Native American

[[Image:Portrait_of_Red_Bird.jpg|thumb|A Sioux in traditional dress including war bonnet, about 1908]] Native Americans (also Original Americans, Aboriginal Peoples, Aboriginal Americans, American Indians, Amerindians, Amerind, Indians, First Nations, First Peoples, Native Canadians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are those peoples indigenous people to the Americas, living there prior to European colonialism. This term encompasses a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of them still enduring as political communities. A comprehensive tribal list can be found under "Classification of Native Americans." The terms "Amerindian" and "Indian", both of which are derivatives of "American Indian" (as is "Amerind", though this term is more popular in linguistic circles), are not necessarily completely synonymous with "Native American". Although all Amerindians are Native Americans, not all Native Americans are Amerindians. "Amerindian" relates to a mega-group of people spanning the Americas that are related in culture and genetics, and are quite distinct from the later arriving Eskimos (Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut peoples native to Alaska and Arctic). The latter share their cultural and genetic commonality with other arctic peoples not native to the American continent, such as those from arctic Russian Siberia. The same distinction is made in Canada, where the term First Nations applies only to Native Canadians who belong to the same cultural and genetic mega-group of Amerindians mentioned above. The Canadian First Nations specifically exclude the Inuit and Inuvialuit in the north, although these are included in the terms "First Peoples" and "Native Canadians". First Peoples are enshrined in the Canadian Constitution with various treaty rights, some long established and many more currently under negotiation. The term Native American may be construed to either include or exclude the M�tis people (Canada) of Canada and the Mestizos and Zambos of Latin America. Other indigenous peoples that are native to territorial possesions of American countries but are not specifically "Native American" (in the sense that they are not native to the actual lands that comprise the American continent) are a diversity of Pacific Islanders including: Native Hawaiians (also known as Kanaka Māoli and Kanaka 'Oiwi) in the US state of Hawaii, natives of American Samoa (USA) and natives of Easter Island (Chile). ==Early history== ''See also: Archeology of the Americas'' ===The Bering Strait Land Bridge Theory=== Based on anthropology and genetics evidence, scientists generally agree that most Native Americans descend from people who Migration (human) from Siberia across the Bering Strait, between 17,000–11,000 years ago. The exact epoch and route is still a matter of controversy, as is whether it happened at all. Until recently there was a consensus among anthropologists that the alleged migrants crossed the strait 12000 BC via the Bering Land Bridge which existed during the last ice age (which occurred 24000 BC to 11000 BC), and that they followed an inland route through Alaska and Canada that had just been freed of its ice cover. There are a number of difficulties in this theory — in particular, growing evidence of human presence in Brazil and Chile 9500 BC or earlier [http://www.andaman.org/book/chapter53/luzia/luzia.htm]. Thus other possibilities, not necessarily exclusive, have been suggested: *The migrants may have crossed the land bridge several millennia earlier and followed a coastal route, thus avoiding the ice-covered interior. *They may have been seafaring people who moved along the coast, a theory disputed due to the relative lack of seafaring skills of peoples of this time period. *The crossing of the Bering Land Bridge may have occurred during the previous ice age, around 35000 BC. This is also supported by the archaeology dating of some sites in South America prior to the previously assumed date of 12–14,000 years ago. *A more radical alternative is that the Siberians were preceded by migrants from Oceania, who arrived either by sailing across the Pacific Ocean or by following the land route through Beringia at a much earlier date. Proponents of this theory claim that the oldest human remains in South America and in Baja California (peninsula) show distinctive non-Siberian traits, resembling those of Australian Aborigines or the Negritos of the Andaman Islands. These hypothetical American Aborigines would have been displaced by the Siberian migrants, and may have been ancestral to the distinctive Native Americans of the Tierra del Fuego, who are nearly extinct. Some mainstream anthropologists and archaeologists consider the genetic and cultural evidence for a primarily Siberian origin overwhelming. According to their theories, at least three separate migrations from Siberia to the Americas are highly likely to have occurred: *The first wave came into a land populated by the large mammals of the late Pleistocene, including mammoths, horses, giant sloths, and woolly rhinoceroses. The Clovis culture would be a manifestation of that migration, and the Folsom culture, based on the hunting of American Bison, would have developed from it. This wave eventually spread over the entire hemisphere, as far south as Tierra del Fuego. *The second migration brought the ancestors of the Na-Dene peoples. They lived in Alaska and western Canada, but some migrated as far south as the Pacific Northwestern United States and the American Southwest, and would be ancestral to the Dene, Apache Tribes and Navajos. *The third wave brought the ancestors of the Eskimos and the Aleuts. They may have come by sea over the Bering Strait, after the land bridge had disappeared. *In recent years, molecular genetics studies have suggested as many as four distinct migrations from Asia. These studies also provide surprising evidence of smaller-scale, contemporaneous migrations from Europe, possibly by peoples who had adopted a lifestyle resembling that of Inuits and Yupiks during the last ice age. One result of these successive waves of migration is that large groups of Native Americans with similar languages and perhaps physical characteristics as well, moved into various geographic areas of North, and then Central and South America. While Native Americans have traditionally remained primarily loyal to their individual tribes, ethnologists have variously sought to group the myriad of tribes into larger entities which reflect common geographic origins, linguistic similarities, and life styles. (See Classification of Native Americans.) While many Native American groups retained a nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle through the time of European occupation of the New World, in some regions, specifically in the Mississippi River valley of the United States, in Mexico, Central America, the Andes of South America, they built advanced civilizations with monumental architecture and large-scale organization into city and states. Other ideas have been rediscovered, some with growing acceptance, as to the ultimate origin of Native Americans: *Most Native American religions teach that humans were created in America at the beginning of time and have continuously occupied the area. *In the 19th century and early 20th century, proponents of the existence of lost continents such as Atlantis, Mu (lost continent), and Lemuria (continent) used these to explain how humans could have reached the