Indigenous, Native American, or American Indian? The Limitations of Broad Terms

Abstract:This piece considers the use of the terms Indigenous, American Indian, Native American, and Indian in historical writing. Placing each of these labels in historical context, Bauer and Ellis trace the evolution of language used to talk about Native Americans and offer context and critiques of diverse usages. By tracking between the past and present, the authors also consider contemporary terminology usage among Native communities, and demonstrate generational shifts among their own communities. Bauer and Ellis argue in favor of using the specific names of tribal nations whenever possible and demonstrate that generalizing terms, like Indigenous and Native American primarily serve to describe Native peoples through their relations to colonization rather than on their own terms.