In the U.S., there are 574 federally recognized tribes. This means the tribes possess inherent self-governing rights (tribal sovereignty) and maintain a government-to-government relationship with the U.S.

Turtle Island, for certain Indigenous peoples, is a term used to refer to the continent of North America. This name originates from diverse Indigenous oral traditions that recount tales of a turtle bearing the world on its back.

The Trail of Tears refers to the forced relocation of Indigenous peoples from the Southeastern U.S. in the 1830s (including Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole) to west of the Mississippi River.

Approximately 100,000 Indigenous people were forcibly displaced.

In 1924, the Indian Citizenship Act granted Native Americans citizenship and voting rights, but it took another 40 years for all 50 states to implement these rights fully.

The Dawes Act aimed to privatize tribal land by dividing it into individual lots as a way to make Native Americans more “American.”