Demographic map

This demographic map shows the percentage of American Indian population in America from the 2000 Census, with the darker red representing a higher percentage.

 Initially, I was surprised by how concentrated the American Indian population (or Native Alaskan population) was in the state of Alaska, particularly as I had never before realised or considered that Indians had migrated to this place. This is most likely due to my studies of American Indians at school, where I learnt that the tribes were situated mainly in the south eastern areas of America and later (often by force) moved westward.

Native Alaskans, it seems, never migrated south and for this reason are not genetically related to the Native Americans in southern America. Due to the more extreme weather conditions, these Native Alaskans had to develop ways of dealing with the challenges they faced and developed their own languages and tribes. Overall, the state of Alaska has the highest American Indian and Native Alaskan percentage at around 19.5%. My surprise at these statistics comes from my lack of knowledge about these Native Alaskans; particularly as when the Native American culture is ever discussed, the focus is always on the conflict between those tribes that established themselves in America and that of the immigrant Europeans.  

Another aspect of this demographic map that surprised me was the overall percentage of American Indians in America. According to the 2000 Census, American Indians (and Native Alaskans) made up  less than one per cent of the total American population. Personally, I felt this was a much lower percentage than I would have predicted. Even more surprising  however, (as I would have thought this percentage would decrease over time rather than increase) was that a projected U.S. population for American Indians for the year 2050 is estimated to reach 8.6 million, approximately 2% of the American population overall.

 

Sources:

http://www.censusscope.org/us/map_nhindian.html

http://www.history.com/topics/native-american-cultures

http://www.ancestry.com/wiki/index.php?title=Native_Alaskans

http://www.alaskatrekker.com/natives.htm