, 2009. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
  103. ^ Davis, James J.; Roscigno, Vincent J.; Wilson, George (March 2016). "American Indian Poverty in the Contemporary United States". Sociological Forum. 31: 6, 8. doi:10.1111/socf.12226.
  104. "Final Guidance on Maintaining, Collecting, and Reporting Racial and Ethnic Data to the U.S. Department of Education" (PDF). Federal Register/Vol. 72, No. 202/Friday, October 19, 2007/Notices. U.S. Department of Education. October 19, 2007. pp. 59266 to 59279. Archived from the original (Notice) on November 9, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2012. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains a tribal affiliation or community attachment.
  105. Neconie, Bridget (Spring 2012). "Removing Educational Barriers for Native American Citizens of Federally- Recognized Tribes" (PDF). The American Indian Graduate: 10–14. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2012. The Native American population is the only group in American that tends to experience systematic fraudulent behavior. Claiming to be Native American has become such a common and accepted practice that recently, the American Bar Association began to require verification of the identity of Native American applicants.
  106. Deer, Sarah (2015). The Beginning and End of Rape : Confronting Sexual Violence in Native America. University of Minnesota Press.
  107. "Florida State University thanks Seminoles for historic vote of support". Florida State University. Archived from the original on June 8, 2007. Retrieved August 9, 2008.
  108. Teaching Tolerance. "Native American Mascots Big Issue in College Sports". Archived from the original on April 20, 2008. Retrieved August 26, 2008.
  109. Zirin, Dave (January 7, 2014). "The Florida State Seminoles: The Champions of Racist Mascots". The Nation.
  110. "ENDING THE LEGACY OF RACISM IN SPORTS & THE ERA OF HARMFUL "INDIAN" SPORTS MASCOTS" (PDF). National Congress of American Indians. October 2013. p. 10.
  111. "Native American Mascot Controversy Takes Center Stage at the National Museum of the American Indian". Smithsonian Institution. December 24, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
  112. Beres, Tom (April 9, 2015). "Wahoo Protesters: A century of 'Indians' is enough". WKYC-TV. Archived from the original on April 11, 2015.
  113. "CHIEF WAHOO". Encyclopedia of Cleveland History | Case Western Reserve University. February 18, 2019.
  114. Bastian, Jordan (January 29, 2018). "Indians to stop using Wahoo logo starting in '19". Major League Baseball Advanced Media. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  115. Waldstein, David (January 29, 2018). "Cleveland Indians Will Abandon Chief Wahoo Logo Next Year". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 29, 2018. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  116. Siemaszko, Corky (January 29, 2018). "Cleveland Indians will remove Chief Wahoo logo in 2019". NBC News. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  117. Waldstein, David; Schmidt, Michael S. (December 14, 2020). "Cleveland's Baseball Team Will Drop Its Indians Team Name". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 14, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  118. Bell, Mandy (July 23, 2021). "New for '22: Meet the Cleveland Guardians". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Archived from the original on July 23, 2021. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  119. Hoynes, Paul (July 23, 2021). "Cleveland Indians choose Guardians as new team name". The Plain Dealer. Archived from the original on July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  120. Shohat, Ella, and Stam, Robert. Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media. New York: Routledge, 1994.
  121. Boedeker, Hal (July 7, 1996). "TNT'S 'CRAZY HORSE' IS A DUD OF A TRIBUTE". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  122. Kaufman, Amy (June 21, 2018). "As Sitting Bull in 'Woman Walks Ahead,' Michael Greyeyes continues to educate through Native roles". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  123. ^ "Cast and crew of Smoke Signals reunites for 20th anniversary". Indianz. Indianz.com. September 25, 2018. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  124. "Chris Eyre". Conference on World Affairs. November 30, 2017.
  125. "About the Project: We Shall Remain". Archived from the original on April 6, 2009. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  126. Utter, Jack (2001). American Indians: Answers to Today's Questions. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 103. ISBN 0-8061-3309-0. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  127. Slate, Nico (2019). Lord Cornwallis Is Dead: The Struggle for Democracy in the United States and India. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 26. ISBN 9780674983441. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  128. Quinney, John W. (1852). Memorial to Congress. Madison. p. 320. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  129. "Americanists in dispute" (PDF). The New York Times. October 22, 1902. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
  130. "Terminology." Survival International. Retrieved 30 March 2012. "Aborigen" Diccionario de la Real Academia Española. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  131. Reid, Basil. "Tracing Our Amerindian Heritage". www2.sta.uwi.edu. Archived from the original on February 16, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  132. Guide, Barbados.org Travel. "The Abbreviated History of Barbados". www.barbados.org. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  133. Unique Media Design Limited. "diGJamaica :: Amerindian Jamaica". diGJamaica.com. Archived from the original on February 23, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  134. Murray, Paul T. (1987). "Who Is an Indian? Who Is a Negro? Virginia Indians in the World War II Draft". The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 95 (2): 215–231. ISSN 0042-6636. JSTOR 4248942.
