Native American Facts
“American Indians,” “Native Americans,” and “First Nations people” are synonyms. They all refer to the same people. “Indigenous people” is a broader term that refers to any culture that lived in a place first. So Native Americans are all indigenous people, but not all indigenous people are Native Americans. For example, native African cultures are also indigenous.
Most indigenous people in the US use “American Indian,” and most indigenous people in Canada use “First Nations.” “Native Americans” or “indigenous Americans” are frequently used to refer to people in both countries. Some native people have a preference for one term or the other, but none of them are offensive. Most Native Americans identify themselves primarily by their tribe (such as Cherokee) anyway.
It’s better to avoid using “Red Indian,” for two reasons: first, this name originally referred to a specific tribe, the Beothuks, who painted their bodies and faces with red ochre. So it may cause confusion if you use it to refer to all Native Americans. Second, the term “Red Indians” has been used by racists in the United States, so using it may hurt somebody’s feelings or give them the wrong impression. Please do not call native people “savages,” “primitives” or “redskins.” Those are always rude words.
There are hundreds of indigenous American cultures, from California to Maine, from the Yukon to Argentina. These cultures can be as different from each other as Chinese culture is from French. If you want to learn about Native American culture, the best idea is to pick a specific Native American tribe to learn about. Then, if you are very interested, you can learn about a second tribe and compare their societies and traditions.
Native American tradition says that Indians were always here. Most of the scientific evidence suggests that Indian ancestors came from Asia in prehistoric times, either by foot over a land bridge or using ancient boats. This would have happened more than 20,000 years ago, and no human culture has good records of what it was doing 20,000 years ago, so perhaps we’re both right.
Most Native Americans still live in North America, in what are now Canada and the United States. Some Indians live in cities and towns with Americans and Canadians of other races, while others live on reservations or reserves–special villages and lands which are under Indian jurisdiction, and therefore have some different laws than the rest of the state or province. For example, on many Indian reservations, alcohol is illegal. On some gambling is legal. The Hopi reservation doesn’t follow Daylight Savings Time. Tax laws are different. Native Americans living on reservations/reserves are citizens of the United States or Canada, obeying federal laws, voting, and serving in the armed forces, but they are also subject to tribal laws and elect tribal leadership.
According to the census reports, there are about 2 million Native Americans in the United States and 1 million in Canada.