Native Americans and The Indian Removal Act Policy

Understanding Native Americans in History Introduction Within present-day U.S. boundaries, Native Americans including the aboriginal peoples of Hawaii and Alaska are comprised of many distinct ethnic groups and tribes, which survive like integral political communities. In 1783, the U.S. was a newfangled country with about three million people mostly living along Atlantic seaboard. The term referring to them is rather controversial. According to 1995 American Census Bureau, most Native Americans prefer the term Indians or American Indians. While this term has gained currency with some major newspapers and academic groups, it leaves out Native Hawaiians as well as particular Alaskan Natives like Inuit and Yupik peoples. Native Americans who were around 600,000 people controlled lands in Western Appalachian Mountains (Gunther, 2006).