Hey, what's up everyone? Here's a video to help you with some tips on terminology when referring to the indigenous community in Canada and the United States. So, this is a question I get asked a lot. People, you know, want to talk about the indigenous community, want to talk to people who are in the indigenous community, and they're not really sure what words to use. they don't want to be offensive, so they just won't say anything or they won't ask any questions. And I don't think that's a really great way to go about it. So, I'm hoping to empower you if you have these questions um so that you can feel safe referring to the indigenous community in a way that is inclusive and respectful and and not offensive because I think that that's a very common concern that people have. So, first off, uh, globally, this is a word that you've already heard me use a lot in my other videos, is the word indigenous. I've traveled all over the world. I've worked all over the world. And for, if you're in South America, if you're in North America, if you're in Australia, if you're in New Zealand, if you're, you know, any place with with indigenous communities, if you use the word indigenous from a very high level, that's seen as um a respectful word to use. Now, the more specific you get with um people within the indigenous community, you know, obviously it shows a little bit more knowledge and it's more respectful because the indigenous community is a very diverse community. So, I'm going to start off with talking about Canada first, the United States second, uh and then I will also talk a little bit about words to stay away from depending on the region that you're in. So, first off, in Canada, so the word most commonly used nationally is Aboriginal. Um, we just, you know, we have National Aboriginal Day every year on June 21st, National Aboriginal History Month every year in Canada is in June. Uh but it's also important to remember that the Aboriginal community or that term Aboriginal actually encompasses three separate um cultural groups namely the First Nations community, the Matei community and the Inuit community. Now the First Nations community is also an incredibly diverse community. So the more respect you want to convey, the more specific you'll get to either their region or their cultural group. So in Canada in the First Nations community, we have over 52 separate and distinct lang language groups. We have over 600 different First Nations communities um bands or reserves across Canada. Now you can do the math and that would be able to tell you that there are a number of different communities or bands that are members of the same cultural group. So I am deni. There are many den communities in Canada. Our den reserves in Canada. I grew up beside CRE first nation for most of my life. There are also many other cre communities in Canada. So we tend to refer to ourselves as our language group or our cultural group. Um and then we'll refer to ourselves by the territory either by the treaty or the traditional territory where our community is from. So if you have an idea of where that person is from or where they grew up, you can maybe ask, "Oh, is that were you in a matey community or a creek community, like if you have an idea of the history of that region?" Generally, it's safe to start off um if you know that they're Aboriginal, asking them if they're First Nations, matey, or Inuit, and then you can get a little bit more specific from there. Now, this is a common question. What are the words that I'm not allowed to use? Well, first off, the answer is it depends. And it depends on where you are and who you're talking to. So, from a very high level, um I hope this is a little bit helpful because these are the two most common words I get asked about a lot. So, the first is tribe. In the United States, that is a word that is commonly used um when people talk about who they are or where they're from. you know, they're a member of the Navajo tribe from this region. In Canada, that's not a word that we use, so I wouldn't recommend using it. Um, Indian in the United States, what I've been told through conversations um with friends and with people who uh are in the community here is that it's more of a generational thing. So people of the older generation tend to use the term American Indian and and they're totally fine, you know, referring to themselves as American Indian or that they're a part of Indian country. I've also been told that people of the younger generation tend to prefer the term Native American. So I've put both a check mark and a question mark there because I think it really depends. If you want to air on the side of safety, I would just say Native American is uh the best term to use there. In Canada though, we never really use that word. Um, so the only time you'll hear me use that word is if I'm referring to something like the Indian Act or a specific piece of legislation or history that uses that word. Moving on to the United States. So in the United States, broadly speaking, uh we have the Native American community, the Alaskan natives, and the Native Hawaiian. So even if you just think about geographically how dispersed, you know, these regions are, naturally, you can think there would be more diversity and that they'd have different cultural backgrounds or cultural groups. So, in referring to people, if you know that they grew up in Hawaii and that they're indigenous, referring to them as like Native Hawaiian and then maybe asking them more about their community is the more respectful way to go about it. Also, United States um a very large and also incredibly diverse community. So, there are 567 federally recognized tribes in the United States. there are even more uh state recognized tribes and even more nonofficially recognized tribes in the United States. So it's an incredibly diverse community from east to west, north to south. Um while they do well people will often you know refer to themselves by their language group as well saying that they're Navajo, they're Sue or they're Anishnab. Um what I've heard a lot is people using um their region so that they're from the southwest, they're from the Great Plains, they're from the Southeast. So just like in Canada, the more specific I think you can get uh in knowing who they are and where they're from, the more respect that conveys. If you're unsure, it's safer, I think, just to start off at a higher level. you know, asking them if they're Native American, where they grew up, um what language their community speaks, you know, what are some of their traditions and ceremonies, and if they're open to talking about all those things, and you'll learn a little bit more. But hopefully this has been helpful for you to learn a little bit more about the terminology uh for the indigenous community in Canada and the United States. So, if you're having a conversation with someone or you want to learn a little bit more, you know, what are the words to use, what are the words to maybe stay away from. If I missed anything, be sure to put it in the comments section below. If you have any other questions that you would like me to answer, also put it in the comments section below or tweet at me on Twitter. Be sure to subscribe. I'm going to be doing more of these videos in the future. I really want to make this a safe space for you to learn. So, thank you so much for watching this video or masicho in my Denny language. [Music]