Title: Who Are the Native Americans?
Headings: Who Are the Native Americans?
Who Are the Native Americans?
The Definition of Indigenous
Federal Recognition
Tribal Membership
Indigenous Hawaiians

Content: Exhibit distinct social, economic or political systems. Have a distinct language, culture, and beliefs. Form non-dominant groups of society. Resolve to maintain and reproduce their ancestral environments and systems as distinctive peoples and communities. The term "Indigenous" is often referred to in an international and political sense, but more and more people who self-identify as Native American are adopting the term to describe their "native-ness," sometimes called their "indigeneity." While the United Nations recognizes self-identity as one marker of indigeneity, in the United States this alone is not enough to be considered Native American for official political recognition. Federal Recognition
When the first European settlers came to the shores of what local tribes called "Turtle Island" there were thousands of communities and bands of Indigenous peoples. Their numbers were dramatically reduced due to foreign diseases, wars and other policies of the United States government; many of them that remained formed official relationships with the U.S. through treaties and other mechanisms. Others continued to exist, but the U.S. refused to recognize them.