Who Are Minorities? - Native Americans

Most experts agree that the people known as Native Americans and Alaska Natives arrived in North America TABLE 1.3 Asian population by detailed group, 2000 Jessica S. Barnes and Claudette E. Bennett, "Table 4. Asian Population by Detailed Group: 2000," in The Asian Population: 2000, C2KBR/01-16, U.S. Census Bureau, February 2002, http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/c2kbr01-16.pdf (accessed December 9, 2005)from northeast Asia at least thirty thousand years ago during the last of the Ice Age glaciations (coverings of large areas of Earth with ice). At that time the two continents were connected by a land bridge over what is currently the Bering Strait. However, according to Charles W. Petit in "Rediscovering America: The New World May Be 20,000 Years Older Than Experts Thought" (U.S. News and World Report, October 12, 1998), some archaeologists dispute this theory by citing evidence that indicates that migrants may have actually arrived many thousands of years earlier.

TABLE 1.3
Asian population by detailed group, 2000
Detailed group	Asian alone		Asian in combination with one or more other races		Asian detailed group alone or in any combinationa
	One Asian Group reported	Two or more Asian Groups reporteda	One Asian group reported	Two or more Asian groups reporteda
—Represents zero.
aThe numbers by detailed Asian group do not add to the total population. This is because the detailed Asian groups are tallies of the number of Asian responses rather than the number of Asian respondents. Respondents reporting several Asian groups are counted several times. For example, a respondent reporting "Korean and Filipino" would be included in the Korean as well as the Filipino numbers.
bIncludes respondents who checked the "Other Asian" response category on the census questionnaire or wrote in a generic term such as "Asian" or "Asiatic."
SOURCE: Jessica S. Barnes and Claudette E. Bennett, "Table 4. Asian Population by Detailed Group: 2000," in The Asian Population: 2000, C2KBR/01-16, U.S. Census Bureau, February 2002, http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/c2kbr01-16.pdf (accessed December 9, 2005)
Total	10,019,405	223,593	1,516,841	138,989	11,898,828
Asian Indian	1,678,765	40,013	165,437	15,384	1,899,599
Bangladeshi	41,280	5,625	9,655	852	57,412
Bhutanese	183	9	17	3	212
Burmese	13,159	1,461	1,837	263	16,720
Cambodian	171,937	11,832	20,830	1,453	206,052
Chinese, except Taiwanese	2,314,537	130,826	201,688	87,790	2,734,841
Filipino	1,850,314	57,811	385,236	71,454	2,364,815
Hmong	169,428	5,284	11,153	445	186,310
Indo Chinese	113	55	23	8	199
Indonesian	39,757	4,429	17,256	1,631	63,073
Iwo Jiman	15	3	60	—	78
Japanese	796,700	55,537	241,209	55,486	1,148,932
Korean	1,076,872	22,550	114,211	14,794	1,228,427
Laotian	168,707	10,396	17,914	1,186	198,203
Malaysian	10,690	4,339	2,837	700	18,566
Maldivian	27	2	22	—	51
Nepalese	7,858	351	1,128	62	9,399
Okinawan	3,513	2,625	2,816	1,645	10,599
Pakistani	153,533	11,095	37,587	2,094	204,309
Singaporean	1,437	580	370	70	2,394
Sri Lankan	20,145	1,219	2,966	257	24,587
Taiwanese	118,048	14,096	11,394	1,257	144,795
Thai	112,989	7,929	27,170	2,195	150,283
Vietnamese	1,122,528	47,144	48,639	5,425	1,223,736
Other Asian, not specifiedb	146,870	19,576	195,449	7,535	369,430

Migrants who settled on the northern coast of Alaska and the Yukon River valley, which were free of ice barriers, became known as Eskimos and Aleuts. Those who ventured farther south followed the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains and continued along the mountainous spine of North America into Central and South America. There, they moved east throughout the central plains and eastern highlands of both continents and were later erroneously named Indians by exploring Spaniards. The misnomer is attributed to Christopher Columbus, who, on landing in the Bahamas in 1492, thought he had reached the islands off the eastern region of Asia, called the Indies. He therefore greeted the inhabitants as "Indians." Today, many descendants of the original settlers prefer to be called Native Americans.

Native Americans have always been associated with having a close relationship with the earth. Some have been farmers, while others have specialized in hunting and fishing. The arrival of Europeans eventually changed the way of life of Native American tribes. Devastating wars, disease, the annihilation of the buffalo, and the loss of land fit for cultivation to Europeans led to the elimination of much of their population.

