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existdetective t1_j1kubkw wrote

Reply to comment by Drahgonfly in Spending bill secures funds for Native American health care. Access to health care for Native Americans across the U.S. will be bolstered with funding included in a government spending bill approved by Congress. by Sariel007

Says who? The proper word for any people is the word they want used for themselves.

That varies across the land.

Here in Alaska, the “indigenous” people refer to themselves as “tribes” and the term here is Alaska Native when distinguishing from the non-indigenous settler colonists of any other origin. Someone born in Alaska is a native Alaskan; someone belonging to our indigenous groups is Alaska Native.

The people here identify themselves by their own tribes/villages/regions which roughly correlate to unique language groups or to geographic features. The proper term is provided by the person/group.

White people call the Interior Alaska people “Athabascan” while the people themselves call themselves “Dine” or “Koyukon” or “Tanaina” and so forth.

When they want to draw attention to themselves as one group with common interests with other groups across the world, they may say Indigenous or First Nations or American Indian/Alaska Native. Generally, I follow whatever conventions are given to me by the person in front of me.

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