OPPapers.com

American History

1.Native Americans in the United States

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A. Native Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as intact political communities. The term is offensive to many including American Indian Movement activist Russell Means.[3] According to Means, "At an international conference of Indians from the Americas held in Geneva, Switzerland at the United Nations in 1977 we unanimously decided we would go under the term American Indian." Others that defend use of the term "Native American" dismiss the UN convention and claim "no consensus has been reached among indigenous members as to what they collectively prefer to be called." Native Americans have also been known as Indians, American Indians, Aboriginal Americans, Amerindians, Amerinds, Colored, First Americans, Indigenous, Original Americans, Red Indians, or Red Men.
European colonization of the Americas led to centuries of conflict and adjustment between Old and New World societies. Most of the written historical record about Native Americans was made by Europeans after initial contact. Native Americans lived in hunter/farmer subsistence societies with significantly different value systems than those of the European colonists. The differences in culture between the Native Americans and Europeans, and the shifting alliances among different nations of each culture, led to great misunderstandings and long lasting cultural conflicts.
Estimates of the pre-Columbian population of what today constitutes the United States of America vary significantly, ranging from 1 million to 18 million.
After the colonies revolted against Great Britain and established the United States of America, the ideology of Manifest destiny became integral...