Americas. ''See also: Mississippian culture, Cahokia, Mesoamerica, Maya, Olmec, Zapotec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Aztec, Aymara, Inca, indigenous people of Brazil.'' ==European colonization of the Americas== The European colonization of the Americas forever changed the lives and cultures of the Native Americans. In the 15th century to 19th century, their populations were ravaged, by the privations of displacement, by disease, and in many cases by warfare with European groups and enslavement by them. The first Native American group encountered by Columbus, the 250,000 Arawaks of Haiti, were enslaved. Only 500 survived by the year 1550, and the group was extinct before 1650. In the 15th century Spains and other Europeans brought horses to the Americas. Some of these animals escaped and began to breed and increase their numbers in the wild. Ironically, the horse had originally evolved in the Americas, but the last American horses, (species ''Equus Scotti'' and others [http://www.acnatsci.org/museum/jefferson/otherFossils/equus.html]) died out at the end of the last ice age. The re-introduction of the horse had a profound impact on Native American culture in the Great Plains of North America. This new mode of travel made it possible for some tribes to greatly expand their territories, exchange goods with neighboring tribes, and more easily capture Game (food). Europeans also brought diseases against which the Native Americans had no immunity. Chicken pox and measles, though common and rarely fatal among Europeans, often proved fatal to Native Americans, and more dangerous diseases such as smallpox were especially deadly to Native American populations. It is difficult to estimate the total percentage of the Native American population killed by these diseases. Epidemics often immediately followed European exploration, sometimes destroying entire villages. Some historians estimate that up to 80% of some Native populations may have died due to European diseases. For more information, see population history of American indigenous peoples. ==Native Americans in the United States== ===Early relations=== From the outset European colonists had, at best, lived in an uneasy truce with the Native Americans. While the groups sometimes cooperated, the Natives were inexorably displaced from the most favorable land, and frequently resisted this process with violence. Although in recent years it has become popular to assert that Native Americans learned scalping from Europeans, historical evidence suggests that scalping by Native Americans had been practiced long before contact with Europeans.[http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na_034800_scalpsandsca.htm] The first reported case of white men scalping Native Americans took place in Province of New Hampshire on February 20, 1725. In reality, any kind of recognizable "body part" to prove a kill would of sufficed. Four Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy sided with the British and the Tories in the American Revolutionary War. The colonists were especially outraged by the Wyoming Valley Massacre and the Cherry Valley Massacre, which occurred in 1778. In 1779 Congress sent Major General John Sullivan on what has become known as the Sullivan Expedition to neutralize the Iroquois threat to the American side. The two allied nations were rewarded, at least temporarily, by keeping title to their lands after the Revolution. The title was later purchased very cheaply by Massachusetts and sold off in the Phelps and Gorham Purchase and the Holland Purchase, after which by treaty these lands became part of New York State. The tribes were either moved to reservations or sent westward. Part of the Cayuga Nation was granted a reservation in British Canada. ===Indian Wars and forced relocations=== [[Image:Shoshoni tipis.jpg|thumb|right|Shoshoni tipis, about 1900]] In the 19th century, the Westward expansion of the United States incrementally expelled large numbers of Native Americans from vast areas of their territory, either by forcing them into marginal lands farther and farther west, or by outright massacres. Under President Andrew Jackson, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which forced the Five Civilized Tribes from the east onto western reservations, primarily to take their land for settlement. The forced migration was marked by great hardship and many deaths. Its route is known as the Trail of Tears. Conflicts generally known at the time as "Indian Wars" broke out between United States forces and many different tribes. Authorities entered numerous treaties during this period, but later abrogated many for various reasons. Well-known military engagements include the atypical Native American victory at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, and the massacre of Native Americans at Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. On January 31, 1876 the United States government ordered all remaining Native Americans to move into Indian reservation. This, together with the near-extinction of the American Bison which many tribes had lived on, set about the downturn of Prairie Culture that had developed around the use of the horse for hunting, travel and trading. American policy toward Native Americans has been an evolving process. In the late nineteenth century reformers in efforts to civilization Indians adapted the practice of educating native children in Indian Boarding Schools. These schools, which were primarily run by Christianitys [http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=2616&id=7375], proved traumatic to Indian children, who were forbidden to speak their native languages, taught Christianity instead of their native religions and in numerous other ways forced to abandon their Indian identity[http://www.sacbee.com/static/archive/news/projects/native/day2_main.html] and adopt European-American culture, despite many of the practices being in violation of clauses of the United States Constitution separating church and state. There are also many documented cases of sexual, physical and mental abuses occurring at these schools [http://www.prsp.bc.ca/history.html] [http://www.amnestyusa.org/amnestynow/soulwound.html]. Many other attempts were made to deprive the American Indians of their culture, language, and religious beliefs, some of which are reported to continue into current times. [http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761570777_28/Native_Americans_of_North_America.html]. ===Current status=== Military defeat, cultural pressure, confinement on reservations, forced cultural assimilation, outlawing of native languages and culture, forced sterilizations, termination policies of the 1950s, and 1960s, and Indian slavery have had deleterious effects on Native Americans' mental and physical health. Contemporary health problems include poverty, alcoholism, heart disease, diabetes, and New World Syndrome. As recently as the 1960s, Indians were being jailed for teaching their traditional beliefs. As recently as the 1970s, the Bureau of Indian Affairs was still actively pursuing a policy of "assimilation" [http://www.doiu.nbc.gov/orientation/bia2.cfm], the goal of which was to eliminate the reservations and steer Indians into mainstream U.S. culture. Even their lands are perhaps no longer safe; as of 2004, there are still claims of theft of Indian land for the coal and uranium it contains. [http://www.angelfire.com/band/senaaeurope/DRelocation.html] [http://www.shundahai.org/bigmtbackground.html] [http://lists.wayne.