  135. "Properties". www.indigenous-americans.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  136. ^ "Preference for Racial or Ethnic Terminology". Infoplease. Retrieved February 8, 2006.
  137. Russell Means: "I am an American Indian, not a native American!" (Treaty Productions, 1996); citation given here and here
  138. "American Indian versus Native American". Infoplease. Retrieved February 8, 2006.
  139. Diane J. Willis; Dolores Subia BigFoot (2003). "On Native Soil: The Forgotten Race: American Indians". In Robinson, John D.; James, Larry C. (eds.). Diversity in Human Interactions: The Tapestry of America. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 82. ISBN 0-19-514390-6. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  140. Bacon, J.M. (2018). Settler Colonialism as Eco-Social Structure and the Production of Colonial Ecological Violence (Vol 5, no. 1 ed.). Environmental Sociology.
  141. Gilio-Whitaker, Dina (2019). As Long as Grass Grows : The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock. S.L. Beacon.
  142. Norgaard, Kari Marie (2019). Salmon and Acorns Feed Our People : Colonialism, Nature, and Social Action. New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press.
  143. Whyte, Kyle. "Is It Colonial Déjà Vu? Indigenous Peoples and Climate Injustice". Humanities for the Environment: Integrating Knowledges, Forging New Constellations of Practice. SSRN 2925277.
  144. "Miami Tribe Relations". Miami University. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
  145. Gaming Tribe Report (Report). National Indian Gaming Commission. July 6, 2011. Archived from the original on February 20, 2013. Retrieved February 18, 2013.
  146. NIGC Tribal Gaming Revenues (PDF) (Report). National Indian Gaming Commission. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 10, 2012. Retrieved February 18, 2013.
  147. Claw, Carma; Spilde, Katherine A.; Clarkson, Esq (March 2016). "Online Sovereignty: The Law and Economics of Tribal Electronic Commerce". Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law. SSRN 2740181.
  148. Perry, Steven W. (December 2004). "A BJS Statistical Profile, 1992–2002 American Indians and Crime" (PDF). U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  149. Washburn, Kevin K. (February 2006). "American Indians, Crime, and the Law" (PDF). Michigan Law Review. 104: 709 to 778. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 11, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  150. Riley, Michael (November 11, 2007). "1885 law at root of jurisdictional jumble". The Denver Post. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  151. "Expansion of tribal courts' authority passes Senate" Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine article by Michael Riley in The Denver Post Posted: 25 June 2010 01:00:00 AM MDT Updated: 25 June 2010 02:13:47 AM MDT Accessed June 25, 2010.
  152. "President Obama signs tribal-justice changes" Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine article by Michael Riley in The Denver Post, Posted: 30 July 2010 01:00:00 AM MDT, Updated: 30 July 2010 06:00:20 AM MDT, accessed July 30, 2010.
  153. "Lawless Lands" Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine a 4-part series in The Denver Post last updated November 21, 2007
  154. Williams, Timothy (November 12, 2012). "Washington Steps Back From Policing Indian Lands, Even as Crime Rises". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 13, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
  155. "Public Law 280 and Law Enforcement in Indian Country – Research Priorities December 2005", accessed August 12, 2010.
  156. "Indian Gangs Grow, Bringing Fear and Violence to Reservation". The New York Times. December 13, 2009
  157. "Gang Violence On The Rise On Indian Reservations". NPR: National Public Radio. August 25, 2009.
  158. Williams, Timonthy (May 22, 2012). "For Native American Women, Scourge of Rape, Rare Justice". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 23, 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
  159. Childress, Sarah (February 4, 2013). "Will the Violence Against Women Act Close a Tribal Justice "Loophole"?". PBS.
  160. N. Bruce Duthu (August 10, 2008). "Broken Justice in Indian Country" (op-ed by expert). The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 11, 2008. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  161. Weisman, Jonathan (February 10, 2013). "Measure to Protect Women Stuck on Tribal Land Issue". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 11, 2013. Retrieved February 10, 2013. If a Native American is raped or assaulted by a non-Indian, she must plead for justice to already overburdened United States attorneys who are often hundreds of miles away.
