Native Americans

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Native Americans is a term which has several different common meanings and scope, according to regional use and context. See the below articles, which describe various indigenous peoples in the following contexts:

• Indigenous peoples of the Americas, natives of the entire American supercontinent
  • Indigenous peoples in the United States, natives of the United States and its territories
    • Native Americans in the United States, natives of the continental United States only; equivalent to American Indians in some contexts.
    • Alaska Natives, natives of the state of Alaska, including Eskimo-Aleut peoples (Inuit and Yupik Eskimo peoples, Aleuts), and Athabascan, Eyak, Haida, Tlingit and Tsimshian peoples
    • Native Hawaiians, natives of the state of Hawaii
    • Pacific Islanders, including peoples in the U.S. Pacific Island dependencies (e.g. Chamorros, Marshallese), but also other Pacific nations.
  • Aboriginal peoples in Canada, including First Nations, Métis and Inuit
    • First Nations, Canadian natives, sometimes referred to as "Indians" or "North American Indians"
  • Indigenous peoples in Brazil, the povos indígenas of Brazil

"Native American" can also simply be used to refer to any individual born into an American country. When this sense is meant, it is most often written without an initial capital: "native American."

In the history of the United States in the 19th century, Native Americans refers to members of the Native American Party or the associated movement, which has come to be known instead by a derisive nickname, as the Know-Nothing movement.

See also

• Native American name controversy, on the differing uses and attitudes surrounding the term "Native American".