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Native Americans in the United States

Indigenous peoples of the United States

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The European colonization of the Americas from 1492 resulted in a precipitous decline in the size of the Native American population because of wars, ethnic cleansing, enslavement, and newly introduced diseases, including weaponized diseases and biological warfare by colonizers. Numerous scholars have classified elements of the colonization process as comprising genocide against Native Americans. As part of a policy of settler colonialism, European settlers continued to wage war and perpetrated massacres against Native American peoples, removed them from their ancestral lands, and subjected them to one-sided government treaties and discriminatory government policies. Into the 20th century, these policies focused on forced assimilation.

When the United States was established, Native American tribes were considered semi-independent nations, because they generally lived in communities which were separate from communities of European settler colonizers. The federal government signed treaties at a government-to-government level until the Indian Appropriations Act of 1871 ended recognition of independent Native nations, and started treating them as "domestic dependent nations" subject to applicable federal laws. This law did preserve rights and privileges, including a large degree of tribal sovereignty. For this reason, many Native American reservations are still independent of state law and the actions of tribal citizens on these reservations are subject only to tribal courts and federal law. The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 granted US citizenship to all Native Americans born in the US who had not yet obtained it. This emptied the "Indians not taxed" category established by the United States Constitution, allowed Natives to vote in elections, and extended the Fourteenth Amendment protections granted to people "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States. However, some states continued to deny Native Americans voting rights for decades. Titles II through VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 comprise the Indian Civil Rights Act, which applies to Native American tribes and makes many but not all of the guarantees of the U.S. Bill of Rights applicable within the tribes.

Since the 1960s, Native American self-determination movements have resulted in positive changes to the lives of many Native Americans, though there are still many contemporary issues faced by them. Today, there are over five million Native Americans in the US, about 80% of whom live outside reservations. As of 2020, the states with the highest percentage of Native Americans are Alaska, Oklahoma, Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas.

History

The history of Native Americans in the United States began tens of thousands of years ago with the settlement of the Americas by the Paleo-Indians. The Eurasian migration to the Americas occurred over millennia via Beringia, a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska, as early humans spread southward and eastward. Archaeological evidence suggests these migrations began 25,000 years ago and continued until around 12,000 years ago. Some may have arrived even earlier, fishing in kayaks along what is known as the "Kelp Highway". Major Paleo-Indian cultures included the Clovis and Folsom traditions, identified through unique spear points and large-game hunting methods.

Around 8000 BCE, as the climate stabilized, new cultural periods like the Archaic stage arose, during which hunter-gatherer communities developed complex societies. The Mound Builders created large earthworks, such as at Watson Brake and Poverty Point, which date to 3500 BCE and 2200 BCE. By 1000 BCE, Native societies in the Woodland period developed advanced social structures and trade networks, with the Hopewell tradition connecting the Eastern Woodlands to the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. This period led to the Mississippian culture, with large urban centers like Cahokia—a city with complex mounds and a population exceeding 20,000 by 1250 CE.

Ethnographers classify the Indigenous peoples of North America into ten cultural areas inhabited by groups who share certain cultural traits: the Arctic, Subarctic, Northeastern Woodlands, Southeastern Woodlands, Great Plains, Great Basin, Northwest Plateau, Northwest Coast, California, and Southwest (Oasisamerica). At the time of the first contact, Indigenous cultures varied widely, with some Northeastern and Southwestern groups being matrilineal and organized on collective bases unfamiliar to Europeans. Land was typically held communally, in contrast to European property rights traditions. These differences, compounded by shifting alliances and warfare, generated political tension, ethnic violence, and disruption.

Beginning near the end of the 15th century, migration of Europeans to the Americas led to centuries of population, cultural, and agricultural transfer between Old and New World societies, known as the Columbian exchange. Because most Native groups preserved their histories by means of oral traditions and artwork, the first written accounts of contact were provided by Europeans.

Native Americans suffered high fatality rates from contact with European diseases that were new to them, and to which they had no immunity. Smallpox was especially devastating. Populations in some regions fell by 90 percent or more in the first century after contact. Pre-Columbian population estimates for the area of the modern U.S. range from 2 to over 18 million. By the end of the 18th century, numbers had collapsed to around 600,000 due to disease, warfare, and genocide.

After the thirteen British colonies revolted and established the United States, George Washington and Henry Knox advocated a "civilizing" policy to assimilate Native Americans as U.S. citizens. Assimilation, whether voluntary—as with the Choctaw—or forced, remained a central policy. During the 19th century, the ideology of manifest destiny drove westward expansion, increasing pressure on Native lands. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 authorized mass relocations west of the Mississippi River, resulting in ethnic cleansing and forced marches such as the Trail of Tears.

A justification for conquest and subjugation stemmed from dehumanizing stereotypes like those in the United States Declaration of Independence, which described Native Americans as "merciless Indian savages". Two sculptures reflecting this view of the Natives were commissioned by the U.S. government and stood outside the U.S. Capitol for over a century: The Rescue (1837) whose sculptor Horatio Greenough wrote that it was "to convey the idea of the triumph of the whites over the savage tribes", and The Discovery of America (1844) which depicted a triumphant Columbus and a "female savage" according to the Pennsylvania senator James Buchanan who proposed the sculpture.

Native resistance persisted in the American Indian Wars, including the Dakota War of 1862, Great Sioux War of 1876, Snake War, Colorado War, and Texas–Indian Wars. One of the last major events was the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890, where up to 300 Lakota were killed during a Ghost Dance gathering.

In the 20th century, Native Americans served in significant numbers during World War II, marking a turning point in visibility and involvement. Post-war, activism grew with the American Indian Movement and others pressing for rights. The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 recognized tribal autonomy, leading to Native-run schools and economic initiatives. By the 21st century, Native Americans had achieved greater control over tribal lands and resources, though many communities continue to face the legacies of displacement and economic inequality. Over 70% of Native Americans now live in cities, navigating cultural preservation and ongoing discrimination.

Contemporary Native Americans maintain a unique relationship with the United States, with sovereignty and treaty rights forming the basis of federal Indian law and the trust relationship. Since the late 1960s, cultural activism has expanded Indigenous presence in politics, media, education, and literature. Independent newspapers, television (e.g. First Nations Experience), Native American studies programs, tribal schools, and language revitalization efforts have strengthened cultural identity.

The terms used to refer to Native Americans have been controversial. Usage varies by region and generation, with many older Native Americans preferring "Indian" or "American Indian", while younger generations often choose "Indigenous" or "Aboriginal". The term "Native American" has not traditionally included Native Hawaiians or some Alaska Natives such as Aleut, Yup'ik, or Inuit, while in Canada, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis are the common designations.

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