- "Native Americans, sometimes called First Americans or Indigenous Americans, are the Indigenous peoples of the United States or portions thereof, such as American Indians from the contiguous United States and Alaska Natives."
A study of the issues of identity and representation affecting Native American communities including stereotypes, racism, and cultural appropriation.
Indigenous Peoples' History: This topic focuses on the historical experience and contributions of Native American and First Nations peoples.
Cultural Diversity in Native American Communities: This topic concentrates on the regional, cultural, and linguistic variations among Native American communities.
Treaty Rights and Sovereignty: This topic examines the legal and political status of Indigenous peoples, including treaty obligations, and self-determination.
Stereotypes and Misrepresentations: This topic scrutinizes the ways in which Native American identity has been misrepresented and appropriated in popular culture, literature, movies, and media.
Contemporary Issues and Challenges: This topic examines the challenges facing Native American communities today, including environmental impacts, education, health care, poverty, and political representation.
Traditional Knowledge and Practices: This topic relates to the Indigenous knowledge systems, traditions, and practices that have been passed down through generations and continue to shape Native American life today.
Art and Literature: This topic explores the contributions of Native American artists and writers to American culture, including the celebration of Indigenous languages, storytelling, and artistic expression.
Spirituality and Ceremony: This topic encompasses the religious and spiritual traditions of Native American peoples and the role they play in contemporary life.
Gender and Sexuality: This topic investigates Native American gender roles, traditional attitudes toward LGBTQ+ individuals, and the ongoing struggles of Native women against violence and exploitation.
Historical Trauma and Resilience: This topic focuses on the impact of colonization and government policies on Indigenous peoples and the efforts towards healing and rebuilding resilient and sustainable communities.
Tribal Sovereignty: This relates to the legal authority and distinct political status of tribes or nations recognized by the federal government.
Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Spiritual Practices: This type focuses on the unique spiritual beliefs and practices of Native American communities and how they contribute to their understanding of the world.
Language Revitalization: This type of study focuses on the efforts and methods used to preserve and revitalize Native American languages.
Cultural Representations in Literature, Art, and Film: This type of study investigates the ways Native Americans are represented and depicted in various forms of popular culture.
Historical Studies: This type looks into the history of Native American communities and their experiences with colonization, forced removal, and cultural genocide.
Gender and Sexuality Studies: This type explores the roles and experiences of Native American women, LGBTQ individuals, and other marginalized identities within their communities.
Environmental Studies: This type focuses on Native American relationships with the environment and the ecological knowledge and practices of these communities.
Political Activism and Social Justice: This type of study looks into the ways Native Americans have engaged in activism and social justice movements, including the fight for Indigenous sovereignty and treaty rights.
Health Disparities and Wellness: This type of study investigates the health disparities that Native American communities face and explores the traditional healing practices and Western medicine in these contexts.
Urban Indigenous Studies: This type of study focuses on the experiences of Native Americans living in urban environments and addresses issues of cultural preservation and community building.
- "The United States Census Bureau defines Native American as 'all people indigenous to the United States and its territories, including Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders.'"
- "The European colonization of the Americas that began in 1492 resulted in a precipitous decline in Native American population because of newly introduced diseases (including weaponized diseases and biological warfare by European colonizers), wars, ethnic cleansing, and enslavement."
- "The United States... continued to wage war and perpetrated massacres against many Native American peoples, removed them from their ancestral lands, and subjected them to one-sided treaties and to discriminatory government policies."
- "When the United States was created, established Native American tribes were generally considered semi-independent nations, as they generally lived in communities separate from white settlers."
- "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."
- "The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 granted U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States who had not yet obtained it."
- "However, some states continued to deny Native Americans voting rights for several decades."
- "Titles II through VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 comprise the Indian Civil Rights Act, which applies to the Native American tribes of the United States 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."
- "Today, there are over five million Native Americans in the United States."
- "78% of whom live outside reservations."
- "The states with the highest percentage of Native Americans in the U.S. are Alaska, Oklahoma, New Mexico, South Dakota, Montana, and North Dakota."
- "This law did preserve the rights and privileges agreed to under the treaties, including a large degree of tribal sovereignty."
- "The actions of tribal citizens on these reservations are subject only to tribal courts and federal law."
- "That Act appears today in Title 25, sections 1301 to 1303 of the United States Code."
- "When the United States was created, established Native American tribes were generally considered semi-independent nations."
- "The European colonization of the Americas... resulted in a precipitous decline in Native American population because of newly introduced diseases (including weaponized diseases and biological warfare by European colonizers), wars, ethnic cleansing, and enslavement."
- "The United States... subjected them to one-sided treaties and to discriminatory government policies."
- "Though there are still many contemporary issues faced by them."