  162. "NIGA: Indian Gaming Facts". Archived from the original on March 2, 2013.
  163. "Number of U.S. Minority Owned Businesses Increasing". Archived from the original on October 20, 2012.
  164. Kalt, Joseph. "Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development". Retrieved June 17, 2008.
  165. Cornell, Stephen. "Co-director, Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development". Archived from the original on June 19, 2008. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
  166. Cornell, Stephen; Kalt, Kalt. "What Can Tribes Do? Strategies and Institutions in American Indian Economic Development" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 7, 2004. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
  167. ^ Duffy, Diane; Stubben, Jerry (Winter 1998). "An Assessment of Native American Economic Development: Putting Culture and Sovereignty back in the Models". Studies in Comparative International Development. 32 (4): 52–78. doi:10.1007/BF02712505. S2CID 154496567.
  168. "Native Entrepreneurship: Challenges and opportunities for rural communities — CFED, Northwest Area Foundation December 2004". Archived from the original on February 22, 2013.
  169. ^ Mathers, Rachel L. (2012). "The Failure of State-Led Economic Development on American Indian Reservations" (PDF). The Independent Review. 17 (1): 65–80. JSTOR 24563297. ProQuest 1022994216.
  170. "Community Development in Native Communities" (PDF). Community Investments. Vol. 25, no. 2. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Fall 2013.
  171. ^ Van Winkle, Tony N. (Fall 2018). "American Indian Landowners, Leasemen, and Bureaucrats: Property, Paper, and the Poli-Technics of Dispossession in Southwestern Oklahoma". American Indian Quarterly. 42 (4): 508–533. doi:10.5250/amerindiquar.42.4.0508. S2CID 166125100.
  172. Riley, Naomi Schaefer (July 30, 2016). "Here's One Way to Help Native Americans: Property Rights". The Atlantic.
  173. "The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Indian Question, by Francis A. Walker". gutenberg.org. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  174. d'Errico, Peter (1999). "Native Americans in America: A Theoretical and Historical Overview". Wíčazo Ša Review. 14 (1): 7–28. doi:10.2307/1409513. ISSN 0749-6427. JSTOR 1409513. S2CID 155945579.
  175. Colbourne, Rick (April 2017). "An Understanding of Native American Entrepreneurship". Small Enterprise Research. 24: 49–61. doi:10.1080/13215906.2017.1289856. S2CID 157839233.
  176. Crepelle, Adam (2018). "Tribal Lending and Tribal Sovereignty" (PDF). Drake Law Review. 66.
  177. Whitney Mauer, K. (September 2017). "Indian Country Poverty: Place-Based Poverty on American Indian Territories, 2006–10". Rural Sociology. 82 (3): 473–498. doi:10.1111/ruso.12130.
  178. Myhra, L. L. (2011). "It runs in the family": Intergenerational Transmission of Historical Trauma Among Urban American Indians and Alaska Natives in Culturally Specific Sobriety Maintenance Programs. American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research, 18(2). 17–40. National Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research.
  179. Weaver, H., & Congress, E. (2010). The Ongoing Impact of Colonization: Man-made Trauma and Native Americans. In A. Kalayjian & D. Eugene (Eds.), Mass Trauma and Emotional Healing Around the World: Rituals and Practices for Resilience and Meaning-Making (pp. 211–226). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
  180. Braveheart-Jordan, M., & DeBruyn, L. (1995). So She May Walk in Balance: Integrating the Impact of Historical Trauma in the Treatment of Native American Indian Women. In J. Adleman & G. M. Enguidanos (Eds.), Racism in the Lives of Women: Testimony, Theory, and Guides to Antiracist Practice (pp. 345–366). Binghamton, New York: Harrington Park Press.
  181. Paul, T. M.; Lusk, S. L.; Becton, A. B.; Glade, R. (2017). "Exploring the Impact of Substance Abuse, Culture, and Trauma on American Indian Adolescents". Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling. 48 (1): 31–39. doi:10.1891/0047-2220.48.1.31. S2CID 188697334.
  182. Myhra, L. L.; Wieling, E. (2014). "Psychological Trauma Among American Indian Families: A Two-Generation Study". Journal of Loss and Trauma. 19 (4): 289–313. doi:10.1080/15325024.2013.771561. S2CID 144715014.
