Native Americans

Cultural  

1. The descendants of the original inhabitants of North America and South America before the arrival of white settlers from Europe, also called Indians or American Indians. The term Native American is sometimes preferred over Indian because the latter is a misnomer that originated with Columbus, who mistook the inhabitants of America for the people of India. Both terms, however, are accepted.

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In recent years, Native American activism has taken the form of calls for the protection of their tribal or ancestral shrines and artifacts.

Example Sentences

That has been understood to mean that people within the United States are subject to the laws here, except for foreign diplomats and, for a time, Native Americans who lived on tribal reservations.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

But for Native Americans, that is not at all the goal.

From Slate • Mar. 16, 2026

Greenpeace maintains that it played only a small and peaceful role in the movement, which was led by Native Americans.

From Barron's • Feb. 27, 2026

These days, Greenlanders are shocked by how few words their brethren can speak in their ancestral tongue—and by the poverty of Native Americans in Alaska.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 24, 2026

It’s also clear that Native Americans of the eastern United States were not overlooking potential major crops among the wild species around them.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond