 Proportion of Native Americans in each county as of the2020 US census | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
Alone (one race) 3,727,135 (2020 census)[1] 1.12% of the total US population• Native Americans: 2,251,699 (0.67%) •Native Hispanics: 1,475,436 (0.45%) In combination (multiracial) 5,938,923 (2020 census)[1] 1.79% of the total US populationAlone or in combination 9,666,058 (2020 census)[1] 2.92% of the total US population | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Predominantly inAlaska, theWestern andMidwestern, with smaller communities in theEastern United States. | |
| California | 631,016[1] |
| Oklahoma | 332,791[1] |
| Arizona | 319,512[1] |
| Texas | 278,948[1] |
| New Mexico | 212,241[1] |
| Languages | |
| English Native American languages (includingNavajo,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[2]) Spanish Native Pidgin (extinct) French | |
| Religion | |
| |
| Related ethnic groups | |
Native Americans (also calledAmerican Indians,First Americans, orIndigenous Americans) are theIndigenous peoples of theUnited States, particularly of thelower 48 states andAlaska. They may also include any Americans whose origins lie in any of the indigenous peoples of North or South America. TheUnited States Census Bureau publishes data about "American Indians andAlaska 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".[5] Thecensus 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.[6]
TheEuropean colonization of the Americas from 1492 resulted in aprecipitous decline in the size of the Native American population because ofnewly introduced diseases, including weaponized diseases and biological warfare by colonizers,[7][8][9][10][11]wars,ethnic cleansing, andenslavement. Numerous scholars have classified elements of the colonization process as comprisinggenocide against Native Americans. As part of a policy ofsettler colonialism, European settlers continued to wage war and perpetrated massacres against Native American peoples,removed them from theirancestral lands, and subjected them toone-sided government treaties and discriminatory government policies. Into the 20th century, these policies focused on forcedassimilation.[12][13][14]
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 theIndian 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 oftribal 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. TheIndian 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 theUnited States Constitution, allowed Natives to vote in elections, and extended theFourteenth Amendment protections granted to people "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States. However, some states continued to denyNative Americans voting rights for decades. Titles II through VII of theCivil 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 theU.S. Bill of Rights applicable within the tribes.[15]
Since the 1960s,Native American self-determination movements have resulted in positive changes to the lives of many Native Americans, though there are still manycontemporary 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 areAlaska,Oklahoma,Arizona,California,New Mexico, andTexas.[16][17]
The history of Native Americans in the United States began tens of thousands of years ago with thesettlement of the Americas by thePaleo-Indians. The Eurasian migration to the Americas occurred over millennia viaBeringia, a land bridge betweenSiberia andAlaska, as early humans spread southward and eastward. Archaeological evidence suggests these migrations began 25,000 years ago and continued until around 12,000 years ago. Some may have arrived even earlier, fishing in kayaks along what is known as the "Kelp Highway". Major Paleo-Indian cultures included theClovis andFolsom traditions, identified through unique spear points and large-game hunting methods.
Around 8000 BCE, as the climate stabilized, new cultural periods like theArchaic stage arose, during which hunter-gatherer communities developed complex societies. TheMound Builders created large earthworks, such as atWatson Brake andPoverty Point, which date to 3500 BCE and 2200 BCE. By 1000 BCE, Native societies in theWoodland period developed advanced social structures and trade networks, with theHopewell tradition connecting the Eastern Woodlands to theGreat Lakes and theGulf of Mexico. This period led to theMississippian culture, with large urban centers likeCahokia—a city with complex mounds and a population exceeding 20,000 by 1250 CE.
Ethnographers classify theIndigenous peoples of North America into ten cultural areas inhabited by groups who share certaincultural traits:[citation needed] theArctic,Subarctic,Northeastern Woodlands,Southeastern Woodlands,Great Plains,Great Basin,Northwest Plateau,Northwest Coast,California, andSouthwest (Oasisamerica). At the time of the first contact, Indigenous cultures varied widely, with some Northeastern and Southwestern groups beingmatrilineal and organized on collective bases unfamiliar to Europeans. Land was typically held communally, in contrast to Europeanproperty rights traditions. These differences, compounded by shifting alliances and warfare, generated political tension, ethnic violence, and disruption.[citation needed]
Beginning near the end of the 15th century,migration of Europeans to the Americas led to centuries of population, cultural, and agricultural transfer betweenOld andNew World societies, known as theColumbian exchange. Because most Native groups preservedtheir histories by means oforal traditions and artwork, thefirst written accounts of contact were provided by Europeans.[18]
Native Americans suffered high fatality rates fromcontact with European diseases that were new to them, and to which they had noimmunity.[19]Smallpox was especially devastating. Populations in some regions fell by 90 percent or more in the first century after contact.[20]Pre-Columbian population estimates for the area of the modern U.S. range from 2 to over 18 million.[19][20] By the end of the 18th century, numbers had collapsed to around 600,000 due to disease, warfare, andgenocide.[21]
After thethirteen British colonies revolted and established the United States,George Washington andHenry Knox advocated a "civilizing" policy to assimilate Native Americans as U.S. citizens.[22][23][24][25] Assimilation, whether voluntary—as with theChoctaw[26][27]—orforced, remained a central policy. During the 19th century, the ideology ofmanifest destiny drove westward expansion, increasing pressure on Native lands. TheIndian Removal Act of 1830 authorized mass relocations west of theMississippi River, resulting in ethnic cleansing and forced marches such as theTrail of Tears.
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A justification for conquest and subjugation stemmed fromdehumanizing stereotypes like those in theUnited States Declaration of Independence, which described Native Americans as "merciless Indian savages".[28][29] Two sculptures reflecting this view of the Natives were commissioned by theU.S. government and stood outside theU.S. Capitol for over a century:The Rescue (1837) whose sculptorHoratio Greenough wrote that it was "to convey the idea of the triumph of the whites over the savage tribes",[30] andThe Discovery of America (1844) which depicted a triumphant Columbus and a "female savage" according to the Pennsylvania senatorJames Buchanan who proposed the sculpture.[31]
Native resistance persisted in theAmerican Indian Wars, including theDakota War of 1862,Great Sioux War of 1876,Snake War,Colorado War, andTexas–Indian Wars. One of the last major events was theWounded Knee Massacre in 1890, where up to 300 Lakota were killed during aGhost Dance gathering.[32]
In the 20th century, Native Americans served in significant numbers during World War II, marking a turning point in visibility and involvement. Post-war, activism grew with theAmerican Indian Movement and others pressing for rights. TheIndian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 recognized tribal autonomy, leading to Native-run schools and economic initiatives. By the 21st century, Native Americans had achieved greater control over tribal lands and resources, though many communities continue to face the legacies of displacement and economic inequality. Over 70% of Native Americans now live in cities, navigating cultural preservation and ongoing discrimination.
Contemporary Native Americans maintain a unique relationship with the United States, with sovereignty andtreaty rights forming the basis offederal Indian law and the trust relationship.[33] Since the late 1960s, cultural activism has expanded Indigenous presence in politics, media, education, and literature. Independent newspapers, television (e.g.First Nations Experience),Native American studies programs, tribal schools, and language revitalization efforts have strengthened cultural identity.[34][35]
The terms used to refer to Native Americanshave been controversial. Usage varies by region and generation, with many older Native Americans preferring "Indian" or "American Indian", while younger generations often choose "Indigenous" or "Aboriginal". The term "Native American" has not traditionally includedNative Hawaiians or someAlaska Natives such asAleut,Yup'ik, orInuit,[36] while in Canada,First Nations,Inuit, andMétis are the common designations.[citation needed]
The 2020 census reports the U.S. population at 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.[37]
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.[38]
Despite generally referring to groups indigenous to the continental US, this demographic as defined by the US Census Bureau includes allIndigenous people of the Americas, includingMesoamerican peoples such as theMaya, as well asCanadian andSouth American natives.[39] In 2022, 634,503 Indigenous people in the United States identified with Central American Indigenous groups, 875,183 identified with theIndigenous people of Mexico, and 47,518 identified with CanadianFirst Nations.[40] Of the 3.2 million Americans who identified as American Indian or Alaska Native alone in 2022, around 45% are ofHispanic 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.[41] Of groups Indigenous to the United States, the largest self-reported tribes areCherokee (1,449,888),Navajo (434,910),Choctaw (295,373),Blackfeet (288,255),Sioux (220,739), andApache (191,823).[42] 205,954 respondents specified anAlaska Native identity.
