What Defines A Native American?

A Native American is the politically correct name given to American Indians. This is the term used to describe the original populace that inhabited America before the advent of Europeans before the fifteenth century.

At the time that Christopher Columbus discovered America, it was believed to be just outside the East Indies; hence the title of Indians was given to the inhabitants. Native Americans are believed to have come from Asia and enter American territory around the later glacial epoch through the Bering Strait. Native Americans have a lot of similar physical features – Straight, coarse jet black hair, mongoloid characteristics, yellowish skin colour etc.

"Native American" was the official term given to these people by the government of the USA in an effort to stop utilization of the misnomer "Indian".