Native Americans,sometimes called American Indians,First Americans,or Indigenous Americans,are the Indigenous peoples of the land that the United States of America is located on. At its core,it includes peoples indigenous to the lower 48 states plus Alaska;it may additionally include any Americans whose origins lie in any of the Indigenous peoples of North or South America. The United States Census Bureau publishes data about "American Indians and Alaska Natives",which it defines as anyone "having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment." The census does not,however,enumerate "Native Americans" as such,noting that the latter term can encompass a broader set of groups,e.g. Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islander Americans,which it tabulates separately.
The one-drop rule was a legal principle of racial classification that was prominent in the 20th-century United States. It asserted that any person with even one ancestor of black ancestry is considered black. It is an example of hypodescent,the automatic assignment of children of a mixed union between different socioeconomic or ethnic groups to the group with the lower status,regardless of proportion of ancestry in different groups.
Genetic genealogy is the use of genealogical DNA tests,i.e.,DNA profiling and DNA testing,in combination with traditional genealogical methods,to infer genetic relationships between individuals. This application of genetics came to be used by family historians in the 21st century,as DNA tests became affordable. The tests have been promoted by amateur groups,such as surname study groups or regional genealogical groups,as well as research projects such as the Genographic Project.
Blood quantum laws or Indian blood laws are laws in the United States that define Native American status by fractions of Native American ancestry. These laws were enacted by the federal government and state governments as a way to establish legally defined racial population groups. By contrast,many tribes do not include blood quantum as part of their own enrollment criteria. Blood quantum laws were first imposed by white settlers in the 18th century. Blood Quantum (BQ) continues to be a controversial topic.
The Bnei Menashe is a community of Indian Jews from various Tibeto-Burmese ethnic groups from the border of India and Burma who claim descent from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel,allegedly based on the Hmar belief in an ancestor named Manmasi. Some of them have adopted Judaism. The community has around 10,000 members.
The Genographic Project,launched on 13 April 2005 by the National Geographic Society and IBM,was a genetic anthropological study that aimed to map historical human migrations patterns by collecting and analyzing DNA samples. The final phase of the project was Geno 2.0 Next Generation. Upon retirement of the site,1,006,542 participants in over 140 countries had joined the project.
Black Indians are Native American people –defined as Native American due to being affiliated with Native American communities and being culturally Native American –who also have significant African American heritage.
Joseph Boyden is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. He is best known for writing about First Nations culture. Three Day Road,a novel about two Cree soldiers serving in the Canadian military during World War I,was inspired by Ojibwa Francis Pegahmagabow,the legendary First World War sniper. Joseph Boyden's second novel,Through Black Spruce,follows the story of Will,son of one of the characters in Three Day Road. The third novel in the Bird family trilogy was published in 2013 as The Orenda.
Indigenous decolonization describes ongoing theoretical and political processes whose goal is to contest and reframe narratives about indigenous community histories and the effects of colonial expansion,cultural assimilation,exploitative Western research,and often though not inherent,genocide. Indigenous people engaged in decolonization work adopt a critical stance towards western-centric research practices and discourse and seek to reposition knowledge within Indigenous cultural practices.
The Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation,formerly Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe/Dakota Nation,is a federally recognized tribe comprising two bands and two subdivisions of the Isanti or Santee Dakota people. They are on the Lake Traverse Reservation in northeast South Dakota.
Native American identity in the United States is a community identity,determined by the tribal nation the individual or group belongs to. While it is common for non-Natives to consider it a racial or ethnic identity,for Native Americans in the United States it is considered to be a political identity,based on citizenship and immediate family relationships. As culture can vary widely between the 574 extant federally recognized tribes in the United States,the idea of a single unified "Native American" racial identity is a European construct that does not have an equivalent in tribal thought.
Andrea Lee Smith is an American academic,feminist,and activist. Smith's work has primarily focused on issues of violence against women of color and their communities,specifically Native American women. Formerly an assistant professor of American Culture and Women's Studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor,Michigan,she is also a co-founder of INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence,the Boarding School Healing Project,and the Chicago chapter of Women of All Red Nations.
The genetic history of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas is divided into two distinct periods:the initial peopling of the Americas from about 20,000 to 14,000 years ago,and European contact,after about 500 years ago. The first period of the genetic history of Indigenous Americans is the determinant factor for the number of genetic lineages,zygosity mutations,and founding haplotypes present in today's Indigenous American populations.
In Brazil,a sarará is a multiracial person,being a particular kind of mulato or juçara,with perceivable Black African facial features,light complexion and fair but curly hair,called cabelo crespo,or fair but Afro-like frizzly hair,called carapinha,cabelo encarapinhado or cabelo pixaim. In the 1998 IBGE PME,0.04% of respondents identified,in an inquiry on race/colour,as "sarará".
Native American feminism or Native feminism is,at its root,understanding how gender plays an important role in indigenous communities both historically and in modern-day. As well,Native American feminism deconstructs the racial and broader stereotypes of indigenous peoples,gender,sexuality,while also focusing on decolonization and breaking down the patriarchy and pro-capitalist ideology. As a branch of the broader Indigenous feminism,it similarly prioritizes decolonization,indigenous sovereignty,and the empowerment of indigenous women and girls in the context of Native American and First Nations cultural values and priorities,rather than white,mainstream ones. A central and urgent issue for Native feminists is the Missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis.
Bonita Lawrence is a Canadian writer,scholar,and professor in the Department of Equity Studies at York University in Toronto,Canada. Her work focuses on issues related to Indigenous identity and governance,equity,and racism in Canada. She is also a traditional singer at political rallies,social events,and prisons in the Toronto and Kingston areas.
Cherokee descent,"being of Cherokee descent",or "being a Cherokee descendant" are all terms for individuals with some degree of documented Cherokee ancestry but do not meet the criteria for tribal citizenship. The terms are also used by non-Native individuals who self-identify as Cherokee despite lacking documentation or community recognition.
Dr. Krystal Tsosie (Diné) is a Navajo geneticist and bioethicist at Arizona State University and activist for Indigenous data sovereignty. She is also an educator and an expert on genetic and social identities. Her advocacy and academic work in ameliorating disparities in genetics through community-based participatory research has been covered by various national news sources,including The New York Times,Nova,The Washington Post,NPR,The Atlantic,Forbes, and The Boston Globe.
Detribalization is the process by which persons who belong to a particular indigenous ethnic identity or community are detached from that identity or community through the deliberate efforts of colonizers and/or the larger effects of colonialism.
Pretendian is a pejorative colloquialism describing a person who has falsely claimed Indigenous identity by professing to be a citizen of a Native American or Indigenous Canadian tribal nation,or to be descended from Native American or Indigenous Canadian ancestors. As a practice,being a pretendian is considered an extreme form of cultural appropriation,especially if that individual then asserts that they can represent,and speak for,communities from which they do not originate.
