American Indian

noun

plural American Indians

: a member of any of the Indigenous peoples of the western hemisphere except often certain peoples (such as the Yupik and Inuit) who live in arctic regions

especially : an American Indian of North America and especially the U.S. compare native american

American Indian adjective

Examples of American Indian in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Peltier was involved in the American Indian Movement (AIM) in the 1970s, which led him to travel to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota amid tensions between the tribal chairman and a traditionalist faction of the Lakota nation. —Zack Budryk, The Hill, 13 Dec. 2024

About 61% of those were white, 37% Black, 1.8% Asian and 0.5% American Indian. —Javier Zarracina, USA TODAY, 13 Dec. 2024

Hudson's quilts have been acquired by the Smithsonian's Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, by the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, and by a number of private collectors. —Adam Burke, NPR, 9 Dec. 2024

Tech Natives students Kyra Kaya and Madeline Gupta at the 2023 American Indian Science & Engineering Society conference. —Iris Kim, NBC News, 29 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1650, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

American Indian

noun

: a member of any of the Indigenous peoples of the western hemisphere except often certain peoples (as the Yupik and Inuit) who live in arctic regions

especially : an American Indian of North America and especially the U.S.

American Indian adjective