Portal:Indigenous peoples of the Americas

Introduction Current distribution of Indigenous peoples of the Americas In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants prior to European colonization of the Americas in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of the Americas as such. These populations exhibit significant diversity; some Indigenous peoples were historically hunter-gatherers, while others practiced agriculture and aquaculture. Various Indigenous societies developed complex social structures, including pre-contact monumental architecture, organized cities, city-states, chiefdoms, states, kingdoms, republics, confederacies, and empires. These societies possessed varying levels of knowledge in fields such as engineering, architecture, mathematics, astronomy, writing, physics, medicine, agriculture, irrigation, geology, mining, metallurgy, art, sculpture, and goldsmithing. Indigenous peoples continue to inhabit many regions of the Americas, with significant populations in countries such as Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and the United States. There are at least 1,000 different indigenous languages spoken across the Americas, with 574 federally recognized tribes in the US alone. Some languages, including Quechua, Arawak, Aymara, Guaraní, Mayan, and Nahuatl, have millions of speakers and are recognized as official by governments in Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, and Greenland. Indigenous peoples, whether residing in rural or urban areas, often maintain aspects of their cultural practices, including religion, social organization, and subsistence practices. Over time, these cultures have evolved, preserving traditional customs while adapting to modern needs. Some Indigenous groups remain relatively isolated from Western culture, with a few still considered uncontacted peoples. (Full article...) Selected article A Calusa wood carving of an alligator head excavated in Key Marco in 1895, on display at the Florida Museum of Natural History The indigenous people of the Everglades region arrived in the Florida peninsula of what is now the United States approximately 14,000 to 15,000 years ago, probably following large game. The Paleo-Indians found an arid landscape that supported plants and animals adapted to prairie and xeric scrub conditions. Large animals became extinct in Florida around 11,000 years ago. Climate changes 6,500 years ago brought a wetter landscape. The Paleo-Indians slowly adapted to the new conditions. Archaeologists call the cultures that resulted from the adaptations Archaic peoples. They were better suited for environmental changes than their ancestors, and created many tools with the resources they had. Approximately 5,000 years ago, the climate shifted again to cause the regular flooding from Lake Okeechobee that gave rise to the Everglades ecosystems. From the Archaic peoples, two major tribes emerged in the area: the Calusa and the Tequesta, who were of Taíno origin, an Arawak people, originating from the Caribbean and South America. The earliest written descriptions of these people come from Spanish explorers who sought to convert and conquer them. Although they lived in complex societies, little evidence of their existence remains today. The Calusa were more powerful in number and political structure. Their territory was centered on modern-day Ft. Myers, and extended as far north as Tampa, as far east as Lake Okeechobee, and as far south as the Keys. The Tequesta lived on the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula around what is today Biscayne Bay and the Miami River. Both societies were well adapted to live in the various ecosystems of the Everglades regions. They often traveled through the heart of the Everglades, though they rarely lived within it. More... Selected images Maya glyphs in stucco now on display at Museo de sitio in Palenque, Mexico (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) A bison hunt depicted in a painting by George Catlin (1844) (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) A Mayan woman (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) The bean is native to Mexico and Central America and later began to be cultivated in South America. (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Areas of Indigenous peoples in South and Central America at the time of European colonization (in Spanish) (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) The West Indies (or Antilles) in relation to the continental Americas (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Wayuu women in the Guajira Peninsula, which comprises parts of Colombia and Venezuela (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Embera