Native Hawaiians are counted separately from Native Americans by the census, being classified asPacific Islanders. According to 2022 estimates, 714,847 Americans reported Native Hawaiian ancestry.[43]
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.[44] If American Indian or Alaska Native was selected, the form requested the individual provide the name of the "enrolled or principal tribe".
Censuses counted around 346,000 Native Americans in 1880 (including 33,000 in Alaska and 82,000 in Oklahoma, back then known asIndian 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.[45] 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. TheOffice of Indian Affairs counted more American Indians than theCensus Bureau until 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:
| State/Territory | 1880 | 1890 | 1900 | 1910 | 1920 | 1930 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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. | 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 theCensus Bureau):
| State/Territory | 1880 | 1890 | 1900 | 1910 | 1920 | 1930 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 213 | 1,143 | 177 | 909 | 405 | 465 | 464 | 928 | 1,276 | 2,443 | 9,239 | 16,506 | 22,430 | 28,218 | 33,625 |
| Alaska | 32,996 | 25,354 | 29,536 | 25,331 | 26,558 | 29,983 | 32,458 | 33,863 | 42,522 | 50,814 | 64,103 | 85,698 | 98,043 | 104,871 | 111,575 |
| Arizona | 22,199 | 29,981 | 26,480 | 29,201 | 32,989 | 43,726 | 55,076 | 65,761 | 83,387 | 95,812 | 154,175 | 203,527 | 255,879 | 296,529 | 319,512 |
| Arkansas | 195 | 250 | 66 | 460 | 106 | 408 | 278 | 533 | 580 | 2,014 | 12,713 | 12,773 | 17,808 | 22,248 | 27,177 |
| California | 20,385 | 16,624 | 15,377 | 16,371 | 17,360 | 19,212 | 18,675 | 19,947 | 39,014 | 91,018 | 227,757 | 242,164 | 333,346 | 362,801 | 631,016 |
| Colorado | 2,684 | 1,092 | 1,437 | 1,482 | 1,383 | 1,395 | 1,360 | 1,567 | 4,288 | 8,836 | 20,682 | 27,776 | 44,241 | 56,010 | 74,129 |
| Connecticut | 255 | 228 | 153 | 152 | 159 | 162 | 201 | 333 | 923 | 2,222 | 4,822 | 6,654 | 9,639 | 11,256 | 16,051 |
| Delaware | 5 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 14 | 0 | 597 | 656 | 1,380 | 2,019 | 2,731 | 4,181 | 5,148 |
| Florida | 780[Note 1] | 171 | 358 | 74 | 518 | 587 | 690 | 1,011 | 2,504 | 6,677 | 24,714 | 36,335 | 53,541 | 71,458 | 94,795 |
| Georgia | 124 | 68 | 19 | 95 | 125 | 43 | 106 | 333 | 749 | 2,347 | 9,876 | 13,348 | 21,737 | 32,151 | 50,618 |
| Hawaii | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 472 | 1,126 | 2,833 | 5,099 | 3,535 | 4,164 | 4,370 |
| Idaho | 3,585 | 4,223 | 4,226 | 3,488 | 3,098 | 3,638 | 3,537 | 3,800 | 5,231 | 6,687 | 10,405 | 13,780 | 17,645 | 21,441 | 25,621 |
| Illinois | 140 | 98 | 16 | 188 | 194 | 469 | 624 | 1,443 | 4,704 | 11,413 | 19,118 | 21,836 | 31,006 | 43,963 | 96,498 |
| Indiana | 246 | 343 | 243 | 279 | 125 | 285 | 223 | 438 | 948 | 3,887 | 9,495 | 12,720 | 15,815 | 18,462 | 26,086 |
| Iowa | 821 | 457 | 382 | 471 | 529 | 660 | 733 | 1,084 | 1,708 | 2,992 | 6,311 | 7,349 | 8,989 | 11,084 | 14,486 |
| Kansas | 1,499 | 1,682 | 2,130 | 2,444 | 2,276 | 2,454 | 1,165 | 2,381 | 5,069 | 8,672 | 17,829 | 21,965 | 24,936 | 28,150 | 30,995 |
| Kentucky | 50 | 71 | 102 | 234 | 57 | 22 | 44 | 234 | 391 | 1,531 | 4,497 | 5,769 | 8,616 | 10,120 | 12,801 |
| Louisiana | 848 | 628 | 593 | 780 | 1,069 | 1,536 | 1,801 | 409 | 3,587 | 5,294 | 12,841 | 18,541 | 25,477 | 30,579 | 31,657 |
| Maine | 625 | 559 | 798 | 892 | 830 | 1,012 | 1,251 | 1,522 | 1,879 | 2,195 | 4,360 | 5,998 | 7,098 | 8,568 | 7,885 |
| Maryland | 15 | 44 | 3 | 55 | 32 | 50 | 73 | 314 | 1,538 | 4,239 | 8,946 | 12,972 | 15,423 | 20,420 | 31,845 |
| Massachusetts | 369 | 428 | 587 | 688 | 555 | 874 | 769 | 1,201 | 2,118 | 4,475 | 8,996 | 12,241 | 15,015 | 18,850 | 24,018 |
| Michigan | 17,390 | 5,625 | 6,354 | 7,519 | 5,614 | 7,080 | 6,282 | 7,000 | 9,701 | 16,854 | 44,712 | 55,638 | 58,479 | 62,007 | 61,261 |
| Minnesota | 8,498 | 10,096 | 9,182 | 9,053 | 8,761 | 11,077 | 12,528 | 12,533 | 15,496 | 23,128 | 36,527 | 49,909 | 54,967 | 60,916 | 68,641 |
| Mississippi | 1,857 | 2,036 | 2,203 | 1,253 | 1,105 | 1,458 | 2,134 | 2,502 | 3,119 | 4,113 | 6,836 | 8,525 | 11,652 | 15,030 | 16,450 |
| Missouri | 113 | 128 | 130 | 313 | 171 | 578 | 330 | 547 | 1,723 | 5,405 | 14,820 | 19,835 | 25,076 | 27,376 | 30,518 |
| Montana | 23,313 | 11,206 | 11,343 | 10,745 | 10,956 | 14,798 | 16,841 | 16,606 | 21,181 | 27,130 | 37,623 | 47,679 | 56,068 | 62,555 | 67,612 |
| Nebraska | 4,541 | 6,431 | 3,322 | 3,502 | 2,888 | 3,256 | 3,401 | 3,954 | 5,545 | 6,624 | 9,059 | 12,410 | 14,896 | 18,427 | 23,102 |
| Nevada | 9,603 | 5,156 | 5,216 | 5,240 | 4,907 | 4,871 | 4,747 | 5,025 | 6,681 | 7,933 | 14,256 | 19,637 | 26,420 | 32,062 | 43,932 |
| New Hampshire | 63 | 16 | 22 | 34 | 28 | 64 | 50 | 74 | 135 | 361 | 1,342 | 2,134 | 2,964 | 3,150 | 3,031 |
| New Jersey | 74 | 84 | 63 | 168 | 106 | 213 | 211 | 621 | 1,699 | 4,706 | 10,028 | 14,970 | 19,492 | 29,026 | 51,186 |
| New Mexico | 33,224 | 150,44 | 13,144 | 20,573 | 19,512 | 28,941 | 34,510 | 41,901 | 56,255 | 72,788 | 106,585 | 134355 | 173,483 | 193,222 | 212,241 |
| New York | 5,958 | 6,044 | 5,257 | 6,046 | 5,503 | 6,973 | 8,651 | 10,640 | 16,491 | 28,355 | 43,508 | 62,651 | 82,461 | 106,906 | 149,690 |
| North Carolina | 1,230 | 1,516 | 5,687 | 7,851 | 11,824 | 16,579 | 22,546 | 3,742 | 38,129 | 44,406 | 65,808 | 80,155 | 99,551 | 122,110 | 130,032 |
| North Dakota | 8,329 | 8,174 | 6,968 | 6,486 | 6,254 | 8,387 | 10,114 | 10,766 | 11,736 | 14,369 | 19,905 | 25,917 | 31,329 | 36,591 | 38,914 |
| Ohio | 130 | 206 | 42 | 127 | 151 | 435 | 338 | 1,146 | 1,910 | 6,654 | 15,300 | 20,358 | 24,486 | 25,292 | 30,720 |
| Oklahoma | 82,334[Note 2] | 64,456 | 64,445 | 74,825 | 57,337 | 92,725 | 63,125 | 53,769 | 64,689 | 98,468 | 171,092 | 252,420 | 273,230 | 321,687 | 332,791 |
