Oday’s Native Americans live throughout the United States with a variety of occupations and lifestyles. Many Native Americans today face special challenges in their identity. Do they identify first with a specific native tribe or nation, or to a broader identification as a Native American, American Indian, or First American? Many of today’s Native Americans also claim nonnative heritages as well, and the question remains as to how much white culture should be part of their lives.
Native Americans face significant problems with stereotypes from the population at large. Schools often have Native American curriculum units
That teach the past of the indigenous people of America. However, this history is often generalized for large groups of people. Just because members of a specific Native American nation rode horses or wore feathers in their hair or paint on their faces doesn’t mean all Native American nations did. Nor does it mean that any of today’s Native Americans do this any more than a white American wears a coonskin cap or lives in a log cabin.
Pretending to be Native American when you’re not is very disrespectful, particularly with false and stereotypical language or dress. So is calling a Native American “chief” unless he or she really holds that title within a specific nation. The United States has a long history of disrespect toward its first inhabitants and their descendants. It’s time to treat everyone with respect.
World History
