- "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."
The study of the experiences of Native American people in North America, including their history of colonization, cultural genocide, and ongoing struggles for sovereignty and recognition.
Pre-European Contact Native American Cultures: This topic covers the diverse and complex cultures of Native American societies prior to European arrival. This includes their social structures, belief systems, artistic expressions, and economic systems.
European Arrival and Colonization: This topic encompasses the arrival of Europeans in the Americas, their interactions with Native Americans, and the establishment of colonies. It covers the expansion of European control, the establishment of trade networks, and the impact of disease and warfare.
Native American- European Relations: This topic explores the complex relationships between Native Americans and Europeans. It covers trade, diplomatic relations, warfare, and the ways in which European attitudes and policies towards Native Americans evolved over time.
Westward Expansion and Removal: This topic covers the forced removal of Native Americans from their land in the 19th century. It includes the Indian Removal Act, the Trail of Tears, and the impact of westward expansion on Native American communities.
Indian Boarding Schools and Assimilation: This topic covers the government policy of assimilation through the establishment of Indian boarding schools. It includes the cultural and social impact on Native American communities, and the resistance to assimilation.
Treaty-Making and Land Rights: This topic explores the treaties and agreements made between Native American tribes and the US government. It covers the broken promises and forced land cessions, as well as the ongoing struggle for tribal sovereignty and land rights.
Native American Movements and Activism: This topic covers the various Native American movements and activism throughout history, including the American Indian Movement (AIM) and the fight for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, and environmental justice.
Contemporary Native American Communities and Issues: This topic covers contemporary Native American communities and the challenges they face, including economic development, health disparities, environmental justice, and cultural revitalization.
Indigenous Resistance Movements: This topic involves understanding the resistance or protest movements of the Indigenous people across the world, such as Maori, Aborigines, and others, in various lenses.
Native American Literature and Art: This topic looks at the literature, art, and popular culture produced by Native Americans. It includes an exploration of traditional forms, such as oral stories and beadwork, as well as contemporary forms, including film, music, and literature.
Pre-European History: This period starts with the earliest arrival of the Native American ancestors in the continent and ends around 1492 AD with the arrival of Columbus.
Early Contact Period: This period marks the time of first contact between the Native Americans and Europeans. During this period, Europeans began to explore and trade with Native Americans, beginning in 1492.
Colonial Period: Spanning roughly 1607-1776 CE, this period was characterized by the establishment of English colonies in North America.
American Revolution: From 1775 to 1783, this period saw the thirteen colonies gain independence from Great Britain and become the United States of America.
Indian Removal Act and Trail of Tears: Starting in the 1800s, the US government began to forcibly remove Native Americans from their ancestral lands in the Southeast.
Reservation Period: This period started in the late 1800s and continued in the 20th century. The U.S. government forced Native American people to consolidate onto reservations and attempted to assimilate them into American culture.
Indigenous Activism: Indigenous activism has grown over the past century, with Native American peoples organizing for their rights and demanding recognition of their sovereignty.
Contemporary Issues and Challenges: This period focus on the current issues and challenges facing Native American communities in the present day, including poverty, addiction, lack of basic infrastructure, and cultural erosion.
- "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."