How many generations does your family have to live somewhere to become "native"?

Question

I don't mean to sound racist, but I've always wondered about this. It's pretty much accepted scientific fact that native americans were asian immigrants across the bering straight land bridge, while some migrated from Central America.

And myself, my ancestory is commonly referred to as "Germans from Russia". But if my ancestors were to have lived in Russia for, say, 500 years, would that make them Russian instead of German?

Hopefully there is an anthropologist or genetist out there who can give me a straight answer on this.

Thanks!

Answer 1

When Columbus reached the Americas, he thought it was China or the Far East. The region was normally called the "Indies" So, if he was where he thought and it was the Indies, then the natives were "Indians." What else would you call them?

By the time the Americas were found to be not the Indies, it was too late. Native Americans were Indians and we had another Indies on the map. Technically, anyone that is born in the Americas is a "Native American." In practice the term applies to those that many people call "Indians."

That's why we have "American Indians" There was a time when "Amerind" was tried as a replacement for

Indians" it didn't go over. Generally Native American is the current term being used.

"No single definition of "Indian" exists - socially, administratively, legislatively or judicially. Currently in the United States 10 to 20 million people may have Indian ancestry, but only a small percentage identify themselves as being primarily Indian. The Bureau of the Census counts anyone an Indian who declares himself or herself to be an Indian.

http://www.ewebtribe.com/NACulture/artic...

I like the Bureau of the Census standard. You are what you say you are. For years I checked "other" on the race/national origin section of government forms. Once a bureaucrat looked at me and said to check "white" I told him I was "other" as "human" wasn't listed.

When asked today I describe my self as a native American, a full blooded  Wasichu, (see source below)

Answer 2

We're all native to the Earth.

Sorry to disagree, My Parents were not Asian.

Answer 3

I've wondered about the same thing myself.  Then I read a lot of history and discovered that humanity has engaged in repeated migrations for as long as we have any historical record.  So, we are not native anything,and we are more closely related to distant peoples than we imagine.  

Your German ancestors in Russia were an ethnic minority who maintained their culture.  This sort of thing happened in many places with many different cultures, and when it does, the community tends to intermarry and remain separate.  But then something happens, like WWII in the case of the Germans in Russia, and people emigrate again and likely disperse.

Answer 4

When I was in public school in the States, I was ostracized for being half Cherokee and half Irish.

The teacher, not being from the area asked them who was really the native here, them with thei ancestry (from Germany) starting only around the time of WWII, or me with my native Cherokee background and Irish entry as of the 1800's.

We had to study this and determined that to be a native anywhere, all you have to do is be born in a place.

So you are not a German from Russia if your parents were citizens of the U.S.at the time of your birth and you were born in the States.

They were born in the States, but many of their parents were not yet citizens at the time, so therefore not true natives.