  183. ^ Cole, N. (2006). Trauma and the American Indian. In T. M. Witko (Ed.), Mental Health Care for Urban Indians: Clinical Insights from Native Practitioners (pp. 115–130). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
  184. Coyhis, D.; Simonelli, R. (2008). "The Native American Healing Experience". Substance Use & Misuse. 43 (12–13): 1927–1949. doi:10.1080/10826080802292584. PMID 19016172. S2CID 20769339.
  185. Grayshield, L.; Rutherford, J. J.; Salazar, S. B.; Mihecoby, A. L.; Luna, L. L. (2015). "Understanding and Healing Historical Trauma: The Perspectives of Native American Elders". Journal of Mental Health Counseling. 37 (4): 295–307. doi:10.17744/mehc.37.4.02. S2CID 74255741.
  186. Gunderson, Craig (2008). "Measuring the Extent, Depth, and Severity of Food Insecurity: An Application to American Indians in the USA". Journal of Population Economics. 21 (1): 191–215. doi:10.1007/s00148-007-0152-9. JSTOR 40344400. S2CID 18268261. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  187. Jerrigan, Valarie Blue Bird; Huyser, Kimberly; Valdes, Jimmy; Simonds, Vanessa (2016). "Food Insecurity among American Indians and Alaska Natives: A National Profile using the Current Population Survey–Food Security Supplement". Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition. 12 (1): 1–10. doi:10.1080/19320248.2016.1227750. PMC 5422031. PMID 28491205.
  188. "Native American | History, Art, Culture, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. May 25, 2023.
  189. ^ Morgan, Lewis H. (1907). Ancient Society. Chicago: Charles H. Kerr & Company. pp. 70–71, 113. ISBN 978-0-674-03450-1.
  190. Nunn, Nathan; Qian, Nancy (2010). "The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas". Journal of Economic Perspectives. 24 (2): 163–188. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.232.9242. doi:10.1257/jep.24.2.163. JSTOR 25703506.
  191. ^ Emmer, Pieter (2003). "The myth of early globalization: the Atlantic economy, 1500–1800". European Review. 11 (1): 37–47. doi:10.1017/S106279870300005X. S2CID 144318805. ProQuest 217337459.
  192. "Encyclopedia of the Great Plains – HORSE". plainshumanities.unl.edu.
  193. "Native Now : Language: Cherokee". We Shall Remain – American Experience – PBS. 2008. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
  194. ^ "Cherokee Language Revitalization". Cherokee Preservation Foundation. 2014. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
  195. Kituwah Preservation & Education Program Powerpoint, by Renissa Walker (2012)'. 2012. Print.
  196. Chavez, Will (April 5, 2012). "Immersion students win trophies at language fair". Cherokeephoenix.org. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  197. ^ "Cherokee Immersion School Strives to Save Tribal Language". Youth on Race. Archived from the original on July 3, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  198. Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards and Office of Research and Development (December 1997). Mercury study report to Congress. US EPA. pp. 4–44. ISBN 9781428903722.
  199. Smith, Bruce D.; Yarnell, Richard A. (April 21, 2009). "Initial formation of an indigenous crop complex in eastern North America at 3800 B.P". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 106 (16): 6561–6566. doi:10.1073/pnas.0901846106. PMC 2666091. PMID 19366669.
  200. "Illinois Agriculture – People – Native American Settlement". museum.state.il.us. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  201. Hoover, Elizabeth (September 17, 2014). "Tohono O'odham Community Action (TOCA), Sells AZ".
  202. Johnson, Emily S.; Marston, John M. (2019). "The Experimental Identification of Nixtamalized Maize though Starch Spherulites" (PDF). Journal of Archaeological Science. 113: 1. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2019.105056. S2CID 213614308. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  203. Krech III, Shepard (1999). The ecological Indian: myth and history (1 ed.). New York, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-393-04755-4.
  204. "American Indian Agriculture". Answers.com. Retrieved February 8, 2008.
  205. Levine, Victoria Lindsay. "Native American Music". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  206. A Brief History of the Native American Church Archived August 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine by Jay Fikes. Retrieved February 22, 2006.
  207. Melton, J. Gordon (2003). Encyclopedia of American Religions. Gale. p. 423. ISBN 978-0-7876-6384-1.
  208. Proposed Amendments to the American Indian Religious Freedom Act: March 8, 1993, Minneapolis, MN. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1993. p. 17.