girl in the Darién Province, 2006. (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) The major indigenous language families of much of present-day South America and Panama (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) A Navajo boy in the desert in present-day Monument Valley in Arizona with the "Three Sisters" rock formation in the background in 2007 (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) The Rarámuri marathon in Urique (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Tunumiit Inuit couple from Kulusuk, Greenland (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) A Choctaw artist in present-day Oklahoma (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Areas of Indigenous peoples in North America at time of European colonization (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) The Kogi, descendants of the Tairona, are a culturally intact, largely pre-Columbian era society. (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) A Mapuche man and woman; the Mapuche make up about 85% of Indigenous population that live in Chile. (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) A Warao family traveling in their canoe in Venezuela (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) An illustration in Florentine Codex, compiled between 1540 and 1585, depicting the Nahua peoples suffering from smallpox during the conquest-era in central Mexico (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Members of an uncontacted tribe encountered in Acre in present-day Brazil in 2009 (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) A Huichol woman from Zacatecas, Mexico (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) The tomato (jitomate, in central Mexico) was later cultivated by the pre-Hispanic civilizations of Mexico. (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) An Indigenous man playing a panpipe, antara, or siku (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Shaman of the Cofán people from the Amazonian forest in present-day Ecuador (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Guambía people relaxing in Colombia (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Amerindian and Inuit populations of the Americas as of year 2024 (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Indigenous Pipil women dancing in the traditional Procession of Palms in Panchimalco, El Salvador (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) A Quechua woman and child in the Sacred Valley in Cuzco Region, Peru (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) A Navajo man on horseback in present-day Monument Valley in Arizona (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Evo Morales, an Aymara member and former President of Bolivia (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Proportion of Native Brazilians in each department in 2022. (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Chimu culture feather pectoral, feathers, reed, copper, silver, hide, cordage, c. 1350–1450 (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) A representation of the domesticated plant species cultivated by Indigenous peoples have influenced the crops that were produced globally. (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Maya women from present-day Guatemala (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) A Mapuche man in present-day Chile (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Proportion of Native Argentines in each department in 2022. (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Proportion of Native Americans in each county in 2020. (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) The ancient mesoamerican engraving of maize now on display at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Proportion of Native Mexicans in each municipalities in 2020. (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Indigenous peoples textile art in 1995 by Julia Pingushat, including Inuk, Arviat, Nunavut, Canada, wool, and embroidery floss (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Language families of Indigenous peoples in North America shown across present-day Canada, Greenland, the United States, and northern Mexico (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) An Indigenous woman in traditional dress near Cochabamba, Bolivia (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) A qpGraph on the formation of Ancient Paleo-Siberians and Native American populations. (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) A map showing the origin of the first wave of humans into the Americas, including the Ancestral Northern Eurasian, which represent a distinct Paleolithic Siberian