| − | '''American Indians''' are the descendants of the indigenous inhabitants of [[North America|North]] and [[South America]] before the coming of [[Europe]]ans in 1492. Throughout U.S. history, they were subjected to extreme and violent persecution, especially under [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] politicians (such as [[Andrew Jackson]]); as recently as 2007, a group of Democrat congressmen and congresswomen introduced a bill in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] to "terminate" the [[Cherokee|Cherokee Nation]].<ref>http://www.tanasijournal.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=365&Itemid=1&ed=53</ref> | + | '''American Indians''' are the descendants of the inhabitants of [[North America|North]] and [[South America]] before the coming of [[Europe]]ans in 1492. Another term, "[[Native American]]", is sometimes also used to refer to American Indians in order to distinguish them from the people of [[India]], and to emphasize their North America ancestry. |
| − | Another term, "[[Native American]]", is sometimes also used to refer to American Indians in order to distinguish them from the people of [[India]], and to emphasize their North America ancestry and indigenous status. | |