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9703&L=tamha&F=&S=&P=7661] [http://www.davidicke.net/emagazine/vol26/articles/tearsd.html] In the state of Virginia, Native Americans face a unique problem. Virginia has no federally recognized tribes, largely due to the work of one man, Walter Ashby Plecker. In 1912, Plecker became the first registrar of the state's Bureau of Vital Statistics, serving until 1946. An avowed white supremacy and fervent advocate of eugenics, Plecker believed that the state's Native Americans had been "mongrelized" with its African American population. A law passed by the state's General Assembly recognized only two races, "white" and "colored". Plecker pressured local governments into reclassifying all Native Americans in the state as "colored", leading to massive destruction of records on the state's Native American community. Even after his death, Plecker still haunts the state's Native American community. In order to receive federal recognition and the benefits it confers, tribes must prove their continuous existence since 1900. Plecker's policies have made it impossible for Virginia tribes to do so. The federal government, while aware of Plecker's destruction of records, has so far refused to bend on this bureaucratic requirement. A bill currently before Congress of the United States to ease this requirement has been favorably reported out of a key United States Senate committee, but faces strong opposition in the United States House of Representatives from a Virginia member concerned that federal recognition could open the door to gambling in the state. [http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=74481&ran=162825] In the early 21st century, Native American communities remain an enduring fixture on the United States landscape, in the American economy, and in the lives of Native Americans. Communities have consistently formed governments that administer services like firefighting, natural resource management, and law enforcement. Most Native American communities have established court systems to adjudicate matters related to local ordinances, and most also look to various forms of moral and social authority vested in traditional affiliations within the community. To address the housing needs of Native Americans, Congress passed the ''Native American Housing and Self Determination Act'' (NAHASDA) in 1996. This legislation replaced public housing, and other 1937 Housing Act programs directed towards Indian Housing Authorities, with a block grant program directed towards Tribes. Gambling has become a leading industry. Casinos operated by many Native American governments in the United States are creating a stream of gambling revenue that some communities are beginning to use as leverage to build diversified economies. Native American communities have waged and prevailed in legal battles to assure recognition of rights to self-determination and to use of natural resources. Some of those rights, known as tribal_treaty_rights are enumerated in early treaties signed with the young United States government. Tribal sovereignty has become a cornerstone of American jurisprudence, and at least on the surface, in national legislative policies. Although many Native American tribes have casinos, they are a source of conflict. Most tribes, especially small ones such as the Winnemem Wintu of Redding, California, feel that casinos and their proceeds destroy culture from the inside out. These tribes refuse to participate in the gaming industry. Many of the smaller eastern tribes have been trying to gain official recognition of their tribal status. The recognition confers some benefits, including the right to label arts and crafts as Native American and they can apply for grants that are specifically reserved for Native Americans. But gaining recognition as a tribe is extremely difficult because of a Catch 22 (logic) in the process. To be established as a tribal groups, members have to submit extensive genealogy proof of tribal descent, yet in past years many Native Americans denied their Native American heritage, because it would have deprived them of many rights, such as the right of probate. The Waccamaw tribe and the Pee Dee tribe of South Carolina were granted official recognition February 17, 2005. Two other tribal applications were denied for lack of documentation. According to 2003 United States Census Bureau estimates, a little over one third of the 2,786,652 Native Americans in the United States live in three states: California at 413,382, Arizona at 294,137 and Oklahoma at 279,559 [http://www.census.gov/popest/states/asrh/tables/SC-EST2003-04.pdf]. As of 2000, the largest tribes in the U.S. by population were Cherokee, Navajo Nation, Choctaw, Sioux, Chippewa, Apache, Blackfeet, Iroquois, and Pueblo. In 2000 eight of ten Americans with Native American ancestry were of mixed blood. It is estimated that by 2100 that figure will rise to nine of ten [http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:D-aV4g_I9XQJ:www.law.nyu.edu/kingsburyb/spring04/indigenousPeoples/classmaterials/class10/Class%252010%2520Item%2520A6%2520-%2520Gould.doc+genealogy++%22affirmative+action%22+%22american+indian%22%22ward+churchill%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8]. The Massachusetts legislature repealed a 330-year-old law that barred Native Americans from entering Boston on the 19th of May 2005 ==Native Americans in Canada== ''For more detailed information, see First Nations of Canada.'' In Canada, the most commonly preferred term for Native Americans is ''The First Nations''. First Nations peoples make up approximately 3% of the Canadian population. The official term — that is, the term used by the Indian Act (Canada) regulating benefits received by members of First Nations, and the Indian Register (Canada) defining who is a member of a First Nation — is ''Indian''. The term ''First Nations'' excludes the Inuit and M�tis, who are instead collectively recognized with the First Nations as Aboriginal peoples in Canada. ==Native Americans in Mexico== The territory of modern-day Mexico was home to numerous Native American civilizations prior to the arrival of the European ''conquistadors'': The Olmecs, who flourished from between 1200 BC to about 800 BC in the coastal regions of the Gulf of Mexico; the Zapotecs and the Mixtecs, who held sway in the mountains of Oaxaca (state) and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec; the Maya civilization in the Yucat�n (and into neighbouring areas of contemporary Central America; and, of course, the Aztecs, who, from their central capital at Tenochtitlan, dominated much of the centre and south of the country (and the non-Aztec inhabitants of those areas) when Hern�n Cort�s first landed at Veracruz, Veracruz. In contrast to what was the general rule in the rest of North America, the history of the colony of New Spain was one of racial intermingling (''Mestizo''). ''Mestizos'' quickly came to account for a majority of the colony's population; however, significant pockets of pure-blood ''ind�genas'' (as the native peoples are now known) have survived to the present day. With ''mestizos'' numbering some 60% of the modern population, estimates for the numbers of unmixed Native Americans vary from a very modest 10% to a more liberal (and probably more accurate) 30% of the population. The reason for this discrepancy may be the Mexican government's policy of using linguistic, rather than racial, criteria as