American Indian

American Indian

n. A member of any of the peoples indigenous to the Americas except the Eskimo, Aleut, and Inuit.

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American Indian adj.Usage Note: In principle, American Indian can apply to all native peoples throughout the Americas except the Eskimo, Aleut, and Inuit, but in practice it is generally restricted to the peoples of the United States and Canada. For native peoples in the rest of the hemisphere, usage generally favors Indian by itself or, less frequently, the contractions Amerindian or Amerind. See Usage Notes at First Nation, Indian, Native American.

American Indian

n (Peoples) Also called: Native American a member of any of the indigenous peoples of North, Central, or South America, esp those of North America adj 1. (Peoples) Also: Amerindian of or relating to any of these peoples, their languages, or their cultures 2. (Languages) Also: Amerindian of or relating to any of these peoples, their languages, or their cultures Usage: The term American Indian is still acceptable and is widely used by American Indians themselves. The most accepted phrase in general use nowadays is Native American

Amer′ican In′dian

n. a member of any of the indigenous peoples of North and South America, usu. excluding the Aleuts and Eskimos. [1725–35] usage: See Indian.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	American Indian - a member of the race of people living in America when Europeans arrivedIndian, Red IndianAmerindian, Native American - any member of the peoples living in North or South America before the Europeans arrivedAlgonquian, Algonquin - a member of any of the North American Indian groups speaking an Algonquian language and originally living in the subarctic regions of eastern Canada; many Algonquian tribes migrated south into the woodlands from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic coastAnasazi - a Native American who lived in what is now southern Colorado and Utah and northern Arizona and New Mexico and who built cliff dwellingsAthabaskan, Athapascan, Athapaskan, Athabascan - a member of any of the North American Indian groups speaking an Athapaskan language and living in the subarctic regions of western Canada and central AlaskaAmerindian race, Indian race - usually included in the Mongoloid raceMaya, Mayan - a member of an American Indian people of Yucatan and Belize and Guatemala who had a culture (which reached its peak between AD 300 and 900) characterized by outstanding architecture and pottery and astronomy; "Mayans had a system of writing and an accurate calendar"Nahuatl - a member of any of various Indian peoples of central MexicoOlmec - a member of an early Mesoamerican civilization centered around Veracruz that flourished between 1300 and 400 BCZapotec, Zapotecan - a member of a large tribe of Mesoamericans living in southern Mexico whose civilization flourished around 300 to 900Buffalo Indian, Plains Indian - a member of one of the tribes of American Indians who lived a nomadic life following the buffalo in the Great Plains of North AmericaChickasaw - a member of the Muskhogean people formerly living in northern MississippiCoeur d'Alene - a member of an Amerindian people living in northern Idaho around Coeur d'Alene LakeCreek - any member of the Creek Confederacy (especially the Muskogee) formerly living in Georgia and Alabama but now chiefly in OklahomaHaida - a member of a seafaring group of North American Indians who lived on the Pacific coast of British Columbia and southwestern AlaskaHoka, Hokan - a member of a North American Indian people speaking one of the Hokan languagesIroquois - any member of the warlike North American Indian peoples formerly living in New York State; the Iroquois League were allies of the British during the American RevolutionMuskhogean, Muskogean - a member of any of the peoples formerly living in southeastern United States and speaking Muskhogean languagesPenutian - a member of a North American Indian people speaking one of the Penutian languagesPueblo - a member of any of about two dozen Native American peoples called `Pueblos' by the Spanish because they live in pueblos (villages built of adobe and rock)Injun, red man, Redskin - (slang) offensive term for Native AmericansSalish - a member of a group of North American Indians speaking a Salishan language and living on the northwest coast of North AmericaShoshone, Shoshoni - a member of the North American Indian people (related to the Aztecs) of the southwestern United StatesTaracahitian - a member of a group of peoples of MexicoTlingit - a member of a seafaring group of North American Indians living in southern AlaskaWakashan - a member of one of the peoples in British Columbia and Washington who speak the Wakashan languageAleut, Aleutian - a member of the people inhabiting the Aleutian Islands and southwestern AlaskaEskimo, Esquimau, Inuit - a member of a people inhabiting the Arctic (northern Canada or Greenland or Alaska or eastern Siberia); the Algonquians called them Eskimo (`eaters of raw flesh') but they call themselves the Inuit (`the people')Paleo-American, Paleo-Amerind, Paleo-Indian - a member of the Paleo-American peoples who were the earliest human inhabitants of North America and South America during the late Pleistocene epochsannup - a married male American Indiansquaw - an American Indian woman
	2.	American Indian - any of the languages spoken by AmerindiansAmerican-Indian language, Amerind, Amerindian language, Indiannatural language, tongue - a human written or spoken language used by a community; opposed to e.g. a computer languageAlgonquian language, Algonquin, Algonquian - family of North American Indian languages spoken from Labrador to South Carolina and west to the Great PlainsAtakapan, Attacapa, Attacapan, Atakapa - a language spoken by the Atakapa of the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and TexasAthabascan, Athapaskan language, Athabaskan, Athapascan, Athapaskan - a group of Amerindian languages (the name coined by an American anthropologist, Edward Sapir)Muskhogean language, Muskogean language, Muskhogean, Muskogean - a family of North American Indian languages spoken in the southeastern United StatesNa-Dene - a family of North American Indian languagesMosan - a family of Amerindian languages spoken in Washington and British ColumbiaCaddoan, Caddoan language, Caddo - a family of North American Indian languages spoken widely in the Midwest by the CaddoIroquoian, Iroquoian language, Iroquois - a family of North American Indian languages spoken by the IroquoisKechuan, Quechuan, Quechuan language, Quechua, Kechua - the language of the Quechua which was spoken by the IncasMaracan language, Maraco - the language spoken by the MaracoTupi-Guarani, Tupi-Guarani language - a family of South American Indian languagesArawak, Arawakan - a family of South American Indian languages spoken in northeastern South AmericaCaribbean language, Carib - the family of languages spoken by the CaribUto-Aztecan, Uto-Aztecan language - a family of American Indian languagesMayan language, Maya, Mayan - a family of American Indian languages spoken by MayaSiouan language, Siouan - a family of North American Indian languages spoken by the SiouxTanoan, Tanoan language - a family of North American Indian language spoken in southwestern United StatesHokan, Hoka - a family of Amerindian languages spoken in CaliforniaPenutian - a family of Amerindian language spoken in the great interior valley of California

Translations

IndianerIndianerin