Category:Indigenous people of the Americas

Note: Amerindian is an ambiguous term given to people descended primarily from the native and/or indigenous inhabitants of the Americas prior to the European colonization (following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492). The term distinguishes those people from Mestizos (of mixed native and Afro-Euro-Asian races) and Criollos (American-born Europeans).

The Indigenous peoples the Americas are often called "American Indian" or just "Indians". These terms, as well as "Amerindian" term are all erroneous, because they derive from the word Indian, which denotes an Indian American or someone from the nation of India. "American Indian" correctly denotes an indigenous person from the United States, or any nation of the Americas, who is a citizen of India, in the same manner as the terms Latin American and Mexican American are used. The term originated when Columbus thought he had found a route to India, when he had actually found the Americas.

In the United States, the terms Amerindian and American Indian present additional ambiguity when they refer to children of Indians (from India) born or raised in the US, in the same manner as the terms Afroamerican and African American are used. In Canada, therefore, the terms "First Nations," "Aboriginal," or the name of the tribe (such as Cree or Ojibway) are often used instead. Native American is the term used for indigenous people in the United States and U.S. citizens who are their descendants.