Free US Law Dictionary

Native American

Native Americans is a term which has several different common meanings and scope, according to regional use and context:

• Indigenous peoples of the Americas, natives of the American continents
  • Native Americans in the United States, natives of the United States only; equivalent to American Indians in some contexts
    • Alaska Natives, natives of the state of Alaska, including Eskimo-Aleut peoples (Inuit and Yupik Eskimo peoples, Aleuts), and Athabascan, Eyak, Haida, Tlingit and Tsimshian peoples
    • Native Hawaiians, natives of the state of Hawaii
    • Pacific Islander, including peoples in the U.S. Pacific Island dependencies (e.g. Chamorros, Marshallese), but also other Pacific nations
  • Aboriginal peoples in Canada, including First Nations, Métis and Inuit
    • First Nations, Canadian natives, sometimes referred to as "Indians" or "North American Indians"
  • Indigenous peoples in Brazil, the povos indígenas of Brazil
  • Indigenous peoples in Mexico
  • Indigenous people of the Everglades region