| Oregon | 6,249 | 4,971 | 4,951 | 5,090 | 4,590 | 4,776 | 4,594 | 5,820 | 8,026 | 13,510 | 29,783 | 38,496 | 45,211 | 53,203 | 62,993 |
| Pennsylvania | 184 | 1,081 | 1,639 | 1,503 | 337 | 523 | 441 | 1,141 | 2,122 | 5,533 | 10,928 | 14,733 | 18,348 | 26,843 | 31,052 |
| Rhode Island | 77 | 180 | 35 | 284 | 110 | 318 | 196 | 385 | 932 | 1,390 | 3,186 | 4,071 | 5,121 | 6,058 | 7,385 |
| South Carolina | 131 | 173 | 121 | 331 | 304 | 959 | 1,234 | 554 | 1,098 | 2,241 | 6,655 | 8,246 | 13,718 | 19,524 | 24,303 |
| South Dakota | 20,230 | 19,854 | 20225 | 19,137 | 16,384 | 21,833 | 23,347 | 23,344 | 25,794 | 32,365 | 45,525 | 50,575 | 62,283 | 71,817 | 77,748 |
| Tennessee | 352 | 146 | 108 | 216 | 56 | 161 | 114 | 339 | 638 | 2,276 | 6,946 | 10,039 | 15,152 | 19,994 | 28,044 |
| Texas | 992 | 708 | 470 | 702 | 2,109 | 1,001 | 1,103 | 2,736 | 5,750 | 17,957 | 50,296 | 65,877 | 118,362 | 170,972 | 278,948 |
| Utah | 1,257 | 3,456 | 2,623 | 3,123 | 2,711 | 2,869 | 3,611 | 4,201 | 6,961 | 11,273 | 19,994 | 24,283 | 29,684 | 32,927 | 41,644 |
| Vermont | 11 | 34 | 5 | 26 | 24 | 36 | 16 | 30 | 57 | 229 | 1,041 | 1,696 | 2,420 | 2,207 | 2,289 |
| Virginia | 85 | 349 | 354 | 539 | 824 | 779 | 198 | 1,056 | 2,155 | 4,853 | 9,867 | 15,282 | 21,172 | 29,225 | 40,007 |
| Washington | 18,594 | 11,181 | 10,039 | 10,997 | 9,061 | 11,253 | 11,394 | 13,816 | 21,076 | 33,386 | 61,233 | 81,483 | 93,301 | 103,869 | 121,468 |
| West Virginia | 29 | 9 | 12 | 36 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 160 | 181 | 751 | 2,317 | 2,458 | 3,606 | 3,787 | 3,706 |
| Wisconsin | 10,798 | 9,930 | 8,372 | 10,142 | 9,611 | 11,548 | 12,265 | 12,196 | 14,297 | 18,924 | 30,553 | 39,387 | 47,228 | 54,526 | 60,428 |
| Wyoming | 2,203 | 1,844 | 1,686 | 1,486 | 1,343 | 1,845 | 2,349 | 3,237 | 4,020 | 4,980 | 8,192 | 9,479 | 11,133 | 13,336 | 13,898 |
| Washington, D.C. | 5 | 25 | 22 | 68 | 37 | 40 | 190 | 330 | 587 | 956 | 986 | 1,466 | 1,713 | 2,079 | 3,193 |
| 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 |
78% of Native Americans live outside a reservation. Full-blood individuals are more likely to live on a reservation than mixed-blood individuals. TheNavajo, 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%. TheCherokee have a different history; it is the largest tribe, with 819,000 individuals, and it has 284,000 full-blood individuals.[54]
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.[55]
Below are numbers for U.S. citizens self-identifying to selected tribal groupings, according to the 2010 U.S. census.[56][57]
| 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 | ||
| 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 | |
| Ojibwe | 112,757 | 2,645 | 52,091 | 3,249 | 170,742 | ||
| Osage | 8,938 | 1,125 | 7,090 | 1,423 | 18,576 | ||
| Ottawa | 7,272 | 776 | 4,274 | 711 | 13,033 | ||
| Paiute[58] | 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 |
There are 574federally recognized tribal governments[59] and 326Indian reservations[60] in the US. These tribes possess the right to form their own governments, enforce laws (civil and criminal) within their lands, tax, establish requirements for membership, license and regulate activities, zone, and exclude persons from tribal territories. Limitations on self-government include the same applicable to states; for example, neither have the power to make war, engage in foreign relations, or mint currency.[61] There tribesrecognized by individual states, but not by the federal government. The rights and benefits associated withstate recognition vary from state to state.
Many Native Americans and advocates their rights note the federal government's claim to recognize the "sovereignty" of Native American peoples falls short, given the US wishes to govern Native American peoples and treat them as subject to US law.[62] Such advocates contend that full respect for Native American sovereignty would require the US government to deal with Native American peoples in the same manner as other sovereign nations, handling matters related to Native Americans through the Secretary of State, rather than theBureau of Indian Affairs. The Bureau of Indian Affairs states that its "responsibility is the administration and management of 55,700,000 acres (225,000 km2) of land held in trust by the United States for American Indians, Indian tribes, andAlaska Natives".[63] Many Native Americans and advocates of their rights believe it is condescending for such lands to be considered "held in trust" and regulated in any fashion by any entity other than the tribes.
Some tribes have been unable to document the continuity required for 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.[64] TheMuwekma Ohlone of the San Francisco Bay Area are pursuing litigation in the federal court system to establish recognition.[needs update][65] Many smaller eastern tribes, long considered remnants of extinct peoples, have been trying to gain recognition of their tribal status. Several tribes in Virginia and North Carolina have gained state recognition. Federal recognition confers benefits, including the right to label arts and crafts as Native American and permission to apply for grants specifically reserved for Native Americans. But gaining recognition as a tribe is difficult; to be established as a tribal group, members have to submit extensivegenealogical proof of tribal descent and continuity of the tribe as a culture.
In 2000, theWashington State Republican Party adopted a resolution recommending federal and legislative branches of theU.S. government terminate tribal governments.[66] In 2007, a group ofDemocratic Party congressmen and congresswomen introduced a bill in theU.S. House of Representatives to terminate federal recognition of theCherokee Nation.[67] 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.