  209. ^ Estrada, Gabriel (January 1, 2011). "Two Spirits, Nádleeh, and LGBTQ2 Navajo Gaze". American Indian Culture and Research Journal. 35 (4): 167–190. doi:10.17953/aicr.35.4.x500172017344j30 (inactive December 3, 2024).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of December 2024 (link)
  210. ^ Thomas, Katsithawi. "Gender Roles among the Iroquois" (PDF).
  211. Melvin Randolph Gilmore, "The True Logan Fontenelle", Publications of the Nebraska State Historical Society, Vol. 19, edited by Albert Watkins, Nebraska State Historical Society, 1919, p. 64, at GenNet, accessed August 25, 2011
  212. Beatrice Medicine, "Gender", Encyclopedia of North American Indians, February 9, 2006.
  213. Zinn, Howard (2005). A People's History of the United States: 1492–present, Harper Perennial Modern Classics. ISBN 0-06-083865-5.
  214. "Women in Battle". Bluecloud. Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2007.
  215. ^ Woods, Alden (August 6, 2020). "The Federal Government Gives Native Students an Inadequate Education, and Gets Away With It". ProPublica. The Arizona Republic. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  216. Woods, Alden (September 28, 2020). "Feds promised Native American students computers and internet. Many are still waiting". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  217. Green, Donald E.; Tonneson, Thomas V., eds. (1991). "American Indians: Social Justice and Public Policy" (PDF). University of Wisconsin System Institute on Race and Ethnicity. p. 186 (PDF p. 198/282).
  218. "Choctaw Indians". Indians.org. 2006. Retrieved May 2, 2008.
  219. Vennum, Thomas Jr. (2002–2005). "History of Native American Lacrosse". Archived from the original on April 11, 2009. Retrieved September 11, 2008.
  220. Botelho, Greg. Roller-coaster life of Indian icon, sports' first star, CNN.com, July 14, 2004. Retrieved April 23, 2007.
  221. ^ Jim Thorpe Is Dead on West Coast at 64, The New York Times, March 29, 1953. Retrieved April 23, 2007.
  222. Penny, Brandon (July 10, 2016). "Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman Lead Olympic Women's Gymnastics Team". Team USA. United States Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on July 12, 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
  223. "Kyrie Irving helps Team USA win gold medal at 2016 Olympics, joins elite company". August 22, 2016.
  224. Weiss, Hedy (April 12, 2013). "American prima ballerina Maria Tallchief dies at 88". Chicago Sun Times. Archived from the original on April 16, 2013. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
  225. Chua-Eoan, Howard (April 12, 2013). "The Silent Song of Maria Tallchief: America's Prima Ballerina (1925–2013)". Time. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  226. Bierhosrt, John (1992). A Cry from the Earth: Music of North American Indians. Ancient City Press.
  227. Sultzmann, Leo. "Iroquois History". Archived from the original on April 4, 2006. Retrieved February 23, 2006.
  228. "Kachina". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  229. "Pueblo Pottery". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  230. "What Are the Arts and Crafts of the Pueblo Indians?". Reference.com. August 4, 2015. Archived from the original on September 3, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  231. "Navajo Sandpaintings". Navajo People - The Diné. Archived from the original on September 3, 2011. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  232. Cornell, Maraya (March 15, 2018). "Biggest Fake Native American Art Conspiracy Revealed". National Geographic News. National Geographic. Archived from the original on March 15, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  233. Gail Sheffield, The Arbitrary Indian: The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990. University of Oklahoma Press, 1997.
  234. James J. Kilpatrick, "A Cozy Little Restraint Of Trade Rules Indian Arts And Crafts Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine". Broward & Palm Beach Sun-Sentinel, December 13, 1992.
  235. Sam Blackwell, "Playing Politics with Native American Art." The Southeast Missourian, October 6, 2000.
  236. Smoot, D. E. (May 8, 2019). "Judge rejects state's effort to restrict Native art". The Tahlequah Daily Press. Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Archived from the original on August 5, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  237. Dempsey, Mary A. (1996). "The Indian connection". American Visions. Archived from the original on June 9, 2005. Retrieved September 19, 2008.
  238. Ellinghaus, Katherine (2006). Taking assimilation to heart. University of Nebraska Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-8032-1829-1.
  239. "Sharing Choctaw History". A First Nations Perspective, Galafilm. Archived from the original on December 26, 2007. Retrieved February 5, 2008.