population, and the Northeast Asians, which are an East Asian-related group. The admixture happened somewhere in Northeast Siberia. (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) A carnival with Tzeltal people in Tenejapa Municipality, Chiapas (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) "The Maiden", one of the discovered Llullaillaco mummies, a preserved Inca human sacrifice from around the year 1500. (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Quechua women in festive dress on Taquile Island on Lake Titicaca, west of Peru (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) A schematic illustration of maternal (mtDNA) gene-flow in and out of Beringia, from 25,000 years ago to present Owners of a roadside cafe near Cachi, Salta Province, Argentina (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Principal component analysis showing the Native American cluster in other Eurasian populations. (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) An Indigenous Terena man from present-day Brazil (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Indigenous people at a farm plantation in Minas Gerais in present-day Brazil, c. 1824 (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) A map of Canada showing the percent of self-reported indigenous identity (First Nations, Inuit, Métis) by census division, according to the 2021 Canadian census (from Indigenous peoples of the Americas) Selected biography Ishi (c. 1860 – March 25, 1916) was the last member of the Yahi, a group of the Yana people of the U.S. state of California. Widely acclaimed in his time as the "last wild Indian" in America, Ishi lived most of his life completely outside modern culture. At about 49 years of age, in 1911, he emerged from "the wild" near Oroville, California, leaving his ancestral homeland, present-day Tehama County, near the foothills of Lassen Peak, known to Ishi as Wa ganu p'a. Ishi means "man" in the Yana language. The anthropologist Alfred Kroeber gave this name to the man because it was rude to ask someone's name in the Yahi culture. When asked his name, he said: "I have none, because there were no people to name me," meaning that no Yahi had ever spoken his name. He was taken in by anthropologists at the University of California, who both studied him and hired him as a research assistant. He lived most of his remaining five years in a university building in San Francisco. More... Did you know… ... that Lutheran priest Henrik Lund wrote Greenland's nation anthem, Nunarput utoqqarsuanngoravit, in the indigenous Greenlandic language? ... that the artwork of full-blood Tsimshian photographer Benjamin Haldane has enjoyed a revival after his glass plate negatives were discovered in an Alaskan dump? ... that in traditional Plains hide painting, Native American women painted abstract, geometric designs while men painted representational, narrative images? 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Selected panorama Ball court, Chichen Itza, Mexico image credit: Martinelli95 Recognized content Featured articles Inuit clothing Maya civilization Maya stelae Mayan languages Nahuatl Olmec colossal heads Takalik Abaj Former featured articles Caral–Supe civilization Chaco Culture National Historical Park Hugo Chávez Guinea pig Operation Auca Voynich manuscript Good articles Bertha Acarapi Severo Aguilar Archaeology of Iowa Aztecs Cueva de las Manos Chocolate in savory cooking Columbian exchange Coyote Eagle Woman Eugenio Espejo Julia Figueredo Franklin Flores Luis Gallego Carmen García (politician) History of chocolate History of Inuit clothing Ninfa Huarachi Indian Peace Commission Indio Comahue Monument India Juliana Josiane Lima Macuahuitl Man of the Hole Manche Chʼol Patricia Mancilla Mesa Verde National Park Muisca raft Mummy Cave Navajo weaving Battle of Ollantaytambo Lidia Patty Peruvian Amazon Company Samuel Plata Pocahontas (1995 film) Martha Poma Potato Quilago Rafael Quispe Qʼumarkaj Research on Inuit clothing Alba Roballo Carlos Scharff Smallpox Spanish conquest of Honduras Tomato Western Mexico shaft tomb tradition Martha Yujra Zaculeu Former good articles Chocolate Ollanta Humala Inca Empire Indigenous peoples in Canada Machu Picchu Measles Monarchies in the Americas Evo Morales Population history of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas Did you know? articles Acala Chʼol Bertha Acarapi Severo Aguilar Akuntsu Mestizo Alejo Amate Amazonas de Yaxunah Ana Eva Hei Ángel arcabucero Deaths of Arnold Archambeau and Ruby Bruguier Awilix Balberta Rosita Baltazar Barro negro pottery John P. Bennett Bilbao (Mesoamerican site) Bochica Maria Eugenia Bozzoli Brazilian traditional medicine Bullskin Creek Site Jemmy Button Battle