Why do people think American Indians are not immigrants to the US?

Question

Everyone is an immigrant to this part of the world. The only difference is the time separating the immigration.

Answer 1

Since modern man originated in Africa, everyone anywhere else is an immigrant. Everyone is Asia, all immigrants. Europe? All immigrants. This is a really stupid way to look at things. Native Americans were in America for tens of thousands of years. That's long enough to say it's there Homeland.

Answer 2

True, everyone seperated after the Tower of Babel and some eventually reached the Western World. When we use the term immigrants, we think about people coming in to the US from other countries and the term is used after the United States became a country. We do not consider American Indians immigrants because they were here before the United States was settled. Are the early English people of England really native to there? Everybody "migrated" from the middle-east.

Answer 3

You can't be an immigrant into a country that did not exist at the time. The country came long after the Indians were here.

Answer 4

I think probably because the American Indians were here enmasse amd cpvered North America and were extinguished (physically, morally, spiritually, and their land was taken as well as the means to support themselves) systemmatically by non-indigenous peoples.

If you know who inhabited North America before the American Indians (misnomer if you ask me -- American Indian -- should just keep the tribal names and we would know it wasn't India Indians) please let me know.

American Indians do not believe they immigrated from the Middle East they believe they have always been here -- they also believe Jesus appeared to them after he was crucified -- they (at least the Cherokee believe in One God).

The Bible is a message of salvation through His chosen people (the people he chose to bring salvation through -- not a scientific account of all of the innerworkings of the universe and every people on the planet). I believe that Adam and Eve were real; I think we all came from them; but if God can do anything, why can't he put Adam and Eve's children on different continents to populate them?

Please get God out of a box. He is not human or bound by the laws of what we believe or limited by what we think.

If anyone cares, I'm just trying to get people to think instead of always putting my true beliefs out there because those are not static, they are fluid and each of you play a part in opening my eyes to avenues I have not considered -- BIG THANK YOU TO EACH PERSON ON ANSWERS WHO GIVES WELL THOUGHT-OUT ANSWERS -- ESPECIALLY THOSE PEOPLE WHO I DISAGREE WITH BECAUSE THEN I AM CHALLENGED!!!

I consider it a privilege to be able to access all of these opinions, insights and occasional knowlege without paying for another college degree!

Answer 5

Check your definition of the word "immigrant":

immigrant : a person who comes to a country where they were not born in order to settle there

OR

Immigrant : One who immigrates; one who comes to a country for the purpose of permanent residence; -- correlative of emigrant.

American Indians did NOT come to the US, they were there way before USA was formed. Besides, their children born in North America do NOT count as immigrants to any imaginary country you may think there existed at that time.

It would be nice to use words in their own meanings, and not try to play smart by making your own definitions, thus degrading the value of the established concepts.

Answer 6

It's a freaking HUGE span of time, and given that the presence of man in the Americas traces back to prehistoric eras, it's a moot point as far as the current immigration "debate" is concerned.

Answer 7

Because they are the natives aka first ones to be in the land. Anyone that comes after that is immigrants actually.

Answer 8

i dont know about you but i didnt migrate here. maybe my great, great grandparents did but i was born here. show me the proof that the American Indians all migrated. as far as any of us know they were all born here and lived here for a long time before anybody else. maybe they were put here on purpose, and didnt migrate from anywhere? maybe they sprouted from the ground in central oregon. no one knows where they came from. my question to you is why do you think they (and "everyone" else for that matter) migrated here?

Answer 9

thats true, but the human race began in africa.
although the first poeple on the continent of the untied states were supossed to have migrated from europe into russia and then into aslaka....... the continental shelves mure closer that time as the ice age was still prevailent. (one huse ice sheet) they probably only had a few kms. to cross to get onto aslaska/n. america...........

Answer 10

THE PEOPLE as Native Americans refer to themselves were placed here on Turtle Island ( The United States area ) by THE CREATOR. Suggest you read THE PEOPLE's history and listen to their oral traditions.