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Indigenous peoples of the Americas
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Native American dance
A dancer in a bright pink shawl with fringe, wearing traditional regalia adorned with blue and black accents, performs at an outdoor cultural event.
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The intricate cliff dwellings of Ancestral Puebloans
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How did colonists refer to Indigenous peoples of the Americas?
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Native American dance
American Indian summary
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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)
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Native American dance
Native American dance Performers at a Canadian powwow, c. 2008.

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

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Also known as: American Indian, Amerind, Amerindian, Indian, Indigenous American, Native American, aboriginal American
Written by
Elizabeth Prine Pauls
Elizabeth Prine Pauls was Associate Editor, Anthropology and Languages, at Encyclopædia Britannica. She was State Archaeologist of Iowa from 2002 to 2006. She coedited Plains Earthlodges: Ethnographic...
Elizabeth Prine Pauls
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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: • Article History
Also called:
Native American, American Indian, aboriginal American, Amerindian, orAmerind

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Indigenous peoples of the Americas, any of the aboriginal peoples of the Western Hemisphere. Inuit, Yupik/Yupiit, and Unangan (Aleuts) are sometimes excluded from this category, because their closest genetic and cultural relations were and are with other Arctic peoples rather than with the groups to their south. The ancestors of the contemporary Indigenous peoples of the Americas were members of nomadic hunting and gathering cultures. The earliest of these groups to reach the Americas traveled in small family-based bands that moved from Asia to North America during the last ice age; from approximately 30,000–12,000 years ago, sea levels were so ...(100 of 3156 words)

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