The Native American Client’s Story
One of the things I would look at on any scale like that—I still feel that even at that, American Indians look
at themselves differently than any other race in America because we are of this country.—Woodro
We all have those kinds of things. I see others, Indian people whom I am more knowledgeable about. I accept
them first as Indians and then within their various tribes.—Woodro
I preferred American Indian. At one time, people were saying Native American in reaction to American Indian.
All of these years we’ve been known as American Indian. The census, I think, is one of the reasons why a lot
of people reacted, because during the census, when they first used Native American, a lot of people signed
Native American because they were born here, and they are American regardless. You know, the way I look
at it, it is American Indian.—Woodro
Native Americans are unique among the groups of people of color not only because they are members of federally recognized sovereign nations that exist within a nation but also, mostly, because they are the natives of North America. Due to the impact of historical factors on the experiences on American Indians and Alaskan Natives—specifically, the systematic, genocidal attempts to destroy their people and ways of life—any discussion of them, as with African Americans, must occur within a context of history and demographics, and an examination of contemporary American Indian culture.
The complexity of identity for Native Americans today is difficult to understand. This complexity is even more pronounced in multitribal urban areas and further complicated by changes in U.S. Census data procedures, specifically the Census Bureau’s change in enumeration procedures from ascription to self-identification.
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