Overview
“American Indians and Alaska Natives” (AIAN) is a demographic category defined by U.S. federal government standards as ” having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.”
History and Etymology
In 1977, the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) adopted the Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity for consistency in demographic data across government. This established four categories for race: American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, Black, and White. It also established Hispanic and Not of Hispanic Origin as the two ethnicites. If you feel that this is not necessarily the most thorough classification system for grouping people of similar backgrounds and identities together, you are not alone.
Officials and agencies were free to allow or provide more specificity, so many who fell under the American Indian or Alaskan Native category would provide specific tribal affiliations as forms would permit. As of 2026, there are 575 federally recognized tribes, but the term can be used by anyone who self-identifies with indigenous tribal heritage regardless of federal recognition.
“American Indian” has a legal legacy as a term used in federal treaties and statutes, and it remains in usage for the sake of continuity and consistency despite the frequent confusion with the term “Indian American.” The term “Alaskan Native” (changed later to “Alaska Native”) was appended because the indigenous communities of Alaska have a distinct cultural and legal history than indigenous nations of the continental United States, though the two groups have shared a unique sociopolitical status with claims to ancestral lands occupied by the U.S. government and its citizens.
Some revisions and changes have been made since, notably in 1997.