Native American (term)
The term "Native American" is generally used to describe the diverse peoples of North America whose cultures predate European colonization. It was created to provide a collective identity that avoids the negative connotations associated with terms like "American Indian." However, the term is not without its complexities; for instance, it could technically include anyone born in the Americas, regardless of ethnicity. Since the 1970s, some activist groups and individuals have moved away from this term, favoring more specific identifiers that reflect the unique heritage and political status of different tribes. Despite this shift, "Native American" remains widely used, although preferences vary among individuals and communities. Many people highlight the importance of using names that each group prefers, emphasizing the rich diversity of Indigenous cultures across the continent. This underscores the ongoing dialogue about identity, representation, and respect for the distinctiveness of various Native nations.
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Native American (term)
The term “Native American” is commonly used to refer to the many peoples of North America whose cultures existed on the continent when Europeans first arrived. It does not eliminate the possibility of their foreign origin in an earlier era. The term was coined as a collective name for the native peoples of the Americas that would not carry the obvious falseness and the historically racist overtones of such terms as “American Indian” and “Indian.” Yet, as is the case with virtually any collective term suggested, there are problems inherent in the term; for example, literally speaking, anyone of any ethnicity born in the Americas could be considered a “native American.”
Beginning in the 1970s, the term Native American lost favor among activist groups and many others concerned with American Indian politics. Nevertheless, the term is still widely used, and some prefer it to American Indian (although by the 1990s, the latter had become more common). Some American Indians find the offensiveness of all such collective terms to be about the same. All are generalizations that deny the unique, tribal-specific cultural heritage and political legacy of the many discrete nations and bands (“tribes”) that inhabited the Americas. It is therefore preferable to refer to native peoples by the terminology each group prefers when possible.
Bibliography
Gaffney, Dennis. "'American Indian' or 'Native American'?" Antiques Roadshow. PBS, 24 Apr. 2006. Web. 14 May 2015.
"The Impact of Words and Tips for Using Appropriate Terminology: Am I Using the Right Word?" National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian, americanindian.si.edu/nk360/informational/impact-words-tips. Accessed 11 July 2022.
Walbert, Kathryn. "American Indian vs. Native American: A Note on Terminology." Learn NC. U of North Carolina, 2009. Web. 14 May 2015.
Weaver, Hilary N., ed. Social Issues in Contemporary Native America: Reflections from Turtle Island. Burlington: Ashgate, 2014. Print.