  240. ^ "Native Americans: Early Contact". Students on Site. Archived from the original on May 10, 2008. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
  241. ^ Browne-Marshall, Gloria J. (2009). ""The Realities of Enslaved Female Africans in America", excerpted from Failing Our Black Children: Statutory Rape Laws, Moral Reform and the Hypocrisy of Denial". University of Daytona. Archived from the original on November 5, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2009.
  242. "Indian Achievement Award". Ipl.org. Archived from the original on July 3, 2010. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
  243. "Charles A. Eastman". Answers.com. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
  244. Ellinghaus, Katherine (2006). Taking assimilation to heart. University of Nebraska Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-8032-1829-1.
  245. "Virginia Magazine of History and Biography". Virginia Historical Society. Archived from the original on October 18, 2008. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
  246. Lauber, Almon Wheeler (1913). Indian Slavery in Colonial Times Within the Present Limits of the United States Chapter 1: Enslavement by the Indians Themselves. Vol. 53. Columbia University. pp. 25–48.
  247. Lauber (1913), "The Number of Indian Slaves" , in Indian Slavery, pp. 105–117.
  248. Gallay, Alan. (2002) The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of the English Empire in the American South 1670–171. New York: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-10193-7.
  249. Reséndez, Andrés (2016). The other slavery: The uncovered story of Indian enslavement in America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 324. ISBN 978-0-544-94710-8.
  250. "The Terrible Transformation:From Indentured Servitude to Racial Slavery". PBS. 2009. Retrieved January 7, 2010.
  251. Yarbrough, Fay A. (2008). "Indian Slavery and Memory: Interracial sex from the slaves' perspective". Race and the Cherokee Nation. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 112–123.
  252. Castillo, E.D. 1998. "Short Overview of California Indian History" Archived December 14, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, California Native American Heritage Commission, 1998. Retrieved October 24, 2007.
  253. Muslims in American History : A Forgotten Legacy by Jerald F. Dirks. ISBN 1-59008-044-0 p. 204.
  254. ^ Hudson, Charles M., ed. (April 26, 1971). Red, White, and Black: Symposium on Indians in the Old South. Southern Anthropological Society. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-8203-0308-6.
  255. Red, White, and Black, p. 105, ISBN 0-8203-0308-9.
  256. ColorQ (2009). "Black Indians (Afro-Native Americans)". ColorQ. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
  257. Miles, Tiya (2008). Ties That Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520250024.
  258. ^ Mays, Dorothy A. (2008). Women in early America. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-429-5.
  259. ^ Burton, Art T. (1996). "CHEROKEE SLAVE REVOLT OF 1842". LWF COMMUNICATIONS. Archived from the original on September 29, 2009. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
  260. Yarbrough, Fay A. (2007). Race and the Cherokee Nation. Univ of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-4056-6.
  261. National Park Service (May 30, 2009). "African American Heritage and Ethnography: Work, Marriage, Christianity". National Park Service.
  262. Katz, William Loren (1996). "Their Mixing is to be Prevented". Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage. Atheneum Books For Young Readers. pp. 109–125.
  263. Winterhawk, Nomad (1997). "Black Indians want a place in history". Djembe Magazine. Archived from the original on July 14, 2009. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
  264. William Loren Katz (2008). "Africans and Indians: Only in America". William Loren Katz. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved May 6, 2009.
  265. ^ Kimberly TallBear (2003). "DNA, Blood, and Racializing the Tribe". Wíčazo Ša Review. 18 (1). University of Minnesota Press: 81–107. doi:10.1353/wic.2003.0008. JSTOR 140943. S2CID 201778441.
  266. ^ Furukawa, Julia (May 22, 2023). "Review of genealogies, other records fails to support local leaders' claims of Abenaki ancestry". New Hampshire Public Radio. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  267. United States Census Bureau. "U.S. Census website". Census.gov. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  268. "Why Do So Many People Claim They Have Cherokee In Their Blood? – Nerve". nerve.com.
  269. Smithers, Gregory D. (October 1, 2015). "Why Do So Many Americans Think They Have Cherokee Blood?". Slate.
  270. "The Cherokee Syndrome – Daily Yonder". dailyyonder.com. February 10, 2011.
  271. ^ Hitt, Jack (August 21, 2005). "The Newest Indians". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 29, 2015.
  272. Nieves, Evelyn (March 3, 2007). "Putting to a Vote the Question 'Who Is Cherokee?'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 5, 2007.