the basis of classification. In the states of Chiapas and Oaxaca and in the interior of the Yucat�n peninsula the majority of the population is indigenous. Large indigenous minorities, including Aztecs, Tarascan, and Mixtecs are also present in the central regions of Mexico. In Northern Mexico indigenous people are a small minority: they are practically absent from the northeast but, in the northwest and central borderlands, include the Tarahumara of Chihuahua (state) and the Yaquis and Seri (people) of Sonora. While Mexicans are universally proud of their indigenous ''heritage'' (generally more so than of their Spanish roots), ''modern-day'' indigenous Mexicans are still the target of discrimination and outright racism. In particular, in areas such as Chiapas — most famously, but also in Oaxaca (state), Puebla (state), Guerrero, and other remote mountainous parts — indigenous communities have been left on the margins of national development for the past 500 years. Indigenous customs and uses enjoy no official status. The Huichols of the states of Jalisco, Nayarit, Zacatecas, and Durango are impeded by police forces in their ritual pilgrimages, and their religious observances are interfered with. ==Native Americans in Belize== Mestizos (European with Native American) number about 45% of the population; unmixed Maya people make up another 10%. ==Native Americans in Guatemala== The Native Americans of Guatemala are of Maya people stock. Pure Mayans account for some 45% of the population; although around 40% of the population speaks an indigenous language, those tongues (of which there are more than 20) enjoy no official status. In 1951 Jacobo Arbenz was elected with popular support due to his land reform policies. "Foreign capital will always be welcome as long as it adjusts to local conditions, remains always subordinate to Guatemalan laws, cooperates with the economic development of the country, and strictly abstains from intervening in the nation's social and political life." — Arbenz, in his inaugural address. American corporations didn't like what they heard and by 1954 the CIA was involved in the overthrow of Arbenz and the installation of General Castillo Armas. A long line of dictators followed him as did genocidal policies again the indigenous population to suppress revolutionary movements. ==Native Americans in other parts of the Americas== Native Americans make up the majority of the population in Bolivia and Peru, and are a significant element in most other former Spain colonies. Exceptions to this include Costa Rica, Cuba, Argentina, Dominican Republic, and Uruguay. At least three of the Amerindian languages (Quechua in Peru and Bolivia, Aymara language also in Bolivia, and Guarani in Paraguay) are recognized along with Spanish language as national languages. ==Cultural aspects== Though cultural features, including language, garb, and customs vary enormously from one tribe to another, there are certain elements which are encountered frequently and shared by many tribes. ===Religion=== The most widespread religion at the present time is known as the Native American Church. It is a syncretistic church incorporating elements of native spiritual practice from a number of different tribes as well as symbolic elements from Christianity. Its main rite is the peyote ceremony. The church has had significant success in combatting many of the ills brought by colonization, such as alcoholism and crime. In the American Southwest, especially New Mexico, a syncretism between the Catholicism brought by Spanish missionaries and the native religion is common; the religious drums, chants, and dances of the Pueblo people are regularly part of Mass (liturgy)es at Santa Fe, New Mexico's Saint Francis Cathedral. ===Gender=== As in many indigenous cultures around the world, homosexual and transgender individuals (and animals) are considered routine and expected. Many Native American tribes formally recognize these homosexual and transgendered individuals in the role of the "two-spirit" person (previously labeled by Europeans as "berdache", a term now considered obsolete). Two-spirit transvestite and homosexual roles are known to have been recognized and honored, at the present time or historically, in more than 150 different tribes. The two-spirit is a man or woman who mixes gender roles by wearing clothes of the opposite or both sexes, doing both male and female (or primarily "opposite-gender") work, and often engaging in same-sex relations with other members of the tribe. Two-spirit people often are Shamanism, performing religious and/or mediating functions. Their special status is thought to invest them with exceptional spiritual power, as a result of which they are both feared and respected. ===Music and art=== [[Image:Mystic River Singers 1024.jpg|thumb|Mystic River Singers performing at a powwow in 1998]] Native American music is almost entirely Texture (music), but there are notable exceptions. Traditional Native American music often includes drumming but little other instrumentation, although flutes are played by individuals. The tuning of these flutes is not precise and depends on the length of the wood used and the hand span of the intended player, but the finger holes are most often around a whole step apart and, at least in Northern California, a flute was not used if it turned out to have an interval close to a half step. Performers with Native American parentage have occasionally appeared in American popular music, most notably Shania Twain (ethnically European, but raised by a First Nations of Canada adoptive father), Robbie Robertson, Rita Coolidge, Wayne Newton, and Redbone (band). Some, such as John Trudell have used music to comment on life in Native America, and others, such as R. Carlos Nakai integrate traditional sounds with modern sounds in instrumental recordings. A variety of small and medium-sized recording companies offer an abundance of recent music by Native American performers young and old, ranging from Pow-wow drum music to hard-driving rock-and-roll. The most widely practiced public musical form among Native Americans in the United States is that of the pow-wow. At Pow-wows, such as the annual Gathering of Nations in Albuquerque, New Mexico, New Mexico, members of drum groups sit in a circle around a large drum. Drum groups play in unison while they sing in a native language and dancers in colorful regalia dance clockwise around the drum groups in the center. Familiar pow-wow songs include honor songs, intertribal songs, crow-hops, sneak-up songs, grass-dances, two-steps, welcome songs, going-home songs, and war songs. Most indigenous communities in the United States also maintain traditional songs and ceremonies, some of which are shared and practiced exclusively within the community. For further information, see ''A Cry from the Earth: Music of North American Indians'' by John Bierhorst (ISBN 094127053X). Native American art comprises a major category in the world art collection. Native American contributions include pottery, paintings, jewelry, weavings, sculptures, basketry, and carvings. Artists have at times misrepresented themselves as having native parentage, most notably Johnny Cash, who traced his heritage to Scotland ancestors and admitted he fabricated a story that he was one-quarter Cherokee. The integrity of certain Native American artworks is now protected by an act of Congress that prohibits representation of art as Native American when it is not the product of an enrolled Native American