Native Americans: 6 Facts

1. The U.S. Federal Government recognizes 574 Native American tribes and Alaska entities.

Notice that this is a number of people groups the U.S. government recognizes. That is different than the number of people groups that exist or have existed. 

2. Many non-Native Americans don’t know much about Native American culture, in the past or the present. 

In my experience, K-12 education spends more time on European history than it does on the history and culture of the Native peoples living in our own country. And the little that is taught about Native Americans stops in the 1800s and rarely teaches about the people who lived in the area where the school is located. 

3. Some Native American tribes had their own newspapers starting in the early 1800s.

Unfortunately, many of these older newspapers stopped being published in the early-mid 20th century. For tribes recognized by the U.S. government, it is possible to find websites with current information for and about that tribe. For other tribes, it can take some digging to find current publications.

Native America Today is one generalized contemporary publication.

4. Native Americans serve in the U.S. military at a higher per capita rate than any other ethnic group, according to the Library of Congress.

You can hear these men and women tell their stories on the LOC Legacies of Service: Celebrating Native Americans webpage. 

5. Native Americans have the same types of jobs and professions as non-Native Americans.

You can watch a video of an Algonquin, Siletz, and Tla-o-qui-aht in a panel discussion on the impacts of climate change and how to mitigate those effects. 

6. Nearly 7 million Americans identify as Native American. 

Considering that census data is only as good as the individuals who self-report, and that poorer people and minorities are less likely to trust giving their information to the U.S. government, it is probable that this number is much higher.