of Cajamarca Camarão Indians' letters Cambriol Canfield Island Site Caral–Supe civilization Cueva de las Manos Chachi people Chan-Chan Chinamita Chitinamit Chocolate in savory cooking Chojolom Chontal Maya Chullpa Corwin Clairmont Classic Veracruz culture Clough Creek and Sand Ridge Archaeological District Radmilla Cody Cradleboard Cranberry Creek Archeological District Desert Campaign (1833–1834) Onésime Dorval Eagle Woman Eccentric flint Epi-Olmec culture Eva site Julia Figueredo First Upper Peru campaign First white child Franklin Flores Yvonne Fredericks-Pearson Fuente de las Tarascas Fundadores de São Paulo Luis Gallego Carmen García (politician) Edward Page Gaston Genocide of Indigenous peoples in Brazil Genocide of Indigenous peoples in Paraguay Jeffrey Gibson Filippo Salvatore Gilii Paulo Paulino Guajajara Benjamin Haldane Dawn Hastings-Williams Faye HeavyShield History of chocolate History of Inuit clothing Houserville Site Huastec civilization Huave language Huichol art Sabine Hyland Inca cuisine Inca plan Inca agriculture Indian Peace Commission Indigenous peoples in Ecuador Indigenous peoples in Brazil Indigenous territory (Brazil) Indigenous peoples of Maryland Indio Comahue Monument Inuit clothing Itasca State Park Itza people Iztapalapa Jacawitz Jewish Indian theory Kakiniit Kallawaya Kawahiva Kuisi Kʼicheʼ kingdom of Qʼumarkaj Lakandon Chʼol Lanzón Josiane Lima Children of Llullaillaco LoDaisKa site Albert Looking Elk Henning Jakob Henrik Lund Macuahuitl Mama Killa Freddy Mamani Manche Chʼol Patricia Mancilla Manteño-Huancavilca culture Matsés language Maya civilization Maya stelae Gerald McMaster Memorial Park Site Mesa Verde National Park Mexican ceramics Mirador mine Willy Mitchell Mixtec writing Mollo culture Monumento a la Raza (Medellín) Monumento a la Raza (Mexico City) Monumento a los Constructores Monumento a los Indios Verdes Mummy Cave Nambikwara language Native American Languages Act of 1990 Native American genocide in the United States Native Community Lands Navajo weaving Nicarao people David Pendleton Oakerhater Battle of Ollantaytambo Ollantaytambo Olmec influences on Mesoamerican cultures Olmec colossal heads Operation Auca Otumba de Gómez Farías Paiján culture Pampa mesa Lidia Patty Písac Samuel Plata Pocahontas Island Dascha Polanco Martha Poma Native Americans in German popular culture Pulque Purépecha language Purépecha Empire Quelepa Rafael Quispe Qʼumarkaj Qʼuqʼumatz Research on Inuit clothing Lawney Reyes Rikbaktsa Battle of Río Bueno (1654) Alba Roballo Sajama Lines Socorro Sánchez del Rosario Sancti Spiritu (Argentina) Anette Sanford Carlos Scharff Sillustani George Simon (artist) Sinews of Survival Sopa de Caracol Spanish conquest of Honduras Spanish conquest of Nicaragua Spiderwoman Theater Ernest Spybuck St. Johns culture Stanfield-Worley Bluff Shelter Statue of Minerva, Guadalajara Swan's Landing Archeological Site Takalik Abaj Maria Tallchief Tehuantepec Teponaztli Willie Thrasher Tianguis Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center Jerome Tiger Tikiġaġmiut Título de Totonicapán Tlalli Tlaxcala Tlāhuizcalpantecuhtli Tohil Toquepala Caves Tree of Life (Mexican pottery) Catherine Troeh Tzeltal people Union of Indigenous Communities of the Isthmus Region Usos y costumbres Viriamo Western Mexico shaft tomb tradition The Wrestler (sculpture) Célia Xakriabá Xiuhcoatl Yalain Alejandro Mario Yllanes Yokcushlu The Young Woman of Amajac Martha Yujra Zaculeu Zemi In the News articles 2009 Peruvian political crisis Berta Cáceres Cristina Calderón Cerro Pátapo ruins Hugo Chávez Gustavo Gutiérrez Indigenous peoples of the Americas Theo Jubitana Tuíre Kayapó Man of the Hole Evo Morales National Museum of Brazil fire Daphne Odjig Roberto Rojas (politician) Maria Tallchief Yasuní National Park Associated Wikimedia The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject: Commons Free media repository Wikibooks Free textbooks and manuals Wikidata Free knowledge base Wikinews Free-content news Wikiquote Collection of quotations Wikisource Free-content library Wikiversity Free learning tools Wiktionary Dictionary and thesaurus American indigenous language Wikipedias Avañe'ẽ (Warani)  · Aymar aru (Aymara)  · ᏣᎳᎩ (Cherokee)  · Chahta (Choctaw)  · ᐃᔨᔫ (Cree)  · ᐃᓄᒃ (Inuktitut)  · Iñupiak  · Kalaallisut (Greenlandic Inuit)  · Mvskoke (Muscogee)  · Nahuatlahtolli  · Diné bizaad (Navajo)  · Qhichwa Simi  · Tsêhesenêstsestôtse (Cheyenne) Indigenous languages in Wikimedia Incubators: Alabama  · Blackfoot  · Chinook Jargon  · Choctaw  · Creek  · Lakota  · Micmac  · Mohawk  · Nheengatu  · Northwestern Ojibwa  · O'odham  · Shoshoni  · Unami-Lenape  · Wüne pakina (Mapudungun)  · Yucatec Maya  · Central Alaskan Yup'ik  · Zuni