The State ofMaine 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, andPassamaquoddy Tribe. These representatives can sponsor any legislation regarding American Indian affairs or co-sponsor pending legislation. Maine is unique regarding Indigenous leadership representation.[68]
In the state ofVirginia, Native Americans face a unique problem. Until 2017 Virginia 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 intermarriage with Europeans and Africans. Some 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. Historians note the problems of Virginia Indians in establishing continuity of identity, were due toWalter Ashby Plecker (1912–46). As registrar of the state's Bureau of Vital Statistics, he applied his interpretation of theone-drop rule, enacted in 1924, as the state's Racial Integrity Act. It recognized only two races: "white" and "colored". Plecker, asegregationist, believed the state's Native Americans had been "mongrelized" by intermarriage with African Americans; to him, ancestry determined identity, rather than culture. He thought some of partial black ancestry were trying to "pass" as Native Americans. Plecker thought anyone with African heritage had to be classified as colored. Plecker pressured local governments into reclassifying all Native Americans as "colored" and gave them lists of surnames to examine for reclassification based on his interpretations. This led to the state's destruction of accurate records related to families and communities who identified as Native American. By his actions, sometimes 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.[64] In 2009, theSenate Indian Affairs Committee endorsed a bill that would grant federal recognition to tribes in Virginia.[69]
As of 2000[update], the largest groups in the US by population wereNavajo,Cherokee,Choctaw,Sioux,Ojibwe,Apache,Blackfeet,Iroquois, andPueblo. 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.[70]
Native Americans are wary of attempts by others to gain control of their reservation lands for natural resources, such ascoal anduranium in the West.[71][72]
Thecivil rights movement was significant 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 theAmerican Civil War. Native Americans, like African Americans, were subjected to theJim Crow Laws and segregation in theDeep South especially after they were made citizens through theIndian 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.[73][74][75] 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.[73][74] Native Americans were also discriminated and discouraged from voting in the southern and western states.[75]
In thesouth segregation was a major problem for Native Americans seeking education, but the NAACP's legal strategy would later change this.[76] Movements such asBrown v. Board of Education was a major victory for the Civil Rights Movement headed by theNAACP, and inspired Native Americans to start participating in the Civil Rights Movement.[77][78]Martin Luther King Jr. began assisting Native Americans in the south in the late 1950s after they reached out to him.[78] At that time the remainingCreek 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.[78] Tribal leaders, upon hearing of King's desegregation campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, contacted him for assistance. Through King's intervention, the problem was quickly resolved.[78] King later traveled to Arizona visiting Native Americans on reservations, and in churches encouraging them to be involved in the Civil Rights Movement.[79] In King's bookWhy 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.[80]
Native Americans then actively participated and supported the NAACP, and the civil rights movement.[81] 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.[82][83] During the1963 March on Washington there was a sizable Native American contingent, including many from South Dakota, and many from theNavajo nation.[78][84] Native Americans also participated thePoor People's Campaign in 1968.[82] The NIYC were very active supporters of thePoor People's Campaign unlike theNational 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.[83] The NCAI wished to pursue their battles in the courts and with Congress, unlike the NIYC.[82][83] The NAACP also inspired the creation of theNative American Rights Fund (NARF) which was patterned after the NAACP's Legal Defense and Education Fund.[78] Furthermore, the NAACP continued to organize to stop mass incarceration and end thecriminalization of Native Americans and other communities of people of color.[85] The following is an excerpt from a statement fromMel Thom on May 1, 1968, during a meeting with Secretary of StateDean Rusk:[83] (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, theDepartment 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.
Native American struggles amidreservation poverty to maintain life on the reservation, or in larger society, have resulted in health issues, some related to nutrition and health practices. The community suffers avulnerability to, and disproportionately high rate of, alcoholism:[86]
It has long been recognized that Native Americans are dying ofdiabetes, 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[87] (September 2004)
Studies point to rising rates of stroke,[88] heart disease,[89] and diabetes[90] in the Native American population.
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 states, "Any holiday that would refer to my people in such a repugnant, racist manner is certainly not worth celebrating. [July Fourth] 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."[91]
In a study conducted in 2006–07, non-Native Americans stated they rarely encountered Native Americans. This is largely due to the number of Native Americans having dwindled since whitesettler colonialism, while those who survived were forcibly moved into reservations. Both factors were referenced byAdolf 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".[92][93] While sympathetic toward Native Americans and expressing regret over the past, most had only a vague understanding of the problems facing Native Americans. Native Americans told researchers they believed they continued to faceprejudice, mistreatment, andinequality in society.[94]
Federal contractors and subcontractors, such as businesses and educational institutions, are legally required to adoptequal opportunity employment andaffirmative action measures intended to prevent discrimination against employees or applicants for employment on the basis of "color, religion, sex, or national origin".[95][96] 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 theIndian Relocation Act of 1956 saw a 56% increase in Native American city dwellers over 40 years.[97] The Native American urban poverty rate exceeds that of reservation poverty rates due to discrimination in hiring processes.[97] 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."[98] Self-reporting opened the door to "box checking" and self-identification by people who, despite not having a substantial relationship to Native American culture, innocently or fraudulently check the box for Native American.[99]
The difficulties Native Americans face in the workforce, including lack of promotions and wrongful terminations are attributed to racial stereotypes and implicit biases. Native American business owners are seldom offered auxiliary resources crucial for entrepreneurial success.[97]
Throughout history, settler colonialism has remained a violent tool to displace and exterminate Native American peoples. The use of sexual violence to perpetuate this is common. 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 US." 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."[100]
American Indian activists in the US and Canada have criticized the use of Native Americanmascots in sports, as perpetuating stereotypes. This is consideredcultural appropriation. There has been a 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 ofFlorida State University.[101][102] The NCAA allows the use even though the NCAA "continues to believe the stereotyping of Native Americans is wrong."[103]
Among professional teams, theNBA'sGolden State Warriors discontinued use of Native American-themed logos in 1971. TheNFL'sWashington Commanders, formerly theWashington Redskins, changed their name in 2020, asthe term is considered a racial slur.[104]
MLB'sCleveland Guardians were formerly known as theCleveland Indians. Their use of a caricature calledChief Wahoo faced protest for decades.[105][106] Starting in 2019, Chief Wahoo ceased to be a logo for Cleveland Indians.[107][108][109][110] In December 2020,The New York Times reported that Cleveland would be officially changing their name,[111] and in 2021, became theCleveland Guardians.[112][113]
Native Americans have been depicted byAmerican artists in various ways at different periods. Several 19th- and 20th-century US and Canadian painters, often motivated by a desire to document and preserve Native culture, specialized in Native American subjects. Among the most prominent wereElbridge Ayer Burbank,George Catlin,Seth Eastman,Paul Kane,W. Langdon Kihn,Charles Bird King,Joseph Henry Sharp, andJohn Mix Stanley.
In the 20th century, early portrayals of Native Americans inmovies andtelevision roles were first performed by European Americans dressed in mock traditional attire. Examples includedThe Last of the Mohicans (1920),Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans (1957), andF Troop (1965–67). In later decades, Native American actors such asJay Silverheels inThe Lone Ranger television series (1949–57) came to prominence. The roles of Native Americans were limited and not reflective of Native American culture. By the 1970s some Native American roles began to show more complexity, such as those inLittle Big Man (1970),Billy Jack (1971), andThe Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), which depicted Native Americans in supporting roles.
For years, Native people on American television were relegated to secondary, subordinate roles. InBonanza (1959–73), no major or secondary Native characters appeared on a consistent basis. The seriesThe Lone Ranger (1949–57),Cheyenne (1955–63), andLaw of the Plainsman (1959–63) had Native characters who were aides to the central white characters. This continued in such series asHow the West Was Won. These programs resembled the "sympathetic" yet contradictory filmDances With Wolves of 1990, in which, the narrative choice was to relate the Lakota story through a Euro-American voice, for wider impact among a general audience.[114]Like the 1992 remake ofThe Last of the Mohicans andGeronimo: An American Legend (1993),Dances with Wolves employed Native American actors, and made an effort to portray Indigenous languages. In 1996,Plains Cree actorMichael Greyeyes would play renowned Native American warriorCrazy Horse in the 1996 television filmCrazy Horse,[115] and renowned Sioux chiefSitting Bull in the 2017 movieWoman Walks Ahead.[116]
The 1998 filmSmoke Signals, set on theCoeur D'Alene Reservation, discussed hardships of present-day American Indian families, featured numerous Native American actors.[117] It was the first feature film to be produced and directed by Native Americans, and to have an exclusive Native American cast.[117] At the Sundance Film Festival,Smoke Signals won the Audience Award and its producerChris Eyre, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, won the Filmmaker's Trophy.[118] In 2009,We Shall Remain, a documentary byRic Burns and part of theAmerican Experience series, presented a 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".[119] The episodes explore the impact ofKing Philip's War on the northeastern tribes, the "Native American confederacy" ofTecumseh's War, U.S.-forced relocation of Southeastern tribes, the pursuit and capture ofGeronimo andApache Wars, and concludes with theWounded Knee incident, participation by theAmerican Indian Movement, and the increasing resurgence of modern Native cultures since.
