Title: Native American vs American Indian: Understanding the Difference
Headings: Should You Use Native American or American Indian? That Depends on Who You Ask
Should You Use Native American or American Indian? That Depends on Who You Ask
Want to know what someone prefers to be called? Ask them.
The preference between using Native American or American Indian is personal.
Some people would rather be identified by their clan.
The U.S. Census uses the term American Indian.
Avoid the term "Indian," if you are non-Indigenous.

Content: When we have a grasp on these concepts, we are better relatives to one another and we act with compassion and love." The U.S. Census uses the term American Indian. The U.S. census has been combining "American Indian or Alaska Native" into one identity since 2000, making the precise number of Indigenous people living in the lower 48 states impossible to come by (the Census Bureau believes it undercounted the number living on reservations by 4.9 percent in 2010). In a joint decision by the Bureau and tribal groups it was decided that the 2020 Census would continue to allow people to self-identify their tribal affiliations as a write-in under the race section. Avoid the term "Indian," if you are non-Indigenous. Not least because it's confusing: while Merriam Webster still secondarily defines it as shorthand for American Indian, the term Indian is more commonly used to describe the people, food, and customs of India, the South Asian country. While the term "American Indian" has historically been used by both Native-run organizations and the U.S. government, "Indian" evokes a dark history of negative stereotypes. "We've been called 'Indians' and 'injun' to degrade us to a position of inferiority, and that's what we're reminded of when non-Natives call us Indian," says Young, adding that the term has been reclaimed within Native communities. Some Natives have also come to use the term "Indian Country" to describe the tribal Nations in collective;