"Native American": a 1960s–70s term, not the people's own (United States, 1960s–1995)

SUMMARY29. "Native American": a 1960s–70s term, not the people's own (United States, 1960s–1995) [Connections: Who decided who's Indian, Nov 5, 2026]

RECORDPBS (Antiques Roadshow) says that in the 1960s critics of "Indian" "suggested substituting the term Native American for Indian"; it reports a 1995 Census Bureau survey in which about half of Indigenous respondents preferred "Indian" and slightly over a third preferred "Native American"; it quotes Russell Means calling "Native American" "a generic government term used to describe all the indigenous prisoners of the United States," and notes that in 1977 Indian delegates at a UN conference in Geneva agreed to identify as American Indian. In federal law, the Native American Programs Act (42 U.S.C. 2991a, added by Pub. L. 93-644, 4 Jan. 1975) uses "Native American" as an umbrella covering "American Indians, Native Hawaiians, other Native American Pacific Islanders … and Alaska Natives." The census never used "Native American" as a box: it went "Indian" → "American Indian" (1950) → "Indian (Amer.)" (1970) → "American Indian or Alaska Native" (2000)

PATTERNEach name ("Indian," "American Indian," "Native American," "AIAN") was set by an outside office, and each came with its own rules about who fits

LENS (WW9)Even the polite name was issued by an office; the nations' own names (and "Aboriginal") come first

OPENThe first federal use of "Native American" as a legal term needs deep research (earlier 1960s OEO programs are likely); the 1995 survey should be quoted from the Census/BLS report itself

SOURCEPBS, "American Indian or Native American?"; 42 U.S.C. subchapter VIII (GovInfo, US Code 2011); Census Bureau, Measuring Race 1790–2010.