artist. The Cradle board is used by mothers to carry their baby whilst working or traveling. See: Blackfoot music == What name? == Generally, ethnic groups desire that others use the name they give themselves. This preference has gained importance recently as a means of avoiding ethnic discrimination. The principle applies poorly to larger, multi-ethnic groups since different sub-groups often have incompatible preferences. English language, like other natural languages, has traditionally ignored this principle, exerting its privilege to invent its own ethnic terms, such as ''German'', ''Dutch'', and ''Albanian'', and disregarding the self-appellations and preferences of the subjects. Not surprisingly, English names for the pre-Columbian Americans are largely assigned by tradition, and are not always accepted by the peoples themselves. The terms ''Indian'' or ''American Indian'' were born of the misconception by Christopher Columbus that the Caribbean islands were the islands in Southeast Asia known to Europeans as the East Indies. Despite Columbus's mistake, the name stuck, and for centuries the native people of the Americas were collectively called ''Indians''. The term ''Native American'' was introduced in the United States by anthropologists who considered ''Indian'' inaccurate and possibly offensive. However, a 1996 survey revealed that more "natives" in the United States still prefer ''American Indian'' to ''Native American''. [http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762158.html] Despite the preferences of American Indians, American teachers and academics (excepting many historians, who generally use the historical term) have persuaded most "white people" Americans to use the term "Native Americans". Many Americans mistakenly believe ''Indians'' is offensive; Russell Means, the famous American Indian activist, is instead offended by the term ''Native Americans''. [http://www.peaknet.net/~aardvark/means.html] Some American Indians oppose the term ''Native American'' because, they argue, it serves to ease the conscience of "white America" with regard to past injustices done to American Indians by effectively eliminating "Indians" from the present. However, most American Indians in the United States are comfortable with ''Indian'', ''American Indian'', and ''Native American''. Among American Indians, the preferred method of referring to an American Indian person as such is to use the tribal designation if known. "Wes Studi, the American actor, is Cherokee" is thus probably preferable to "Wes Studi, the American actor, is an Indian." [http://www.allthingscherokee.com/atc_sub_culture_feat_events_070101.html] Some people argue that ''Native American'' is inappropriate because "native of" literally means "born in," so any person born in America is "native" to it. A more serious difficulty with this term is that several ethnic groups traditionally excluded from the ''American Indians'' were just as "native" to the Americas as them. These groups include the Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut peoples of the far north of the continent. ''Eskimos'' was once used for these groups, but this term is in disfavor because it is perceived by many of them as derogatory. In Canada the term First Nations of Canada is used to refer to Native Canadians, except for the Inuit and the M�tis. The Canadian Indian Act (Canada) however, which defines the rights of recognized First Nations, refers to them as ''Indians''. In Alaska, the term ''Alaskan Native'' predominates, because of its legal use in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANSCA) and because it includes the Eskimo peoples. In Latin America, the preferred expression is ''Indigenous Peoples'' (''pueblos ind�genas'' in Spanish language, ''povos ind�genas'' in Portuguese language). However, ''Indians'' (''indios'', ''�ndios'') is often used too, even by the natives themselves. ''Red Indian'' is a common British English term, useful in differentiating this group from a distinct group of people referred to as Indies, but considered offensive in North America, where it is rarely if ever used. In the French language, the term ''Am�rindien'' has been coined, and the English term ''Amerindian'' (sometimes abbreviated ''Amerind'') is sometimes used in the social sciences to refer collectively to all Native American peoples or cultures. Because the ancestors of the "Native" Americans are thought to have arrived from Asia, some people have proposed ''Asiatic Americans'' as being more historically accurate. This term is easily confused with ''Asian American'', and it is considered offensive by many natives whose religious belief is that they have been in the Americas since the dawn of time. Furthermore, there is a strong tradition in archaeological and anthropological nomenclature to name peoples after the geographical location where they were first documented, rather than for their hypothetical region of origin. ==Bibliography== * Adams, David Wallace. ''Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience 1875-1928'', [http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/ University Press of Kansas], 1975. ISBN 0-7006-0735-8 (hbk); ISBN 0-7006-0838-9 (pbk). * Bierhorst, John. ''A Cry from the Earth: Music of North American Indians''. ISBN 0-9412-7053-X. * Hirschfelder, Arlene B.; Byler, Mary G.; & Dorris, Michael. ''Guide to research on North American Indians''. American Library Association (1983). ISBN 0-8389-0353-3. * Nichols, Roger L. ''Indians in the United States & Canada, A Comparative History''. University of Nebraska Press (1998). ISBN 0-8032-8377-6. * Snipp, C.M. (1989). ''American Indians: The first of this land''. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. * Sturtevant, William C. (Ed.). (1978-present). ''Handbook of North American Indians'' (Vol. 1-20). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. (Vols. 1-3, 16, 18-20 not yet published). * Tiller, Veronica E. (Ed.). ''Discover Indian Reservations USA: A Visitors' Welcome Guide''. Foreword by Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Council Publications, Denver, Colorado (1992). ISBN 0-9632580-0-1. ==Related topics== *Ancient American cultures *Classification of Native Americans is a list of the tribes by cultural area *European colonization of the Americas - historical treatment *First Nations of Canada *Indian Campaign Medal *Indian Massacres *Indian Removal *Indian Territory *List of English words of Native American origin *List_of_Indian_reservations_in_the_United_States *List of Native Americans *List of Native American writers *List of Native American actors *List of Native American musicians *List of Native American artists *List of Native American politicians *National Museum of the American Indian *Native American Church *Native American fighting styles *Native American languages *Native American mythology *Native American pottery *The Indian Trade - historical treatment *Trails of tears *Two-Spirit *Residential school *Medicine wheel *Rainbow Warrior ==External links== * [http://www.nativetech.org/ NativeTech: Native American Technology and Art] * [http://www2.marianopolis.edu/quebechistory/encyclopedia/Indians.htm Indians of Canada and Quebec] (hundreds of pages) * [http://www.comanchelodge.com Comanche Lodge - American Indian History And Genealogy] * [http://soda.sou.edu/tribal.html Southern Oregon Digital Archives First Nations Tribal Collection] (beautiful collection of ethnographic, linguistic, & historical