The most common of modern terms to refer to Indigenous peoples of the United States areIndians,American Indians, andNative Americans. Up to the early to mid 18th century, the termAmericans was not applied to people of European heritage in North America. Instead it was equivalent to the termIndians. As people of European heritage began using the termAmericans to refer instead to themselves, the wordIndians became historically the most often employed term.[120]
The termIndians, long laden with racist stereotypes, began to be replaced in the 1960s with the termNative Americans, which recognized the Indigeneity of the people who first made the Americas home. But as the termNative Americans became popular, the American Indian Movement saw pejorative connotations in the termnative and reappropriated the termIndian, seeing it as witness to the history of violence against the many nations that lived in the Americas before European arrival.[121]
The termNative American was introduced in the US in preference to the older termIndian to distinguish theIndigenous peoples of the Americas from the people ofIndia. It may have been coined byMohican SachemJohn Wannuaucon Quinney, in an 1852 address to the US Congress where he argued against proposed resettlement.[122]
The termAmerindian, aportmanteau of "American Indian", was coined in 1902 by theAmerican 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.[123] While never popular in Indigenous communities themselves, it remains a preferred term among some anthropologists.[124][125][126][127]
During World War II, draft boards typically classified American Indians from Virginia asNegroes.[128][129]
In 1995, a plurality of Indigenous Americans, preferred the termAmerican Indian[130] and manytribes include the word Indian in their formal title.
Criticism of theneologismNative American comes from diverse sources.Russell Means, an Oglala Lakota activist, opposed the termNative American because he believed it was imposed by the government without the consent of Native people.[131]
A 1995 U.S. Census Bureau survey found that more Native Americans in the United States preferredAmerican Indian toNative American.[130] Most American Indians are comfortable withIndian,American Indian, andNative American.[132] That term is reflected in the name chosen for theNational Museum of the American Indian, which opened in 2004 onthe Mall inWashington, D.C..
Other commonly used terms areFirst Americans,First Nations, andNative Peoples.[133]
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."[134] 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 land, settlers are preventing the ways of life and 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".[135]
The Karuk tribe in Klamath, California are one of many victims of colonial ecological violence. A major way of life is the use of fires to maintain and regulate their environment. These fires were used to correct travel routes and optimize hunting, 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." This land is one of the most economically wealthy spots due to the establishment of the forest, which further demonstrates the ways in which settler-colonialism enables and continues to negatively impact the land that Indigenous people lived on.[136]
The Potawatomi tribe had long occupied the Great Lakes region, 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.[137] 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."[138]
TheMiami Tribe of Oklahoma, once resided in Oxford, Ohio, where Miami University now is placed. In 1818, the tribe agreed to give up a large amount of land to U.S. officials. It was not until 1826 thatLewis Cass informed them and nearby Potawatomi, "You must remove or perish."[139] This plan did not work, but the officials persisted and eventually the Miami tribe were 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.[140]
BecauseIndian reservations havetribal sovereignty, states have limited ability to forbid gambling there, as codified by theIndian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. Tribes runcasinos,bingo halls, and othergambling operations, and as of 2011, there were 460 such operations run by 240 tribes,[141] with a total annual revenue of $27 billion.[142]
Numerous tribes have entered financial services, including theOtoe-Missouria,Tunica-Biloxi, and theRosebud Sioux. Because of the challenges involved in starting a financial services business, many tribes hire outside consultants and vendors to help them launch these businesses and manage the regulatory issues. Similar to the tribal sovereignty debates that occurred when tribes first entered the gaming industry, the tribes, states, and federal government are in disagreement regarding who possesses the authority to regulate these e-commerce business entities.[143]
Prosecution of serious crime, historically endemic on reservations,[144][145] was required by the 1885 Major Crimes Act,[146] 18 U.S.C. §§1153, 3242, and court decisions to be investigated by the federal government, usually theFederal Bureau of Investigation, and prosecuted byUnited States Attorneys of theUnited States federal judicial district in which the reservation lies.[147][148][149][150][151]
A 2009New York Times article about growinggang violence on thePine Ridge Indian Reservation estimated there were 39 gangs with 5,000 members on that reservation alone.[152]Navajo country reported 225 gangs in its territory.[153]
As of 2012, a high incidence of rape continued to impact Native American 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.[154] About 46 percent of Native American women have been raped, beaten, or stalked by an intimate partner, according to a 2010 study by theCenters for Disease Control.[155] "More than 80 percent of Indian victims identify their attacker as non-Indian".[156][157]
Other than tribes successfully running casinos, many tribes struggle, as they are often located on reservations isolated from economic centers. The estimated 2.1 million Native Americans are the most impoverished of all ethnic groups. According to the2000 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.[158] According to a 2007 survey, only 1% of Native Americans own and operate a business.[159]
The barriers toeconomic development on Native American reservations identified by theHarvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, inWhat Can Tribes Do? Strategies and Institutions in American Indian Economic Development (2008),[160] are as follows:
A major barrier is lack of entrepreneurial knowledge and experience withinIndian reservations. "A general lack of education and experience about business is a significant challenge to prospective entrepreneurs", was the report on Native Americanentrepreneurship by the Northwest Area Foundation in 2004.[needs update][162]
Some scholars argue existing theories and practices ofeconomic development are not suitable for Native American communities—given the lifestyle, economic, and cultural differences, as well as the history of Native American-U.S. relations.[161] 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.[161][163] The dominance of federal government involvement in Indigenous developmental activities perpetuates and exacerbates thesalvage paradigm.[161]
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 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 is time-consuming, cumbersome, and sometimes impossible.
Another issue ischeckerboarding, 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.[164] 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. Efforts to encourage land ownership (such as theDawes Act) resulted in a net loss of tribal land. After they were familiarized with theirsmallholder 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.[165] 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.[166] Land ownership was a challenge because of the different definitions of land that the Natives and Europeans had.[167] Most tribes thought of property rights more as "borrowing" the land, while those from Europe thought of land as individual property.[168]
State-level efforts such as theOklahoma Indian Welfare Act were attempts to contain tribal land in Native American hands. The knowledge disconnect between the decision-making bureaucracy and Native American stakeholders resulted in ineffective development efforts.[163][165] Traditional Native American entrepreneurship does not prioritizeprofit maximization; rather, business transactions must align with Native American social and cultural values.[169] 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.[165] Legal disputes interfered with tribal land leasing, which were settled with the verdict againsttribal sovereignty.[170]
Often, bureaucratic overseers of development are removed from Native American communities and lack the knowledge and understanding to develop plans or make resource allocation decisions.[163] 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.[163]
Historical trauma is described as collective emotional and psychological damage throughout a person's lifetime and across multiple generations.[171] Examples can be seen through theWounded Knee Massacre of 1890, where over 200 unarmed Lakota were killed,[172] and theDawes Act of 1887, when Native Americans lost four-fifths of their land.[173]
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Native American youth have higher rates of substance and alcohol use deaths than the general population.[174] Many Native Americans can trace the beginning of their substance and alcohol use to a traumatic event related to their offender's own substance use.[175] A person's substance use can be described as a defense mechanism against the user's emotions and trauma.[176] For Native Americans, alcoholism is a symptom of trauma passed from generation to generation and influenced by oppressive behaviors and policies by the dominant European-American society.[177] Boarding schools were made to "Kill the Indian, Save the man".[178] Shame among Native Americans can be attributed to years of oppression and annihilation.[176]
Studies are being conducted which show Native Americans often experience higher rates of food insecurity than other racial groups in the US. The studies do not focus on the overall picture of Native American households, however, and tend to focus on smaller sample sizes.[179] In a study that evaluated food insecurity among Indigenous Americans, White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian: it was reported that over the 10-year span of 2000–10, Indigenous people were reported to be one of the highest at-risk groups from a lack of access to adequate food, reporting about 25% of households suffering from this type of insecurity. There are many reasons, the biggest is 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.[180]
The culture of Pre-Columbian America is usually defined by the concept of the culture area, namely a 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.[181] Ethnographers generallyclassify the Indigenous peoples of North America into ten cultural areas based on region.
