Native Americans

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.

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

They were created at the expense of Native Americans.

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The consequences for Native Americans, who lost their lands, and Black slaves, forced to labor on southern plantations, were disastrous.

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South Dakota became the first U.S. state to officially recognize External link a “Native Americans’ Day” in 1990.

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At that year’s St. Louis World’s Fair, Hrdlička gathered some 200 brains and skeletons, mostly of Native Americans, who died during the fair.

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That year, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, seeking to eliminate or relocate Native Americans east of the Mississippi.

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