Native American: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	Northern American Indian • First Nations

Photos and Videos

Map of North America divided by red boundary lines into major indigenous culture areas, including American Arctic, American Subarctic, Northwest Coast, Plateau, Great Basin, California, Southwest, Plains, Northeast, and Southeast, covering regions from Alaska and northern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.

Map of the Arctic region showing the distribution of Arctic peoples and their culture areas, outlined by a red line. The map labels groups such as the Inuit, Chukchi, Sami, Yakut, and others across North America, Greenland, northern Europe, and northern Asia, distinguishing between the American Arctic culture area and the Eurasian Arctic and subarctic culture area.

Map of northern North America showing the distribution of Indigenous peoples in the subarctic region, with labeled areas for groups such as Deg Xinag, Gwich'in, Tanaina, Slave, Dogrib, Chipewyan, Cree, Ojibwa, Innu, and others. Solid and dashed lines indicate cultural and drainage divisions across Alaska, Canada, and parts of the northern United States.

Map showing the distribution of Indigenous peoples of the Northeast Woodlands region in North America, with tribal names such as Algonquin, Ojibwa (Chippewa), Iroquois, Shawnee, and Powhatan labeled across present-day northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Major lakes and rivers are marked, and a red boundary outlines the general region inhabited by these groups.

Map of the southeastern United States showing the historical locations of various Indigenous peoples, with tribal names such as Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, Natchez, Catawba, and Calusa labeled across the region. A red outline marks the general boundary of the Southeast cultural area, extending from eastern Texas and Louisiana through the Gulf Coast, up to the Atlantic coast and into parts of the Carolinas and Virginia. Major bodies of water like the Gulf of Mexico and the Atla

Map showing the traditional territories of Indigenous peoples of the North American Plains, outlined in red and spanning parts of present-day Canada and the central United States. Tribal names such as Blackfoot, Crow, Cheyenne, Pawnee, Osage, Comanche, and Wichita are labeled within their respective regions. Major rivers like the Missouri, Mississippi, and Rio Grande are also shown for geographic context.

Map showing the distribution of Indigenous peoples and their lands in the American Southwest, with labeled areas for groups such as the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Apache, Pima, Yuma, Mojave, and others, along with major rivers and reservation boundaries.

Map showing the distribution of Numic languages and major indigenous groups of the Great Basin region in the western United States. The area outlined in red includes territories of groups such as the Shoshone, Paiute, Ute, Gosiute, Washo, Mono, Panamint Shoshone, Chemehuevi, and Shoshone-Bannock, with major geographic features like Lake Tahoe, the Great Salt Lake, and the Colorado River also labeled.

Map of California and surrounding areas showing the traditional homelands of Indigenous peoples, with tribal names such as Miwok, Pomo, Chumash, Yokut, Shastan, Mojave, and others labeled within outlined regions across the state.

Map showing the traditional territories of Indigenous peoples along the Northwest Coast of North America, from southern Alaska through western Canada and down the Pacific coast of the United States to northern California. Tribal names such as Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Kwakiutl, Nuu-chah-nulth, Chinook, and Hupa are labeled along the coastline.

A dancer in a bright pink shawl with fringe, wearing traditional regalia adorned with blue and black accents, performs at an outdoor cultural event.

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.

The video thumbnail image shows a group of Indigenous people in traditional Native dress.

Smiling older woman with long white hair gestures with open hands; collage background of English and Native American writing, paper texture, and vintage portraits.

The video thumbnail image shows a graphic of the Great Lakes with the text Anishinaabemowin.

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Topics

Northwest Coast Indian American Arctic peoples Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains Indigenous peoples of the American Southeast Indigenous peoples of the American Southwest Northeast Indian Plateau Indian Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin Indigenous peoples of California American Subarctic peoples Pre-Columbian civilizations history of Europe ancient Rome ancient Greek civilization Czechoslovak history Islamic world Aegean civilizations Stone Age history of Mesopotamia history of Palestine

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Key People

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Hermon A. MacNeil

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Layli Long Soldier

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Walter Ufer

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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?