In July 2004, 2.8 million Native Americans and Alaska Natives lived in the United States, making up approximately 1% of the population. An additional 1.6 million people claimed they were Native American or Alaska Native in combination with one or more other races. According to Profiles of General Demographic Characteristics 2000 (May 2001, http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/dp1/2kh00.pdf), between 2000 and 2004 the Native American and Alaska Native population TABLE 1.4 Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander population by detailed group, 2000 Elizabeth M. Grieco, "Table 4. Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Population by Detailed Group: 2000," in The Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Population: 2000, C2KBR/01-14, U.S. Census Bureau, December 2001, http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-14.pdf (accessed December 9, 2005)Who were one race increased by 348,795, or 14%.(See Table 1.1)

TABLE 1.4
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander population by detailed group, 2000
Detailed group	Native Hawaiian and Other		Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander in combination with one or more other races		Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander detailed group alone or in any combinationa
	One pacific Islander group reported	Two or more Pacific Islander groups reporteda	One pacific Islander group reported	Two or more Pacific Islander groups reporteda
—Represents zero.
aThe numbers by detailed Pacific Islander groups do not add to the total population. This is because the detailed Pacific Islander groups are tallies of the number of Pacific Islander responses rather than the number of Pacific Islander respondents. Respondents reporting several Pacific Islander groups are counted several times. For example, a respondent reporting "Samoan and Tongan" would be included in the Samoan as well as the Tongan numbers.
bIncludes respondents who checked the "Other Pacific Islander" response category on the census questionnaire or wrote in the generic term "Pacific Islander."
SOURCE: Elizabeth M. Grieco, "Table 4. Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Population by Detailed Group: 2000," in The Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Population: 2000, C2KBR/01-14, U.S. Census Bureau, December 2001, http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-14.pdf (accessed December 9, 2005)
Total	389,612	9,223	447,113	28,466	874,414
Polynesian
Native Hawaiian	140,652	5,157	241,510	13,843	401,162
Samoan	91,029	5,727	28,287	8,238	133,281
Tongan	27,713	2,227	5,675	1,225	36,840
Tahitian	800	199	1,137	1,177	3,313
Tokelauan	129	142	134	169	574
Polynesian, not specified	3,497	1,547	3,005	747	8,796
Micronesian
Guamanian or Chamorro	58,240	1,247	30,241	2,883	92,611
Mariana Islander	60	11	60	10	141
Saipanese	195	122	120	38	475
Palauan	2,228	102	1,004	135	3,469
Carolinian	91	40	30	12	173
Kosraean	157	11	51	7	226
Pohnpeian	486	77	116	21	700
Chuukese	367	50	220	17	654
Yapese	236	13	111	8	368
Marshallese	5,479	183	849	139	6,650
I-Kiribati	90	17	47	21	175
Micronesian, not specified	7,509	411	1,768	252	9,940
Melanesian
Fijian	9,796	169	7	155	13,581
Papua New Guinean	135	3	149	4,007	224
Solomon Islander	12	15	129,038	3	25
Ni-Vanuatu	6	1,309	3,461	—	18
Melanesian, not specified	147	3	83	4	315
Other Pacific Islanderb	40,558	1	10	4	174,912

Geographic Distribution

In 2000, 48% of Native Americans and Alaska Natives lived in the West. Another 29.3% live in the South, 16.1% live in the Midwest, and 6.6% live in the Northeast. (See Figure 1.7.) Individuals who were Native American or Alaska Native in combination with one or more other races were slightly less likely to live in the West and slightly more likely to live in the Northeast, Midwest, or South.

Many Native Americans live on or near reservations and are members of groupings called "tribes." According to the 2000 census, the largest tribal groupings were the Cherokee, with 729,533 members, followed by the Navajo, with 298,197 members, and the Latin Native Americans, with 180,940 members. (See Figure 1.8.) Many Alaska Natives are also members of such groups. The largest tribal groupings of Alaska Natives, according to the 2000 census, were the Eskimos, with 54,761 members, followed by Tlingit-Haida, with 22,365 members, the Alaska Athabascan, with 18,838 members, and the Aleut, with 16,978 members. (See Figure 1.9.)

FIGURE 1.6 Region of residence for Asian and Pacific Islanders and non-Hispanic whites, 2002 Terrance Reeves and Claudette Bennett, "Figure 1. Region of Residence for Selected Groups: 2002," in The Asian and Pacific Islander Population in the United States: March 2002, Current Population Reports P20-540, U.S. Census Bureau, May 2003, http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p20-540.pdf (accessed December 9, 2005)

FIGURE 1.7 Percent distribution of the Native American and Alaska Native population by region, 2000 Stella U. Ogunwole, "Figure 2. Percent Distribution of the American Indian and Alaska Native Population by Region: 2000," in The American Indian and Alaska Native Population: 2000, C2KBR/01-15, U.S. Census Bureau, February 2002, http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/c2kbr01-15.pdf (accessed December 11, 2005)

FIGURE 1.8 Ten largest Native American tribal groupings, 2000 Stella U. Ogunwole, "Figure 5. Ten Largest American Indian Tribal Groupings: 2000," in The American Indian and Alaska Native Population: 2000, C2KBR/01-15, U.S. Census Bureau, February 2002, http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/c2kbr01-15.pdf (accessed December 11, 2005)

FIGURE 1.9 Largest Alaska Native tribal groupings, 2000 Stella U. Ogunwole, "Figure 6. Largest Alaska Native Tribal Groupings: 2000," in The American Indian and Alaska Native Population: 2000, C2KBR/01-15, U.S. Census Bureau, February 2002, http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/c2kbr01-15.pdf (accessed December 11, 2005)