Native American

noun

: a member of any of the indigenous peoples of the western hemisphere
especially : a Native American of North America and especially the U.S. compare american indian
Native American adjective

Examples of Native American in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Gladstone would be the first Native American to win the lead actress Oscar. Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2024 That’s evident early on, when his character, Chief, single-handedly dispatches a group of bad guys who make the mistake of harassing a Native American in a saloon. Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Feb. 2024 Perched at 7,000 feet above sea level, the historic, high-desert city has preserved and elevated its deep ties to Spanish, Native American, and Mexican traditions. Lauren Mowery, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024 The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, also known as NAGPRA, was enacted in 1990 and calls for the protection and return of Native American remains, funerary objects, sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony to affiliated tribes. Frank Vaisvilas, Journal Sentinel, 26 Feb. 2024 In 1969, Momaday became the first Native American to win the fiction Pulitzer, and his novel helped launch a generation of authors, including Leslie Marmon Silko, James Welch and Louise Erdrich. Hillel Italie, USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2024 In recent years, museums and universities across the United States have undergone a reckoning over the thousands of Native American remains in their collections that federal laws forced them to address in the 1990s after years of activism from Indigenous communities. Claire Healy, Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2024 The investigations start with an allegation: Someone who claims to be Native American is not. Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2024 To be Native American is less an identity to be claimed and proclaimed than to be tried on, furtively, after much Internet research. Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Native American.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1628, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of Native American was circa 1628

Dictionary Entries Near Native American

Cite this Entry

“Native American.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Native%20American. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

Native American

noun
: a member of any of the indigenous peoples of the western hemisphere
especially : a Native American of North America and especially the U.S. compare american indian
Native American adjective

More from Merriam-Webster on Native American

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