Difference between revisions of "American Indian"
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People today who are only partly descended from those early American Indians are still considered to be American Indians if they maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment. However, each Indian tribe or band has its own definitions regarding membership, some based on historical tradition, others based on rules (like blood quanta) imposed by the US Government. | People today who are only partly descended from those early American Indians are still considered to be American Indians if they maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment. However, each Indian tribe or band has its own definitions regarding membership, some based on historical tradition, others based on rules (like blood quanta) imposed by the US Government. | ||
Revision as of 17:14, June 15, 2009
American Indians are the descendants of the inhabitants of North and South America before the coming of Europeans 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.
Sovereignty
In the United States there are 562 Native American tribes that retain their independent sovereignty.
Origins
People today who are only partly descended from those early American Indians are still considered to be American Indians if they maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment. However, each Indian tribe or band has its own definitions regarding membership, some based on historical tradition, others based on rules (like blood quanta) imposed by the US Government.
In 1996 there was a discovery of fragments of a skeleton called the Kennewick Man. But serious doubts about the authenticity of these remains have resulted in litigation and criticism. Some claimed that radiocarbon dating supported an age of more than 9000 years.[1] The morphology of the Kennewick Man remains is said to differ from that of present day Native Americans, suggesting a different ancestry[2] but there remains significant controversy about that.[3]
Despite this controversy, there has been significant evidence that certain Indian tribes do have ties to Asian peoples. For instance, numerous American Indians and Mongolians share a physical trait, known as "shovel tooth" in which the incisor has a distinctive shovel-like shape. According to geneticists, this cannot be a coincidence. [4] Another interesting piece of evidence has to do with skull measurements. According to skull measurements done in 2001 at the University of Michigan, scientists have suggested that Blackfoot, Sioux, and Cherokee Indians may have descended from the ancient, indigenous Jomon people of Japan, and related to the Ainu ethnic minority on the island of Hokkaido.[5]
Creationist explanations
Some creation scientists have pointed to the American Indian population's lack of any ties to other populations as evidence of biblical veracity. The population was established after the destruction of the Tower of Babel, as God dispersed the nations, their languages, and skills.[6]
References
- ↑ http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/kennewickman.html
- ↑ http://www.archaeology.org/online/news/kennewick.html
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedwho - ↑ http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/Tooth_morphology/adult_variation_morph.htm
- ↑ http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/293/5532/1043a
- ↑ Ronald L. Numbers, The Creationists: From Scientific Creationism to Intelligent Design, 467.