American Indian Stories

Indigenous people living in North America generally preferred to be referred to by their individual tribal or national affiliations, such as “Choctaw,” “Cheyenne,” “Apache,” or “Navajo.” The terms “Indigenous”  and “Native” imply that certain people were present on the land before large-scale foreign exploration or invasion. However, larger blanket terminology has developed based on relationships with outside entities, such as the United States government, and relationships among people of different tribal and national affiliations, often emerging out of encounters in the military and other large-scale organizations.  Although the term American Indian is rooted in the fact that Christopher Columbus thought (falsely) that he had charted a sea-route to India, the term “Indian” for the Native peoples encountered in the Western hemisphere became rooted in political and legal discourse, resulting in the creation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and other governmental agencies. The term was also adopted by people who became involved in the American Indian Movement, an expansive movement for sovereignty and civil rights, in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1980s and 1990s, the term Native American gained favor with many people and was frequently used by institutions as a means of correcting the falsehood of the “Indian” moniker. However, scholars and activists with the Indigenous community have argued that the centering of “American” in the identity terminology is no more accurate to the Indigenous people than “Indian” so Native American has lost favor with some while American Indian regained (or retained) primacy with others. In this exhibit, the MHHE has opted to use the term American Indian because of its use in the American Indian Movement and military designations, but also uses other terminology in the exhibit text.

For more background on this topic, please see:

Alison R. Bernstein. American Indians and World War II: Toward a New Era in Indian Affairs. University of Oklahoma Press, 1999. https://www.amazon.com/American-Indians-World-War-II/dp/0806131845.

Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne. An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States. Reprint edition. Beacon Press, 2015.

“Native Knowledge 360° | Frequently Asked Questions.” Accessed May 5, 2022. https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/faq/did-you-know.

The National WWII Museum | New Orleans. “American Indian Code Talkers.” Accessed January 12, 2022. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/american-indian-code-talkers.