A/HRC/21/47/Add.1 I. The indigenous peoples of the United States 1. The indigenous peoples of the United States include a vast array of distinct groups that fall under the generally accepted designation of Native Americans, which include American Indians and Alaska Natives; also included are the people indigenous to Hawaii, or Native Hawaiians. These indigenous peoples form tribes or nations – terms used interchangeably in this report – and other communities with distinctive cultural and political attributes. A. The diverse indigenous nations, tribes and communities 2. Broadly speaking, Native Americans living in the contiguous United States constitute tribes or nations with diverse cultural and ethnic characteristics that can be grouped geographically. Linguistic families and other cultural markers, however, cross rough geographic categories, and within these categories differences abound. For historical and other reasons, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians are considered distinct from Native Americans in the contiguous United States. 3. The United States presently recognizes and maintains what it refers to as government-to-government relations with approximately 566 American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages, around 230 of these being Alaskan Native groups. For the most part each of these tribes and villages determines its own membership. While having some form of federal recognition, Native Hawaiians do not have a similar status under United States law as that of American Indians and Alaska Native groups. Many other groups in the United States that identify as indigenous peoples have not been federally recognized, although some of these have achieved recognition at the state level. 4. It is estimated that prior to colonization, the indigenous population within the territory that now constitutes the United States numbered several million, and represented diverse cultures and societies speaking hundreds of languages and dialects. After the arrival of Europeans, the indigenous population suffered significant decline due to the effects of disease, war, enslavement and forced relocations. 5. Today, according to United States census data people who identify as Native American represent approximately 1.7 per cent of the overall population of the United States, with 5.2 million persons identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native, either alone or in combination with one or more other races. 1 It should be noted that this number significantly exceeds the number of those who are enrolled or registered members of federally recognized indigenous groups. In addition, there are roughly a half a million persons that identify entirely or partly as Native Hawaiians. 6. Characteristically, the federally recognized tribes have reservations or other lands that have been left to or set aside for them, and over which they exercise powers of selfgovernment. While the land holdings vary significantly among the tribes, in all cases they pale in comparison to the land areas once under their possession or control. Still, the diminished landholdings provide some physical space and material bases for the tribes to maintain their cultures and political institutions, and to develop economically. 7. While many indigenous persons live on reservations or other Native-controlled land areas, many others live in urban areas beyond the boundaries of indigenous lands. It is quite common, however, for indigenous persons living in urban areas to maintain close ties to the 1 U.S. Census Bureau, the American Indian and Alaska Native Population: 2012, pages 1, 3 5