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Indigenous peoples in the United States are distinct groups of peoples who are indigenous to what is now states or territories of the United States of America.

The terms 'American Indians' or 'Native Americans' generally refer only to people of the continental area of the country. Indigenous groups not normally called by these terms include Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and the various Pacific Islander ethnic groups who are indigenous to some insular areas of the United States; the latter includes the Chamorros of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, among others.

Indigenous peoples in the United States share several other unifying characteristics, such as a higher incidence of various health issues and concerns about their indigenous languages becoming endangered.

The Native Americans faced numerous instances of hardship at the time of the American colonization. They were outnumbered and had less technology than the invading Europeans; they were hunted down and killed. They were forced into reservations and much of their culture and history was lost.

[edit] External links

• National Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research
• American Indian and Alaska Native Women's Health