Native American Studies

Native Studies also known as Native American Studies or American Indian Studies is an interdisciplinary field of study which focuses on history, culture, politics, issues, and contemporary experience of Native Peoples in North America, with a predominant focus on the indigenous peoples of the United States. The program has its origins in student activism in the 1960s, who viewed the next generation of native activists as being western educated native peoples, armed with both knowledge from western universities and knowledge of their cultures, who would return to their tribes to help build their nations. Frequently, students of Native Studies will take what they have learned from an American Indian Studies program back to their tribes in order to work for tribal governments, implementing programs to build up their tribes capacities. 

Native American Studies has a few conventions that set it apart from many traditional, academic, disciplines. One of the central tenants of American Indian Studies is the idea that American Indian Studies work is typically done by American Indians, for the purposes of assisting American Indians. This does not mean that non-natives cannot participate in the discipline, it means that American Indian world views and ways of knowing are valued prominently in the scholarship. Additionally, Native Studies frequently views the myriad of issues facing native peoples through a colonization/decolonizaiton lens. Many problems faced by native peoples are the direct result of colonial actions taken in the past and present by the federal government (in order to divest native peoples from their land). Thus, actions taken to resolve these problems and to ensure native nations remain sovereign are decolonial in nature. The purpose of American Indian Studies is not for "pure research", but rather, it is designed to have pragmatic, positive, impacts on native nations and peoples. Work identifies issues among native peoples, and attempts to find solutions to them. This makes American Indian Studies an activist discipline, pushing for change within society.  

A common question which is asked of American Indian Studies scholars is, "which term is more proper, American Indian or Native American." In my experience (and in the experience of most experts), both terms are used by scholars in American Indian Studies and both terms are accepted in the field. The term "Indian" is still used in the legal context in the federal government (though that is changing), which is why the scholarship continues to use it. The terms "indigenous", is sometimes used as well, but tends to be broad (indigenous communities exist throughout the world). 

It is also important to note that "American Indian/Native American" generally is used to refer to native peoples living in the contiguous 48 states. Alaska Natives are the term used to describe the Indigenous tribes living in Alaska, and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders are used to describe the indigenous peoples living in Hawaii. These distinctions are not merely lexical, as both Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians are treated different legally than the native peoples living in the lower 48 states. 

The term "first nations" is usually used to refer to the indigenous peoples of Canada. Similarly, the term "aboriginal" is most frequently used to describe the indigenous people in Australia. Very rarely are those terms used to describe indigenous peoples in the United States. 

If possible, it would be best to refer to the specific tribe being described within your writing. In addition, several tribes have an imposed, or Western, name, and a traditional name. For example the tribe that is known as the Navajo has the preferred name of Diné. However, several individuals may prefer the westernized names for their individual identities.