Though cultural features, language, clothing, and customs vary from one tribe to another, there are certain elements which are encountered frequently and shared by many tribes. Early scholars described the Native Americans as having a society dominated byclans.[182]
European colonization had a major impact on Native American cultures through what is known as theColumbian exchange, which was the widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, and ideas between theAmericas and Eurasia (theOld World) in the 15th and 16th centuries, followingChristopher Columbus's1492 voyage.[183] They exchanged food, crafts, and furs for blankets, iron and steel implements, horses, trinkets, firearms, and alcoholic beverages. The Columbian exchange generally had a destructive impact on Native American cultures through disease, and a 'clash of cultures',[184] whereby European values of private land ownership, the family, and division of labor, led to conflict, appropriation of traditional communal lands and changed how indigenous tribes practiced slavery.[184]
The impact of the Columbian exchange was not entirely negative. 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 more effective, and to improve their ability to transport possessions and move settlements.[185] The Great Plains tribes were still hunting bison when they first encountered Europeans. Reintroduction of the horse changed 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.
TheNa-Dené,Algic, andUto-Aztecan language families are the largest by number of languages. Uto-Aztecan has the most speakers (2 million) if the languages in Mexico are considered; Na-Dené comes second with approximately 200,000 speakers, and Algic third with about 180,000 speakers. Na-Dené and Algic have the widest geographic distributions: Algic spans from northeast Canada across much of the continent down to northeast Mexico with two outliers inCalifornia (Yurok andWiyot); Na-Dené spans from Alaska and west Canada throughWashington,Oregon, and California to theU.S. Southwest and northern Mexico. Several families consist of only 2 languages. Demonstrating genetic relationships has proved difficult due to the linguistic diversity present in North America. Two large (super-) family proposals,Penutian andHokan have potential.
Words used in English have beenderived from Native American languages.
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. TheCherokee Nation initiated a 10-year language preservation plan that involved raising new fluent speakers of theCherokee language from childhood up through school immersion programs, as well as community effort to continue to use the language at home.[186] This plan was part of a goal that, in 50 years, will result in 80% or more of the Cherokee being fluent.[187] TheCherokee 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.[187] Formed in 2006, the Kituwah Preservation & Education Program (KPEP) on theQualla Boundary focuses on language immersion programs for children from birth tofifth grade, developing cultural resources for the public and community language programs to foster the Cherokee language among adults.[188]
There is a Cherokee language immersion school inTahlequah, Oklahoma, that educates students from pre-school through eighth grade.[189] Because Oklahoma's official language is English, Cherokee immersion students are hindered when taking state-mandated tests because they can have little competence in English.[190] 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% in reading; 31% of the seventh-graders showed proficiency in math, and 87% in reading; 50% of eighth-graders showed proficiency in math, and 78% in reading.[190] The Department of Education listed the charter school as a Targeted Intervention school, meaning it was identified as a low-performing school.[190] Ultimately, the school made a C, or a 2.33 grade point average on the state's A-F report card system.[190] 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.[190] "The C we made is tremendous", said school principal Holly Davis, "[t]here is no English instruction in our school's younger grades, and we gave them this test in English."[190] She had anticipated the low grade because it was the school's first year as a state-fundedcharter school, and many had difficulty with English.[190] Eighth graders who graduate from the Tahlequah immersion school are fluent speakers of the language, and they usually go on to attendSequoyah High School where classes are taught in English and Cherokee.
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 fellowAlaska 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 huntedcaribou andmoose.[191] Alaskan Natives prepared and preserved dried and smoked meat and fish.
Pacific Northwest tribes crafted seafaringdugout canoes 40–50 feet (12–15 m) long for fishing.In theEastern Woodlands, early peoples independently invented agricultural and by 1800 BCE developed the crops of theEastern Agricultural Complex, which include squash (Cucurbita pepo ssp. ovifera), sunflower (Helianthus annuus var. macrocarpus), goosefoot (Chenopodium berlandieri), and marsh elder (Iva annua var. macrocarpa).[192][193]
TheSonoran Desert region including parts ofArizona andCalifornia, part of a region known asAridoamerica, relied on thetepary bean as a staple crop. This and other desert crops,mesquite bead pods,tunas (prickly pear fruit), cholla buds,saguaro cactus fruit, andacorns are actively promoted by Tohono O'odham Community Action.[194] In the Southwest, some communities developedirrigation techniques while others, such as theHopi dry-farmed. They filled storehouses with grain as protection against the area's frequentdroughts.
Maize orcorn, first cultivated in what is now Mexico, was traded north into Aridoamerica andOasisamerica,southwest. Maize cultivation spread throughout theGreat Plains andEastern Woodlands by 200 CE. Native farmers practicedpolycropping maize, beans, and squash; these crops are known as theThree Sisters. The beans would replace thenitrogen, which the maize leached from the ground, as well as using corn stalks for support for climbing. The deficiencies of a diet dependent on maize were mitigated by the practice of converting maize kernels intohominy in a process calledNixtamalization.[195]
Theagriculture gender roles of the Native Americans varied from region to region. In the Southwest area, men prepared the soil withhoes. The women were in charge ofplanting,weeding, andharvesting. In most other regions, the women were in charge of most agriculture, including clearing the land, which was an immense chore, as they rotated fields. Europeans in the eastern part of the continent observed that Native Americans cleared large areas for cropland. Their fields inNew England sometimes covered hundreds of acres. Colonists inVirginia noted thousands of acres under cultivation by Native Americans.[196]
Early farmers commonly used tools such as thehoe,maul, anddibber. 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 ofwood andstone. When the settlers broughtiron, Native Americans switched to iron hoes andhatchets. 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.[197]
Native American religious practices and beliefs, differ widely across tribes. Thesespiritualities, practices, beliefs, 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, so cannot be easily separated from tribal identity itself.
Some tribes include the use of sacred leaves and herbs such as tobacco,sweetgrass orsage. Many Plains tribes havesweatlodge ceremonies, though the specifics vary among tribes. Fasting, singing, prayer, anddrumming are common.[198]
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TheMidewiwin Lodge is a medicine society inspired by the oral history and prophesies of theOjibwa (Chippewa) and related tribes.
Another significant religious body among Native peoples is known as theNative American Church. It is asyncretistic church incorporating elements of Native spiritual practice from different tribes as well as symbolic elements fromChristianity. Its main rite is thepeyote ceremony. Prior to 1890, traditional religious beliefs includedWakan Tanka. In the American Southwest, especiallyNew Mexico, a syncretism between the Catholicism brought by Spanish missionaries and the native religion is common; the religious drums, chants, and dances of thePueblo people are regularly part ofMasses atSanta Fe'sSaint Francis Cathedral.[199] Native American-Catholic syncretism is also found elsewhere in the US. Some Native American tribes who practice Christianity, including theLumbee, organized denominations, such as theLumber River Conference of the Holiness Methodist Church.[200]
Theeagle feather law stipulates that only individuals of certifiable Native American ancestry, enrolled in a federally recognized tribe, are legally authorized to obtaineagle feathers for religious or spiritual use. The law does not allow Native Americans to give eagle feathers to non-Native Americans.[201]
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 ongoing colonial pressures.[202]
Whether a particular tribe is predominantlymatrilineal orpatrilineal, often both sexes have some degree of decision-making power within the tribe. Many Nations, such as theHaudenosaunee Five Nations and the Southeast Muskogean tribes, have matrilineal orClan Mother systems, in which property and hereditary leadership are controlled by and passed through the maternal lines.[203] In these Nations, the children are considered to belong to the mother's clan. InCherokee 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 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.[203]
In thepatrilineal tribes, such as theOmaha,Osage,Ponca, andLakota, hereditary leadership passes through the male line, and children are considered to belong to the father and hisclan. 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.[204]
In patriarchal tribes, gender roles tend to be rigid. Men have historically hunted, traded and made war while 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 clothing and instruments, and process and cure meat and skins from the game. Some mothers usecradleboards to carry an infant while working or traveling.[205] In matriarchal and egalitarian nations, the gender roles are usually not so clear-cut and even less so in the modern era.[202] Several dozen tribes allowedpolygyny to sisters, with procedural and economic limits.[182]
Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota girls are encouraged to learn to ride, hunt and fight.[206] Though fighting in war has mostly been left to the boys and men, occasionally women have fought, in battles and defense of the home, especially if the tribe was severely threatened.[207]
As of 2020[update] 90% of Native American school-aged children attend public schools operated by school districts.[208] Tribally-operated schools under contracts/grants with theBureau of Indian Education (BIE) and direct BIE-operated schools take about 8% of Native American students,[209] including students who live in very rural remote areas.[208]
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.[210]
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, andKyrie Irving are well known professional athletes.
