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Indigenous peoples of the Americas: Quick Facts

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News •

Deb Haaland breaks political barriers as Native women in her home community face hurdles • Nov. 14, 2026, 9:01 AM ET (AP)
Native American women made history in tribal, state and federal elections • Nov. 10, 2026, 1:34 PM ET (AP)
November highlights Native American cultures, from salmonberry picking to traditional tattoos • Oct. 31, 2026, 4:41 PM ET (AP)
At Cadillac Mountain, a missing Wabanaki marker and the fight over what national parks should tell • Oct. 22, 2026, 7:08 AM ET (AP)
In New Mexico governor’s race, Deb Haaland’s historic bid tests Democrats' political hold • Oct. 22, 2026, 12:01 AM ET (AP)

Facts

Also Known As Native American • aboriginal American • American Indian • Indian • Amerindian • Amerind • Indigenous American

Photos and Videos

A group of Native American men in colorful traditional regalia with feathered headdresses dance outdoors at a powwow ceremony on a grassy field.
Side-by-side illustration comparing the American mastodon (Mammut americanum), woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), and modern African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana), showing differences in size, body shape, and tusks, with a scale bar indicating 1 meter and 3 feet.
Clovis points
Animal figurines
Ceremonial center
Indian boarding school
Big Cypress Seminole Reservation
Olmec colossal head carved from basalt, featuring a helmet-like headdress and detailed facial features, standing outdoors in Parque La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico.
Oblique aerial view of Temple I, a stepped stone pyramid rising above grassy grounds with visitors, surrounded by trees at the ancient Maya city of Tikal, Guatemala.
Reconstructed artwork
A dancer in a bright pink shawl with fringe, wearing traditional regalia adorned with blue and black accents, performs at an outdoor cultural event.
The intricate cliff dwellings of Ancestral Puebloans
How did colonists refer to Indigenous peoples of the Americas?
A bronze bust of an Indigenous American figure sits in a kitchen, overlaid with sacks of rice marked with a green check and milk with sugar cubes crossed out.
Explore Utah's Bryce Canyon on horseback
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Related Topics and References

Topics
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Key People

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Francisco Garcés
Spanish missionary
A leading voice for the Amazon and its peoples
Nemonte Nenquimo
Waorani leader, activist, and author
Dennis Banks
Dennis Banks
American activist
Russell Means, wearing a cream shirt and black jacket, with long hair in braids, smiles at the camera against a white backdrop with black text.
Russell Means
Oglala Lakota Sioux activist
Zitkala-Sa
Zitkala-Sa
American writer
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Mary Lucinda Bonney
American educator and reformer
Susette La Flesche
Susette La Flesche
American author and activist
Alice Mary Robertson.
Alice Mary Robertson
American educator and public official
Joseph Campbell.
Joseph Campbell
American author and editor
Franz Boas
Franz Boas
German-American anthropologist
Powell, John Wesley
John Wesley Powell
American explorer, geologist, and ethnologist
Paula Gunn Allen
Paula Gunn Allen
American author and scholar
Ruth Benedict
Ruth Benedict
American anthropologist and author
Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft
American explorer and ethnologist
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Aleš Hrdlička
American anthropologist
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Earnest A. Hooton
American anthropologist
Cadman, Charles Wakefield
Charles Wakefield Cadman
American composer
Sepia-toned portrait of Adolph Bandelier, Swiss-American anthropologist, standing in a suit with hands behind his back, dated 1892.
Adolph Bandelier
American anthropologist
Illustration of the Grand Canyon
William Henry Holmes
American archaeologist
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Anthony F.C. Wallace
Canadian-born American anthropologist and historian

Related Quizzes

Tecumseh. Battle of the Thames, Ontario, Canada, and the death of Tecumseh. Col. Richard M. Johnson with the Kentucky volunteers on left battle with Tecumseh and his Native troops. Native American Shawnee chief. North American indian. (See Notes)
Native American History Quiz
Pages of a dictionary from England (English dictionary, British dictionary, United Kingdom, words, opened book.
Which English Words Have Native American Origins?