material) * [http://www.kstrom.net/isk/maps/cultmap.html North American Pre-Contact Culture Areas] * [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/ienhtml/tribes.html Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian: Photographic Images (by culture area)] * [http://www.csulb.edu/projects/ais/ American Indian History and Related Issues] * [http://www.csulb.edu/projects/ais/nae/ American Historical Images On File: The Native American Experience] * [http://www.dickshovel.com/trbindex.html List of North American Tribes] * [http://www.indianlife.org/reserves/ Canadian reserves] * [http://www.ericdigests.org/1997-2/antibias.htm Countering Prejudice against American Indians and Alaska Natives] * [http://www.androphile.org/preview/Culture/NativeAmerica/ The Two-Spirit Tradition], an essay on shamanism and male love in Native American religion. * [http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/analytic/companion/abor/canada.cfm/ statcan.ca (Aboriginal peoples of Canada: A demographic profile)] *[http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/IndianPlaceNames.html American Indian Place Names], incl. Bibliography * [http://www.ericdigests.org/1992-2/natives.htm Using Literature by American Indians and Alaska Natives in Secondary Schools] * [http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na_000107_entries.htm Houghton Mifflin Encyclopedia of North American Indians] * [http://www.uctp.org/ United Confederation of Taino People] - Information on contemporary Caribbean Indigenous Peoples. * [http://www.ericdigests.org/1996-4/native.htm Teaching Young Children about Native Americans] * [http://www.moncton.net/info/infoCat.aspx?id=15 Aboriginal Affairs and Life of Native People in Moncton] * [http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0030193 A Population Genetic Portrait of the Peopling of the Americas] by Jody Hey * Map of languages in the US - William C. Sturtevant. (1967). ''Early Indian tribes, culture areas, and linguistic stocks''.: (caution: Material is out-of-date) ** [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states/early_indian_alaska.jpg Alaska & Hawai‘i] ** [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states/early_indian_west.jpg Western US] ** [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states/early_indian_east.jpg Eastern US] Native American Native American history Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica U.S. ethnic groups North American history Indigenous peoples of the Americas History of Canada simple:Native American

Native American

Please add new talk threads at the bottom of this page. Because of their length, the previous discussions on this page have been archived. If further archiving is needed, see Wikipedia:How to archive a talk page. :Previous discussions: *Talk:Native American/Archive01: :1 Rename? || 2 Aboriginal American? || 3 Tribes and states || 4 North American bias || 5 Cultural characteristics || 6 North and South America - bogus distinction? || 7 Removed material || 7.1 What is the best name for this group of people? || 8 Keeping spirits up || 9 Focus again, and languages || 10 "Native American" outside US and Canada || 11 Classification by regions || 12 Native Americans in Latin American coutries || 13 Removed tribes || 14 USA focus again || 15 Athabascan migration || 16 Treatment of offensive terms || 17 Disambiguation || 18 Resourses, external links || 19 M�tis || 20 Disambiguation style || 21 moved classification || 22 "Native American" and internal migrations || 23 comments and POV moved from article || 24 this passage seems a little strong || 25 Structure || 26 Indian Boarding Schools || 27 Genocide || 28 International translations || 29 Subgroups needed || 30 Some edits || 31 templates || 32 Bering Straight Land Bridge Theory ---- __TOC__ ==Map== We could really use a map of the pre-Columbian locations of the different peoples. Especially one that covers the whole continent (or both Americas). I'm having trouble finding this information. --User:Tydaj 17:55, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC) :The first problem would be how to fit 500 or 1000 peoples on one map and make it still readable. It would be too detailed for a small image on the page. The second problem is that a lot of the bands were not settled but moved in response to climate, war, or disasters -even before Columbus. In many cases we don't know where they lived before Columbus - in some places we can find pre-Columbian remains but have only the slightest idea what Indian cluture they belong to, much less what tribe. To make a simpler map, you would have to pick a limited number of tribes or tribal groups or "cultures" to map. User:Rmhermen 20:29, Apr 1, 2005 (UTC) ::i have created a map of American languages north of Mexico for wikipedia, available on the Native American languages page (or http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Langs_N.Amer.png). it is of language families, so not entirely what you want, but better than the emptiness that was before. still it is lacking in precise detail since extreme precision was not my intention. it is, of course, a work in progress & comments are very welcome. for a very good map of North America see Goddard (1996) or better yet Goddard (1999). ::i slightly disagree that a super-big map with 1000 peoples would be a bad idea. it probably cant be very printable, but viewing on a computer would be ok—one could resize to get a big picture view or a close-up view with small details. but, the point mentioned above is very important: it is best to look at many differents maps and to read a lot to get a better understanding a given people's geographic distribution (current and historical). peace — User:Ish_ishwar User_talk:Ish_ishwar 08:26, 2005 May 23 (UTC) ==Early History== I have removed these sections: *According to Mormon doctrine, Native Americans are descendants of Lehi (Book of Mormon) and the Lamanites, Israelites who came to the Americas ''c.'' 590 BC. As Mormon doctrine holds, Lehi's children split into two warring groups after arriving in the New World -- the kind-hearted, white-skinned Nephites and the marauding, brown-skinned Lamanites. These people originally had white skin like the Nephites but, according to Mormon doctrine, due to their warring nature they were cursed by God to have dark skin. "They turned away and became so wicked that God cursed them with this dark and benighted and loathsome condition." (Brigham Young, ''Discourses of Brigham Young''. Compiled by John A. Widtsoe. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1978.) The Lamanites, Mormons believe, ultimately exterminated the Nephites in the 5th century A.D., and their offspring are among the people the rest of the world commonly refers to today as American Indians. It is Mormon belief that the American Indians who first met Europeans treated them like gods because they had knowledge of their fair-skinned roots and had a prophecy that Jesus (who also had fair skin) would one day return to their land. There are extensive studies (archeological, linguistic, etc.) being performed at Brigham Young University that aim to prove these beliefs. Let's wait until they (the extensive studies at Brigham Young University) have been published before we include this paragraph. *In the 19th century and early 20th century, proponents of the existence of lost continents such as Atlantis, Mu (lost continent), and Lemuria (continent) used these to explain how humans could have reached the Americas. Although proposing an equally plausible theory as the Mormom version, again may I recommend that we at least cite a reference before we include this paragraph. : I have restored these appropriate sections. Please note that the native Americans own beliefs have not been subjected to verification studies conducted by themselves. But that doesn't mean that they or the Mormons don't believe in their respective beliefs. For the second paragraph please add a reference if you think it needs one, don't just remove content. User:Rmhermen 14:28, Apr 5, 2005 (UTC) :: I'm the one who expanded the section. I'm part Cherokee myself, and I am insulted by the whole idea of being "cursed" to be dark. Part of the reason I wanted it to be there is so that people can hopefully come to their own conclusion that the whole theory is silly - which isn't very proper of me, I know. User:UtmostCathode 18:46, Apr 5, 2005 (UTC) The whole paragraph about the Mormons is an extreme oversimplification of Mormon beliefs. It almost seems as if it was deliberately phrased in this way to make Mormons look racist. One only need speak to any of the literally millions of Mormons of indigenous American ancestry in the world, or any Mormon of any ancestry who is educated on the subject for that matter, to understand that this paragraph does not accurately represent modern thinking among the Mormons. : I understand why you would think that. However, I actually had an LDS colleague of mine review what I wrote before I submitted it. And it should be known that he is a pretty deep believer. Fyi, he maintains that it was only a curse back then because humans were more racist then and that would be the appropriate punishment/curse at the time - and that God would never curse one in that way in the present day. User:UtmostCathode 10:28, Apr 7, 2005 (UTC) Consulting one LDS colleague is probably not enough to make a statement like "according to Mormon Doctrine". As in any religion, there are differing opinions among its adherents. Perhaps an appropriate method would be to quote an official church statement of the LDS church regarding its doctrines about the indigenous american peoples if you are going to use the phrase - "according to Mornmon Doctrine". (Rather than quoting a snippet of a non-canonized Brigham Young statement from over 100 years ago, which never even mentions skin color, by the way). Also, using the phrases like "the kind-hearted, white-skinned Nephites and the marauding, brown-skinned Lamanites" is a distortion of the Book of Mormon and is quite obviuosly put in there to inflame the reader. (In reality the book of mormon is a complex religious history of several peoples over hundreds of years; there were various instances where Lamanites were the kind hearted ones, and the Nephites were marauders.) Also, regarding the curse, many Mormons maintain that the skin color itself was not a curse - simply a mark to distinguish between and separate two peoples - this is in fact what I was taught in the LDS church growing up in the 80's (Though admittedly, this has not always been the prevailing opinion among the LDS). Again though, if you are going to say "the Mormons believe.." or "LDS Doctrine says..." etc... you should probably quote something official and current. At any rate, for the purposes of this article, the paragraph could probably be trimmed down to simply state that the Mormons believe that ancient Isralites migrated to America and that indigenous americans are descended from these people. (Incidentally, The Book of Mormon never mentions that they were the FIRST ones or the ONLY ones to inhabit the continent, or that ALL indigenous peoples are descended from Book of Mormon peoples - a common misconception even among Mormons) People reading this article are here to read about Native Americans, so anyone who wants to know details about the Mormon Church or The Book of Mormon can obviously click on the links, so I would suggest that perhaps you leave it at a simple relevant statement and leave out your opinions about "silly" doctrines. : I agree with your encyclopedic points - but we could debate religion and interpretations of Mormonism all day long. I think it may expand too much for this article, so I'm going to shorten it to basically what it was before I editted it. However, my interpretation of the religion remains the same - Mormonism's foundation has racist elements. I'm sure you see it differently. :: I hope no one minds that I combined the two sequential and identically titled "Early History" sections that seem to be one continuous thread. I am a Mormon, and I think the accusations of racism are fair. Certainly the people described in the book of mormon had racist ideas, and many Mormons (including leaders and scholars) today and in the last two centuries held racist ideas. I would rather see the deleted paragraph restored in it's current form than removed entirely. I do have suggestions for the deleted section: :: The first sentence should read "some Native Americans." Mormons do not believe that all native americans are descended from Lehi. The rest of the paragraph reflects this, and a small change to the first sentence would make it consistent. :: The [Book of Mormon] does not describe the Nephites as "kind-hearted." Using that phrase not only exaggerates the the racism in the Book of Mormon to cartoonish proportions, it contradicts the text entirely, which often describes the Nephites as being proud and ''hard-hearted''. The terms "righteous" or "civilized" in contrast to "maurading" would acurately reflect the books description of the two races. :: Finally, the phrase "according to Mormon doctrine" is repeated. One of these could be changed to "according to the Book of Mormon" or "according to Mormon scripture." and link to the Book of Mormon. This would make the paragraph more interesting and useful. There are even some people who believe in the validity of the Book of Mormon without accepting any other aspect of Mormon doctrine. :: As a side note, I noticed one of the replies capitalized both words in the phrase "Mormon Doctrine." ''Mormon Doctrine'' is the title of an extremely controversial book by late Mormon Apostle Bruce R. McConkie. This is one reason I think you should avoid repeating the phrase "Mormon doctrine." Some very interesting information is coming out about this because the notes of the personal secretary of the mormon prophet at the time (David O. McKay) have been donated to the University of Utah. :: Regardless of whatever interesting research comes out of BYU or the U of U, the basic Mormon beliefs and scriptures aren't likely to change, any more than the native american stories about their own origins have changed, and the racist aspects are what they are, no matter how carefully you try to word it. (I think racism is disgusting, I'm just saying we shouldn't try to erase it from history.) Is there any reason not to restore the deleted paragraph with a little modification such as my suggestions? ::--User:SerpLord 17:31, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC) This might be useful for this page. http://www.sidis.net/TSContents.htm ==Ancient American cultures== Another article: Ancient American cultures, has been started. It tries to deal with those Native American cultures that are not existant anymore. Currently a disambiguation page. --User:Eleassar777 10:14, 7 May 2005 (UTC) :Don't forget about the History of the Americas article which covers some of this material. User:Rmhermen 14:14, May 7, 2005 (UTC) ==religion?