  273. "Blood_Quantum_II". June 10, 2010. Archived from the original on June 10, 2010. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  274. ^ TallBear, Kim (September 1, 2013). Native American DNA. University of Minnesota Press. pp. 31–66. doi:10.5749/minnesota/9780816665853.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-8166-6585-3.
  275. Adams, Paul (July 10, 2011). "Blood affects US Indian identity". BBC News – via bbc.com.
  276. "What Percentage Indian Do You Have to Be in Order to Be a Member of a Tribe or Nation? – Indian Country Media Network". indiancountrymedianetwork.com. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  277. "Disappearing Indians, Part II: The Hypocrisy of Race In Deciding Who's Enrolled – Indian Country Media Network". indiancountrymedianetwork.com. Archived from the original on September 22, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  278. ^ "Ethnic Fraud". diverseeducation. January 25, 2007.
  279. Charles Hudson, The Southeastern Indians, 1976, p. 479.
  280. ^ "Y chromosome study sheds light on Athapaskan migration to southwest US", Eureka Alert, Department of Energy Public Newslist
  281. Singh Malhi, Ripan (2008). "Distribution of Y chromosomes among native North Americans: A study of Athapaskan population history". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 137 (4). Wiley: 412–424. doi:10.1002/ajpa.20883. ISSN 0002-9483. PMC 2584155. PMID 18618732.
  282. Marks, Jonathan. "Genetic "Markers"- Not a Valid Test of Native Identity". Indigenous People's Council on Biocolonialism. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  283. Fitzgerald, Kathleen J. (June 3, 2020). Recognizing Race and Ethnicity: Power, Privilege, and Inequality. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-51440-1.
  284. ^ Geddes, Linda (February 5, 2014). "'There is no DNA test to prove you're Native American'". New Scientist. Archived from the original on March 15, 2017. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  285. ^ TallBear, Kim (2013). Native American DNA: Tribal-belonging and the false Promise of Genetic Science. pp. 132–136.
  286. ^ TallBear, Kim (2008). "Can DNA Determine Who is American Indian?". The WEYANOKE Association. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved October 27, 2009.
  287. "Meshkawi Tribe Enrollment". Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  288. "Meshkawi Tribal Constitution - Sec. 10-4106". Google Docs. Retrieved August 11, 2023. . Burden of Proof. (b) To meet its burden to establish paternity, an applicant must submit a DNA test which uses a twelve- (12) marker protocol, or certified test results from another DNA company which has a degree of accuracy which is as great as or greater than that provided by a DNA test which uses a 12-marker protocol, certified by a competent court, and which establishes paternity necessary for membership. The cost of the paternity test shall be borne by the Tribe.
  289. ^ Gates, Henry Louis Jr. (December 29, 2014). "High Cheekbones and Straight Black Hair?". The Root. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  290. ^ "Historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. On DNA Testing And Finding His Own Roots - Transcript". Fresh Air . January 21, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  291. Troy Duster (2008). "Deep Roots and Tangled Branches". Chronicle of Higher Education. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved October 2, 2008.
  292. Esteban Parra; et al. (1998). "Estimating African American Admixture Proportions by Use of Population-Specific Alleles". American Journal of Human Genetics. 63 (6): 1839–1851. doi:10.1086/302148. PMC 1377655. PMID 9837836.
  293. Parra, Esteban J. (1998). "Estimating African American Admixture Proportions by Use of Population". The American Journal of Human Genetics. 63 (6): 1839–1851. doi:10.1086/302148. PMC 1377655. PMID 9837836.
  294. Sherrel Wheeler Stewart (2008). "More Blacks are Exploring the African-American/Native American Connection". BlackAmericaWeb.com. Archived from the original on October 31, 2006. Retrieved August 6, 2008.
  295. Jordan, I. King; Rishishwar, Lavanya; Conley, Andrew B. (September 23, 2019). "Native American admixture recapitulates population-specific migration and settlement of the continental United States". PLOS Genetics. 15 (9): e1008225. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1008225. ISSN 1553-7404. PMC 6756731. PMID 31545791.
  296. Jordan, I. King; Rishishwar, Lavanya; Conley, Andrew B. (September 23, 2019). "Native American admixture recapitulates population-specific migration and settlement of the continental United States". PLOS Genetics. 15 (9): e1008225. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1008225. ISSN 1553-7404. PMC 6756731. PMID 31545791.
  297. Jordan, I. King; Rishishwar, Lavanya; Conley, Andrew B. (September 23, 2019). "Native American admixture recapitulates population-specific migration and settlement of the continental United States". PLOS Genetics. 15 (9): e1008225. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1008225. ISSN 1553-7404. PMC 6756731. PMID 31545791.