Native American ball sports, sometimes referred to aslacrosse, stickball, or baggataway, were often used to settle disputes, rather than war, as a civil way to settle conflict. TheChoctaw called itisitoboli ("Little Brother of War");[211] theOnondaga name wasdehuntshigwa'es ("men hit a rounded object"). There are three basic versions, classified as Great Lakes, Iroquoian, and Southern.[212]
The game is played with one or two rackets or sticks and one ball. The object is to land the ball in the opposing team's goal (either a single post or net) and prevent the opposing team from scoring. The game involves 20 or as many as 300 players with no height or weight restrictions, or 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).
Chunkey was a game that consisted of a stone-shaped disk about 1–2 inches in diameter. The disk was thrown down a 200-foot (61 m) corridor so it could roll past the players at great speed. 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.
Jim Thorpe, aSauk and Fox Native American, was an all-around athlete playing football and baseball in the early 20th century. Future PresidentDwight 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."[213]
In the 1912 Olympics, Thorpe ran 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.[214] He long jumped 23 ft 6 in and high-jumped 6 ft 5 in.[214] Hepole vaulted 11 feet (3.4 m),put the shot 47 ft 9 in (14.55 m),throw the javelin 163 feet (50 m), and thediscus 136 feet (41 m).[214] 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-meters in 1912. He ran for the Carlisle Indian School where he was a teammate of Thorpe. His silver in 1912 remained the best US achievement in this event until another Indian, Billy Mills, won gold in 1964. Tewanima competed at the 1908 Olympics, where he finished 9th in the marathon.
Ellison Brown, of theNarragansett people from Rhode Island, won two Boston Marathons (1936, 1939) and competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, but did not finish due to injury. He qualified for the 1940 Olympic Games in Helsinki, but the games were canceled due to the outbreak of World War II.
Billy Mills, aLakota andUSMC officer, won gol in the 10,000-meters at the1964 Tokyo Olympics. He was the only American ever to win the gold in this event.
Billy Kidd, partAbenaki fromVermont, became the first American man to medal inalpine skiing in the Olympics, taking silver in theslalom in the1964 Winter Olympics atInnsbruck,Austria. Six years later at the 1970 World Championships, Kidd won gold in thecombined event and bronze in the slalom.
Ashton Locklear (Lumbee), an uneven bars specialist was an alternate for the2016 Summer Olympics U.S. gymnastics team, theFinal Five.[215] In 2016,Kyrie Irving (Sioux) also helped Team USA win gold at the2016 Summer Olympics. He became the 4th member of Team USA to capture the NBA championship and Olympic gold in the same year, joiningLeBron James,Michael Jordan, andScottie Pippen.[216]
Native American literature, composed oforal and written literature, has a long history. It is considered a series of literatures reflecting the varied traditions and histories of different tribes. Modern authors cover a range of genres and includeTommy Orange,Joy Harjo,Louise Erdrich,Stephen Graham Jones,Rebecca Roanhorse,Tommy Pico, and many more.
Traditional Native American music is almost entirelymonophonic, but there are exceptions. It often includesdruming, rattles, or other percussion, 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 byconquistadorde Soto. The tuning of modern flutes is typicallypentatonic.
Performers with Native American parentage have occasionally appeared in American popular music such asRita Coolidge,Wayne Newton,Gene Clark,Blackfoot, andRedbone. Some, such asJohn Trudell, have used music to comment on life in Native America. Others such asR. Carlos Nakai,Joanne Shenandoah andRobert "Tree" Cody integrate traditional sounds with modern, in instrumental recordings, whereas music byCharles Littleleaf is derived from ancestral heritage as well as nature. Recording companies offer an abundance of music by contemporary Native American performers young and old, ranging frompow-wow drum music to rock-and-roll and rap. In the ballet dancingMaria Tallchief was considered America's first majorprima ballerina,[217] and the first of Native American descent to hold the rank.[218] Along with her sisterMarjorie Tallchief both became star ballerinas.
The most widely practiced public musical form among Native Americans is that of thepow-wow. At pow-wows, such as the annualGathering of Nations inAlbuquerque, New Mexico, members of drum groups sit in a circle around a large drum. Drum groups play in unison while they sing and dancers in colorful regalia dance clockwise around the drum groups. 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 maintain traditional songs and ceremonies, some of which are shared and practiced exclusively within the community.[219]
TheIroquois, living around theGreat Lakes and extending east and north, used strings or belts calledwampum that served a dual function: the knots and beaded designs mnemonically chronicled tribal stories and legends, and served as a medium of exchange and unit of measure. The keepers of the articles were seen as tribal dignitaries.[220]
Pueblo peoples crafted impressive items associated with their religious ceremonies.Kachina dancers wore elaborately painted and decorated masks as they ritually impersonated ancestral spirits.[221] Pueblo people are noted for high-quality pottery, often with geometric designs and floral, animal and bird motifs.[222] 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. Turquoise and shell jewelry were created, as were formalized pictorial arts.[223]
Navajo spirituality focused on the maintenance of a harmonious relationship with the spirit world, often achieved by ceremonial acts, usually incorporatingsandpainting. For the Navajo, sand painting is not just a representational object, but a 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 sand creations were erased at the end of the healing ceremony.[224]
It has been estimated that the Native American arts and crafts industry brings in a billion USD in gross sales annually.[225] Native American art comprises a major category in the world art collection. Native American contributions includepottery,paintings,jewellery,weavings,sculpture,basketry, andcarvings.Franklin Gritts was a Cherokee artist who taught students from many tribes at Haskell Institute (nowHaskell Indian Nations University) in the 1940s, theGolden Age of Native American painters. The integrity of certain Native American artworks is protected by theIndian 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. Gail Sheffield and others claim this has had "the unintended consequence of sanctioning discrimination against Native Americans whose tribal affiliation was not officially recognized".[226] Artists such asJeanne Rorex Bridges (Echota Cherokee), who was not enrolled, ran the risk of fines or imprisonment if they sold their art while affirming their heritage.[227][228][229]
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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".[230][231]
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".[232]
Early contact was often charged with tension and emotion, but also had moments of friendship, cooperation, and intimacy.[233] 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.[234]
There was fear on both sides, as the different peoples realized how different their societies were.[233] 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.[233] The Native American author, Andrew J. Blackbird, wrote in hisHistory of theOttawa andChippewa 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 couldtolerate of this new substance and died as a result of imbibing too much.[233]
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.[233]
The U.S. government had two purposes when making land agreements with Native Americans: to open up more land for white settlement,[233] 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.[233] 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.[233] 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.[233]
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".[237] In the early 19th century, theShawnee Tecumseh and blonde hair, blue-eyed Rebecca Galloway had an interracial affair. In the late 19th century, three European American middle-class women teachers atHampton Institute married Native American men whom they had met as students.[238]
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 andLakota origin whose father sent both his sons toDartmouth College, got his medical degree atBoston University and returned to the West to practice. He marriedElaine Goodale, whom he met in South Dakota. He was the grandson ofSeth 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.
