Native American Peoples Flashcards, test questions and answers
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What is Native American Peoples?
Native American Peoples have been a part of the United States for thousands of years. As one of the most diverse and complex cultures in the world, Native Americans have had a tremendous impact on our nation’s culture, history, and development. The term Native Americans is used to refer to over 500 distinct tribal nations that make up the indigenous people living across North America. At present there are approximately 5 million Native Americans in the US alone, with millions more residing throughout Central and South America. Many Native American tribes were forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands by European settlers during colonization or pushed onto reservations as white settlers moved westward across America in search of land and resources. This long history of displacement has caused much hardship within these communities leading to poverty, unemployment rates higher than other ethnic groups and inadequate access to health care services. Despite these struggles, many Native Americans still maintain strong cultural identities through traditional ceremonies such as powwows or sun dances which serve an important role in preserving their heritage and traditions today. Since Columbus first landed on American soil in 1492, Europeans have had a huge impact on Indigenous peoples’ lives from forced assimilation into colonial societies through violent removals from lands they’d inhabited for centuries to negative stereotypes portrayed by Hollywood movies. However, despite all this trauma many native tribes continue to survive, thrive and build resilience by embracing their unique cultural heritage while adapting new ways of life that best suit their current circumstances.