== one of my goals is to make a list of and memorize the names of ALL native american indian tribes. definitely including those from mexico, central america, south america, and the west indies. another thing i'm curious about: has every indian tribe had it's own tribal religion, at least historically? User:Gringo300 07:39, 19 May 2005 (UTC) :See Classification of Native Americans for a list of many of the hundreds of tribes. Many of the tribes were closely related and had closely related religions as well certain themes and characters re-occur in wide regions among many groups. User:Rmhermen 17:39, May 22, 2005 (UTC) ==Former Usage of 'Native'== Was the usage of the phrase 'Native American' different prior to it replacing 'Indians'? Did it used to mean any American born in the country, regardless of whether or not they're ancestors were immigrants? :The term you are looking for is nativist. User:Rmhermen 17:33, May 22, 2005 (UTC) ==In the Second Paragraph== Please excuse me, gentlemen, but should not the sentence "Although all Amerindians are Native Americans, not all Native Americans are Amerindians," instead be "Although all Native Americans are Amerindians, not all Amerindians are Native Americans?" User:Anglius :I don't think so. Inuit (and perhaps some other peoples) can be considered Native Americans, but they are not generally considered to be Amerindians. 21:01, Jun 5, 2005 (UTC) :I thank you for your interesting reply, sir. User:Anglius ::Non-Amerind peoples are (1) Eskimo-Aleut peoples (= Aleut, Eskimo, Yupik, Inuit) and (2) Na-Dene (=Haida, Tlingit, Eyak, & the many Athabaskan peoples). Everyone else from Canada to the tip of South America are Amerind. You could also exclude peoples that are from European and indigeous lineage, such as the M�tis. Amerind is a hypothetical linguistic grouping proposed by Joseph Greenberg (which is not accepted by most specialists), but this proposal of only 3 language groups (i.e. Eskimo, Nadene, Amerind) has its beginnings in early thinkers. I dont know about archaeologists or physical anthropologists' usage of this term (except that unfortunately they sometimes assume that Greenberg was right & use his 3-way grouping in their experiment models). peace — User:Ish_ishwar User_talk:Ish_ishwar 08:26, 2005 Jun 6 (UTC) :I thank you for your explanation, Mr. Ishwar. --User:Anglius 01:58, 7 Jun 2005 (UTC) == usage of "Native American" == I noticed that my attempts to clarify why "Native American" was first used where reverted, I'd just like to explain why I changed it back... What I meant by erasing the references to political correctness and emphasising the innacuratness of the term "Indian" was that the introduction of the term "Native American" was not primarily an attempt at political correctness but was infact driven by the need for academics and scientists to be precise in what they say. In most of the world the word "Indian" refers not to the aboriginal peoples of the Americas but to the nation of India in South Asia, and it makes sense to coin a new term such as "Native American", or possibly "Amerind", to allow these groups to be distinguished. Although, yes, I understand that the term Native American can be seen as an attempt to whitewash the history of the colonization of the New World, I think it should be made clear that this was not the intention of the people who first devised it. --User:81.135.155.55 12:19, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC) I've been told by an expert in greek which is likewise proficient in latin that "indian" would indeed come from a word meaning "from this place"/"from here"... Check that please. : the general consensus is that "India" and "Indian", as well as the related word "Hindu", is ultimately derived from the Sanskrit name for the Indus River, "Sindhu", and passed through both Persian and Greek before it came to Latin, where it eventually came to describe the whole sub-continent rather than simply the area around the Indus river. As such the word has no relation to the Old Latin "indu"/ Old Greek "endo-" meaning "within" (which forms the first half of the English "indigenous", which is what I think you may be referring to), although its certainly a nice idea. --User:81.135.155.55 01:05, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC) ==Connection to Chinese== I read an article which claimed Native Americans and Chinese are genetically related. It used an interesting example amongst others. It stated that both Chinese and Native American new born babies have green birthmarks on their buttucks and such trait is not found in Caucasian or Afrian babies. I am kind of curious of the validity of such claim. I can only confirmed that ALL the limited Chinese baby butts that I have seen have green birth marks. I remember hearing a story from a Chinese American parent who got into trouble when his kid's pre-school teacher noticed the green mark on the kid's butt. She thought the birth mark was a bruised mark and called social work suspecting child abuse. That is one indication that green butts are unknown outside of Chinese culture. I would like to do an informal survey with the wikipedian parents here. Are green butts really unique in Chinese and Native American babies? I'd need positive answers from Chinese and Native American people and negative answers from others. Any counter example will disprove this claim. User:67.117.82.2 22:36, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC) ::This is an example of wonderfully racist and narrow-minded mind. What is the point? Humor? It isn't funny. Howe about an attempt to make a point?? Well, it doesn't work on that level either. It is merely moronic.-----User:Keetoowah 15:34, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC) What you are talking about is usually called a "Mongolian spot". It occures in East Asians, American Indians, and Blacks far more frequently than in white infants. Mongolian Spot Synonyms and related keywords: congenital dermal melanocytosis Author: Abdul-Ghani Kibbi, MD, Chairman, Professor, Department of Dermatology, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Lebanon Background: Mongolian spot refers to a macular blue-gray pigmentation usually on the sacral area of normal infants. It is present at birth and typically disappears spontaneously within 4 years. Pathophysiology: The Mongolian spot is a congenital, developmental condition exclusively involving the skin. It results from entrapment of melanocytes in the dermis during their migration from the neural crest into the epidermis. Frequency: Internationally: The prevalence of Mongolian spots varies among different ethnic groups. This condition is most common among Asians. It also has been reported in 80% of East African children, in 46% of Hispanic children, and in 1-9% of Caucasian children. Mortality/Morbidity: No associated mortality or morbidity exists. Race: Mongolian spots are observed in more than 90% of infants of the Mongoloid race (ie, East Asians, Indonesians, Polynesians, Micronesians, Amerindians, Eskimos). Sex: No sex predilection exists. Age: Usually, Mongolian spot is present at birth. :: i dont have any comment on this really, but here is the relevant article here: Mongolian spot. peace – User:Ish_ishwar User_talk:Ish_ishwar 04:50, 2005 Jun 23 (UTC)

Native American

See Classification of Native Americans for a list of the tribes. Indigenous peoples of the United States

Native american

#REDIRECT Native American

See other meanings of words starting from letter:

N