Native American

Native Americans

A picture of a man from the Gros Ventre tribe
Total population
70 million +
Languages
Indigenous languages of the Americas, Spanish, Portuguese, English, Dutch, Danish, French, Russian
Religion
Inuit religion Native American religion Mesoamerican religion Arawak religion Carib religion Christianity

Native Americans (also called Aboriginal Americans, American Indians, Amerindians or indigenous peoples of the Americas) are the indigenous peoples and their descendants, who were in the Americas before Europeans arrived.

Sometimes these people are called Indians, but this may be confusing, because it is the same word used for people from India. When Christopher Columbus explored, he did not know about the Americas. He was in the Caribbean but thought he was in the East Indies, so he called the people Indians. Today, some think that calling a Native American an Indian is racist.

There are many different tribes of Native American people, with many different languages. Some tribes were hunter-gatherers who moved from place to place. Others lived in one place and built cities and kingdoms.

Many Native Americans died after the Europeans came to the Americas. There were diseases that came with the Europeans but were new to the Native Americans. There were battles with the Europeans. Many native people were hurt, killed, or forced to leave their homes by settlers who took their lands.

Today, there are more than three million Native Americans in Canada and the U.S. combined. About 51 million more Native Americans live in Latin America. Many Native Americans still speak native languages and have their own cultural practices, while others have adopted some parts of Western culture. Many Native Americans face problems with discrimination and racism.