Title: Contemporary Native American issues in the United States - Wikipedia
Headings: Contemporary Native American issues in the United States
Contemporary Native American issues in the United States
Contents
Demographics
Terminology differences
Societal discrimination and racism
Affirmative action issues
Racial achievement gap regarding language
Native American mascots in sports
Environmental justice
Historical depictions in art
Gambling industry
Crime on reservations
Trauma
Historical trauma
Intergenerational trauma
Boarding school
Solutions
Education
History
Tribally controlled schools
Contemporary challenges
STEM education
Benefits
Concerns
Potential solutions
Public health
Alcohol use disorder
Consequences of alcohol use disorder
Unintentional injuries due to alcohol use disorder
Cancer
Diabetes
Major cardiovascular disease
Mental health
Suicide
Prevalence of suicide among Native Americans
Suicide prevention
Possible programs to improve native health disparities
Indian Health Service
Affordable Care Act
The Oregon Experiment
See also
References

Content: Most American Indians are comfortable with Indian, American Indian, and Native American, and the terms are often used interchangeably. They have also been known as Aboriginal Americans, Amerindians, Amerinds, Colored, First Americans, Native Indians, Indigenous, Original Americans, Red Indians, Redskins or Red Men . The term Native American was introduced in the United States by academics in preference to the older term Indian to distinguish the indigenous peoples of the Americas from the people of India. Some academics believe that the term Indian should be considered outdated or offensive while many indigenous Americans, however, prefer the term American Indian. Criticism of the neologism Native American comes from diverse sources. Some American Indians question 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. Others (both Indians and non-Indians) argue that Native American is problematic because "native of" literally means "born in," so any person born in the Americas could be considered "native". Others point out that anyone born in the United States is technically native to America, so "native" is sometimes substituted for "indigenous." The compound "Native American" is generally capitalized to differentiate the reference to the indigenous peoples. Furthermore, Russell Means, an American Indian activist, opposes the term Native American because he believes it was imposed by the government without the consent of American Indians.