  298. Consortium, T. Y C. (2002). "A Nomenclature System for the Tree of Human Y-Chromosomal Binary Haplogroups". Genome Research. 12 (2): 339–348. doi:10.1101/gr.217602. PMC 155271. PMID 11827954. (Detailed hierarchical chart)
  299. ^ Griffiths, Anthony J. F. (1999). An Introduction to genetic analysis. New York: W.H. Freeman. ISBN 978-0-7167-3771-1. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
  300. ^ Wells, Spencer; Read, Mark (2002). The Journey of Man — A Genetic Odyssey (Digitised online by Google books). Random House. ISBN 978-0-8129-7146-0.
  301. ^ Wendy Tymchuk (2008). "Learn about Y-DNA Haplogroup Q. Genebase Tutorials". Genebase Systems. Archived from the original (Verbal tutorial possible) on June 22, 2010. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
  302. Orgel L (2004). "Prebiotic chemistry and the origin of the RNA world" (PDF). Crit Rev Biochem Mol Biol. 39 (2): 99–123. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.537.7679. doi:10.1080/10409230490460765. PMID 15217990. S2CID 4939632. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
  303. "First Americans Endured 20,000-Year Layover — Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News". Discovery Channel. Archived from the original on October 10, 2012. Retrieved November 18, 2009. p. 2 Archived March 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  304. Than, Ker (2008). "New World Settlers Took 20,000-Year Pit Stop". National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on February 19, 2008. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
  305. "Summary of knowledge on the subclades of Haplogroup Q". Genebase Systems. 2009. Archived from the original on May 10, 2011. Retrieved November 22, 2009.
  306. Ruhlen M (1998). "The origin of the Na-Dene". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 95 (23): 13994–6. Bibcode:1998PNAS...9513994R. doi:10.1073/pnas.95.23.13994. PMC 25007. PMID 9811914.
  307. Zegura SL, Karafet TM, Zhivotovsky LA, Hammer MF (2004). "High-resolution SNPs and microsatellite haplotypes point to a single, recent entry of Native American Y chromosomes into the Americas". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 21 (1): 164–75. doi:10.1093/molbev/msh009. PMID 14595095.
  308. Saillard J, Forster P, Lynnerup N, Bandelt HJ, Nørby S (2000). "mtDNA Variation among Greenland Eskimos. The Edge of the Beringian Expansion". The American Journal of Human Genetics. 67 (3): 718–726. doi:10.1086/303038. PMC 1287530. PMID 10924403.
  309. Schurr, Theodore G. (2004). "The peopling of the New World — Perspectives from Molecular Anthropology". Annual Review of Anthropology. 33: 551–583. doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.33.070203.143932. S2CID 4647888.
  310. A. Torroni; et al. (1992). "Native American Mitochondrial DNA Analysis Indicates That the Amerind and the Nadene Populations Were Founded by Two Independent Migrations". Genetics. 130 (1): 153–162. doi:10.1093/genetics/130.1.153. PMC 1204788. PMID 1346260.
  311. Tokunaga, Katsushi; Ohashi, Jun; Bannai, Makoto; Juji, Takeo (September 2001). "Genetic link between Asians and native Americans: evidence from HLA genes and haplotypes". Human Immunology. 62 (9): 1001–1008. doi:10.1016/S0198-8859(01)00301-9. PMID 11543902.

External links

Native American topics
History
Culture
Wars
Education, science
and technology
Religion
Political movements
Civic and economic
groups
Ethnic subdivisions
Demographics
Languages
By state/city
Lists
Links to related articles
Demographics of the United States
Demographic history
By economic
and social
By religion
By continent and
ethnic ancestry
Africa
Asia
Europe
North America
Oceania
South America
Multiethnic
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
Pre-history
Mythology/Religion
North America
Mesoamerica
Common
Variations
South America
Culture
Art
European
colonization
Modern groups
by country
North America
South America (list)
Related topics
Rights of Native Americans in the United States
Case law
Legislation
Federal and
State recognition
Related
Cultural areas of Indigenous North Americans
Indigenous peoples of the world by continent

Location of Africa
Africa

Location of Eurasia
Eurasia

Location of North America
North America

Location of Oceania
Oceania

Location of South America
South America

Indigenous peoples by geographic regions
American Indian Movement
Background
Events
Related
Activist groups
Activists
Categories: