Why do white Americans pretend to be Native Americans (Indigenous People) ?

Answer 1

Because they blended together often. What don't you understand the sex part? Many have both or some.

Answer 2

My grandma was a full blooded american indian, she grew up on a reservation, my dad and his two sisters are dark skinned and black haired, me my brother and 5 out of my six cousins all still look éthnic'. I get asked what my ethnic background is, and I say irish, german, yada yada and my grandma was native american, and people go ahhhh, that's it. But my one cousin is white, I mean stereotypical white blonde hair blue eyes, but he's still a quarter native american. So I dunno if you've met like some English dudes with cockney accents doing rain dances and building teepees or something but my point is that u can't judge a book by it's cover , if that is what ur doing, some of these whities running around could be more native than u might think.

I had to edit after reading above speel, u know the one that goes and goes and goes. . . in response I will say ummm try 3 to 5 thousand years and it is sad whenever a culture or tradition dies out, and there are many fast fading off this earth, i'm not an expert on all tribes, but mine didn't have a form of writing therefore all our history was passed down orally, over generations, I got the feeling you felt like we as decendants of indegenous people should more or less shut up. But that is unfair, just because u don't like how the story goes, doesn't mean that the tradition of repeating the story of our history should stop. Maybe u missunderstand and think if this retelling as complaining, when it is just a people keeping a tradition alive whether they do it knowingly or not.
also from what I understand there are over two thousand federally unrecognised tribes in the US, so not everyone can get government regognition, from what I understand
didn't mean to rant, I appologise

Answer 3

I don't understand your question. How can any person of any color pretend to be Native American unless of course they have the blood of a native American. Just because they are white does not mean they are lying. There were many who were taken from their homes and brought to the tribes in slavery. Most of those were assimilated into the tribe after a time. The dominant genes may have come from the white parent.

Answer 4

Get out a dictionary and look it up. Is this an immigration question? Then you are refering to the ongoing debate about Mexicans claiming that Americans stole their land. There is a ridiculous argument on the part of the Native American Indians and the Mexicans, both of whom are quite mixed with us evil white people and most of it NOT from rape. The argument is that we living white Americans are guilty of a war that occured many generations ago and that they, the supposedly true native people, must team up against us and take United States land away from America. They are declaring war against innocent working class white people for something that not only happened more than 150 years ago, but also didn't happen to them. I repeat, I did not do this and it did not happen to you!
Back to your question...I am a NATIVE AMERICAN because I WAS BORN HERE. NATIVE means nativity, birth, country of birth. I know you Mexicans use that word so don't play dumb with me. I am indiginous because my ancestors have been here from over 100 years to over 300 years. How many hundred of years do one's ancestors have to be here before we are considered natives of our own country? I'm not an invader. I didn't steal anything. I WAS BORN HERE. And why is it that you very mixed (mostly by marrigage) people continuously deny all of your European ancestors and continue this racial protest against us as though you were 100% Indian? If you are truely denying your non-Indian ancestors, why don't you just refer to your tribes. I mean, that's what you are doing. Going tribal on us, right? Europeans started the country called America, and all native born Europeans are native Americans. This right was also extended to the rest of you born here. So while you are whining about who the true native Americans are, maybe you should consider rephrasing it to native North Americans, or Apaches, or Aztecs, or something more appropriate. I am not going to pretend I am a rich white person born in Europe who invaded YOUR country and stole YOUR land because it ain't true. Either join us or go away.

Answer 5

Because I was born here - thus making me indigenous. In truth, either everyone born here is "native" or not. According to pre-historians, the Americas were colonized during the last ice age when people crossed on the Bering land bridge between Alaska and Russia. Humans were neither planted by a creator nor evolved here independently (depending on your preference).

I prefer the Canadian way of calling Aboriginal Americans "First Tribes". Basically, they just got here before Europeans and at the basic level, we're all just a bunch of squabbling tribes!

Answer 6

Who is pretending? There is no indigenous people of this land.... I am Native, because I was born here. Look up the word native. American Indians are of Asian descent, so how can they possibly be indigenous?

Answer 7

I assume you mean white Americans think of themselves as descending from the colonists/founding fathers/heroes of U.S. history-- certainly you don't mean we white people really think our ancestry goes back more than a few hundred years.

Those of us who are proud to be American are proud of what the European immigrants and the early Americans accomplished, which, I suppose, isn't much different from Mexican American kids today revering Aztecs, an Indian tribe most of today's Mexicans are only partly descended from.

If you're thinking in terms of history and how Europeans took the land from the natives, that argument can go on forever-- the Indians fought each other, took each other's land, raped each other's helpless victims. People descended from indigenous people are certainly free to confer upon themselves some sort of moral superiority as a result of it, but to what purpose?

Answer 8

I dont know anyone that pretends to be a Native American...for me as a white person, I respect them

Answer 9

You must forgive them... most, like myself, have a deep abiding respect and admiration for the Native Tribes of Yesteryear... they have romantisized the way of life and are wishing they could have experienced it for themselves... It goes back to as early as the formative years: I remember many times, standing on the sand bluffs of a hill overlooking a lake located on the great plains of North Dakota... watching a great cumulus nimbus thunderhead roll across the plains & over the lake... complete with high winds & hail!! The approaching storm was electrifying: I could only imagine what it must have like for a Dakota, Lakota, Hunkpapa, Brule, Teton, Mandan, Assinaboin, Yanktonai warrior on his horse overlooking such a spectacle after a buffalo hunt... and the movies... ones like "Dances With Wolves" only help to cement that affinity. I'm of the belief that as we inhabit a land, we become more & more like its original inhabitants... at least the spirit of the land invades your soul and rightfully claims you. So you see, the Native Americans may have lost their land initially, but that will all change over time...'cause we are all becoming like those we displaced. Yes, perhaps this is just a romantic notion...wishful thinking? But think about it and keep an open mind.
I spent five years in Australia, and I swear part of the aboriginal's ability to withstand the heat was born within me.

Answer 10

Well, I am not white or Native American, but here is an idea you may not have thought about.
Native American and white people actually interbred(oh my gosh, shocker right)? Thus creating people who are half, a quarter, etc Native American. So what if they are proud of their ancestors, they should be. Now, here is a real shocker for you. It didn't happen in just America. It happened in places like Mexico too!

Answer 11

I've wondered the same thing. A couple years ago I ran into two people all dressed in Native American clothing and they were clearly white. They were hiking through a park and they claimed they were "mixed bloods." I couldn't see any native american in them at all.