A thread to begin our understanding

the use of the term american indian, native american, native american indian (nai), or indian is used and debated back and forth. which is most correct? it depends upon the person (native and non-native) and that person's own level of comfort and understanding. many native americans refer to themselves simply by their american tribal (common) name when referring to themselves to outsiders...sioux, for example...to non natives (which may have a much different meaning for members of this group) or may often use the terms native american, native american indian (nai), or indian. however, these terms hold the most relevance outside of the tribe itself and when relating to outsider non native groups. when referring to themselves to each other, they may refer to themselves by their native tribal (inner circle) name...which may be totally different and is less common. does this make sense? anyway, at this time, members can use either term here on the board. i will use nai on the board for brevity. i will say that any disrespectful use of terms or any racial slurs will not be tolerated. the board's terms of service will be respected here.

i would like to start off our forum with a general topic thread regarding the state of the nai population. this web article seems like a good place to start off and maybe branch off future discussions.

http://www.cdc.gov/omh/populations/aian/aian.htm

enjoy.