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.[239] When Europeans arrived ascolonists in North America, Native Americans changed their practice ofslavery 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 theWest Indies grew with the cultivation ofsugar cane, Europeans enslaved Native Americans for theThirteen 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.[240] 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.[241][242]
In Colonial America, slavery soon becameracialized, with those enslaved by the institution consisting of ethnic groups (non-Christian Native Americans and Africans) who were foreign to the Christian, European colonists. TheHouse of Burgesses define the terms ofslavery 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[243]
The slave trade of Native Americans lasted only until around 1750. It gave rise to a series of devastating wars among the tribes, including theYamasee War. TheIndian 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 theChoctaw, theCreek, and theCatawba 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 theSouthern states.[244][245] Both Native American and African enslaved women suffered rape and sexual harassment by male slaveholders and other white men.[234]
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 toHispaniola to serve as slaves.[246]
Sometimes Native Americans resented the presence of African Americans.[247] The "Catawaba tribe in 1752 showed great anger and bitter resentment when an African American came among them as a trader".[247] To gain favor with Europeans, the Cherokee exhibited the strongest color prejudice of all Native Americans.[247] 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."[248] 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.[249]
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 [Indians] to Negroes.[250]
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-centuryIndian Wars.[251][252][253]
According to theNational 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."[254][255] 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.[256]
In the 18th century, many Native American women married freed orrunaway African men due to a decrease in the population of men in Native American villages.[251] 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.[251] 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 ofpartus sequitur ventrem, which the colonists incorporated into law).[251]
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 theCherokee,Choctaw, andCreek. Though less than 3% of Native Americans owned slaves, divisions grew among the Native Americans over slavery.[257] 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.[252] As European colonists took slaves into frontier areas, there were more opportunities for relationships between African and Native American peoples.[251]
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Native American identity is determined by the tribal community that the individual or group is seeking to identify with.[258][259] 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.[258][259] As culture can vary widely between the 574 extantfederally 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.[258]
In the 2010 Census, nearly 3 million people indicated that their "race" was Native American (including Alaska Native).[260] Of these, more than 27% specifically indicated "Cherokee" as theirethnic origin.[261][262] This phenomenon has been dubbed the "Cherokee Syndrome".[263] Across the US, numerous individuals cultivate anopportunistic ethnic identity as Native American, sometimes throughCherokee heritage groups orIndian Wedding Blessings.[264]
Some tribes (particularly some in theEastern United States) are primarily made up of individuals with an unambiguousNative American identity, despite having a large number of mixed-race citizens with prominent non-Native ancestry. More than 75% of those enrolled in theCherokee Nation have less than one-quarter Cherokee blood,[265] and the formerPrincipal Chief of the Cherokee Nation,Bill John Baker, is 1/32 Cherokee, amounting to about 3%.
Historically, numerous Native Americansassimilated into colonial and later American society, e.g. throughadopting English andconverting to Christianity. In many cases, this process occurred throughforced assimilation of children sent off toAmerican Indian boarding schools far from their families. Those who could eventuallypass for white gained the advantage ofwhite privilege, yet often paid for it with the loss of community connections.[264] With the enforcement ofblood 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.[266] "Kill the Indian, save the man" was a mantra of nineteenth-century U.S. assimilation policies.[267]
Native Americans are more likely than any other racial group to practiceinterracial 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).[268] Some tribesdisenroll those with low blood quantum. Disenrollment has become a contentious issue inNative American reservation politics.[269][270]
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 documentedlineal 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.[267]
To receive tribal services, a Native American must be a citizen of (or enrolled in) afederally 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 tribeand to be of at least one-quarter Native Americanblood quantum, as attested to by aCertificate 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 theCherokee Freedmen. TheCherokee Nation requires documented direct genealogical descent from a Cherokee person listed in the early 1906Dawes Rolls. The Freedmen are descendants of African Americans once enslaved by the Cherokees, who were granted, by federal treaty, citizenship in thehistoric Cherokee Nation as freedmen after theCivil War. Themodern 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.
Since the 2000 census, people may identify as being of more than one race.[38] 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 authorJack 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 thewannabe tribe. But it is also easy to find Indians like Clem Iron Wing, an elder among theLakota, 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.[44]
Journalist Mary Annette Pember (Ojibwe) writes that non-Natives identifying with Native American identity may be a result of a person's increased interest ingenealogy, 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 theUniversity of Oklahoma, "If you have to search for proof of your heritage, it probably isn't there."[271] 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.[271]
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 tocolonial 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.[273]
Tribes with long trading histories with Europeans show a higher rate of European admixture, reflecting admixture events between Native American women and European men.[274][273]
TheIndigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism has also said thathaplogroup 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 threatenstribal sovereignty.[275][276] Author ofNative 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."[277][278] Tallbear writes inNative 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,[277] 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.[278] 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."[267]
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:[279]
"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.[279]
The only use of DNA testing by legitimate tribes is that some, such as theMeskwaki, 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.[280][281]
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 ofgeneticists,Harvard University historianHenry 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.[282][283] 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,[282][283] with only 5 percent of African American people showing more than 2 percent Native American ancestry.[282]
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)."[282] Their findings also concluded that the most common "non-Black" mix among African Americans is English andScots-Irish. Some critics thought the PBS series did not sufficiently explain the limitations of DNA testing for assessment of heritage.[284] Another study, published in theAmerican 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.[285] A study reported in theAmerican 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) and in Jamaica ... mtDNA haplogroups analysis shows no evidence of a significant maternal Amerindian contribution to any of the 10 populations."[286] Despite this, some still insist that most African Americans have at least some Native American heritage.[287]
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 theWest South Central region, to 1.9% on theWest Coast. The median amount of Native ancestry in African-Americans was found to be 1% nationwide.[288]
Anautosomal 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 theMid-Atlantic region to 0.93% in thePacific 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.[289]
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 theWest South Central Region (Texas and Oklahoma) at 43.2%, and the West Coast, at 42.6%, reflecting the predominantMexican-American population in these regions. Hispanics from the Mid-Atlantic, on the other hand, averaged only 11.1% Native American ancestry, reflecting the predominantPuerto Rican andDominican-American populations among Hispanics from that region.[290]
The genetic history of Indigenous peoples of the Americas primarily focuses onhuman Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups andhuman mitochondrial DNA haplogroups. "Y-DNA" is passed solely along thepatrilineal line, from father to son, while "mtDNA" is passed down thematrilineal line, from mother to offspring of both sexes. Neitherrecombines, and thus Y-DNA and mtDNA change only by chance mutation at each generation with no intermixture between parents' genetic material.[291]Autosomal "atDNA" markers are also used, but differ from mtDNA or Y-DNA in that they overlap significantly.[292] Autosomal DNA is generally used to measure the average continent-of-ancestrygenetic admixture in the entirehuman genome and relatedisolated populations.[292] 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.[267]
The genetic pattern indicates Indigenous Americans experienced two very distinctive genetic episodes; first with the initial-peopling of the Americas, and secondly withEuropean colonization of the Americas.[293][294][295] The former is the determinant factor for the number ofgene lineages,zygosity mutations and foundinghaplotypes present in today's Indigenous Americanpopulations.[294]
The most popular theory is that human settlement of the Americas occurred in stages from theBering sea coast line, with an initial 15,000 to 20,000-year layover onBeringia for the smallfounding population.[293][296][297] Themicro-satellite diversity and distributions of the Y lineage specific to South America indicates that certainAmerindian populations have been isolated since the initial colonization of the region.[298] TheNa-Dené,Inuit andIndigenous Alaskan populations exhibithaplogroup Q-M242 (Y-DNA) mutations, however, that are distinct from other Indigenous Amerindians, and that have various mtDNA and atDNA mutations.[299][300][301] This suggests that the paleo-Indian migrants into the northern extremes of North America andGreenland were descended from a later, independent migrant population.[302][303]
Genetic analyses of HLA I and HLA II genes as well as HLA-A, -B, and -DRB1 gene frequencies links theAinu people of northernJapan and southeasternRussia to someIndigenous peoples of the Americas, especially to populations on thePacific Northwest Coast such asTlingit. Scientists suggest that the main ancestor of the Ainu and of some Native American groups can be traced back toPaleolithic groups inSouthern Siberia.[304]
It has been long recognized that Native Americans are dying of diabetes, alcoholism, tuberculosis, suicide, and other health conditions at shocking rates.
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 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.
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.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link). 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.
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