Celebrating Indigenous Communities

One of the best ways to honor Indigenous peoples is to teach your students about the unique histories, notable contributions, and diverse cultures of Indigenous communities around the globe. Enlighten your students and elevate important stories with Britannica Education’s curated lesson ideas, captivating articles, interactive media, classroom activities, and more.

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Indigenous Peoples Around the World

Indigenous peoples represent thousands of distinct groups who live in dozens of countries around the world. Each group has its own unique history, language, traditions, and identity. Explore these articles in Britannica School that provide students with the rich history of Indigenous peoples around the world.

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Australia

Aboriginal peoples were the first people to live in Australia. The ancestors of today’s Aboriginal peoples came to Australia from Asia tens of thousands of years ago, making theirs one of the oldest living civilizations in the world.

the united states

The first people to live in the Americas are called Indigenous peoples. They are also known as Native peoples, Native Americans, and American Indians. Their settlements ranged across the Western Hemisphere and were built on many of the sites where modern cities now rise.

middle and south america

The first great civilization in Middle America was that of the Olmec. San Lorenzo, the oldest known Olmec center, dates to about 1150 BC. The site is remarkable for its extraordinary stone monuments, especially its massive sculptures of human heads.

the american arctic

The northernmost lands of North America make up the Arctic culture area. This region lies near and above the Arctic Circle and includes parts of present-day Alaska and Canada. The Indigenous peoples of the American Arctic include the Inuit and the Aleut (Unangas or Sugpiat).

Polynesia

Polynesia has been inhabited for about 2,000 to 3,000 years. The first people, called the Lapita, settled on the western islands—Wallis and Futuna, Samoa, and Tonga. The Lapita were sailors and navigators who came to Polynesia from Taiwan and other parts of East Asia.

alaska and canada

In Indigenous studies, the culture area in North America south of the Arctic is called the Subarctic. It includes most of what are now Alaska and Canada. Subarctic peoples from Alaska are often collectively referred to as Alaska Natives, while in Canada they are known as First Nations peoples.

© Rafael Ben Ari/Dreamstime.com; The Dawn of the World by C. Hart Merriam, 1910; Photodisc World Landmarks and Travel V60. Rosen: Latin America – History (2016).; Ansgar Walk; Tourism Tonga; Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

at a glance:

Indigenous Peoples of the Americas

Explore biographies, articles, and media on Indigenous peoples of North and South America. They include groups collectively known as Native Americans, First Nations, and Native peoples, among others.

Information sourced from Britannica School. Not a subscriber? Contact us to learn more.

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Indigenous Peoples Resource Packs

Take advantage of Britannica School’s curated resource collections featuring a wide range of articles, videos, images, and more.

Information sourced from Britannica School. Not a subscriber? Contact us to learn more.

Arts and Culture

Native American art reflected the social organization or values of the people who produced it. Discover the functional roots and modern iterations of art created by Native Americans.

Ben-bryant from Getty Images via Canva

Lessons and Activities

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Illuminating Native American History Through Images

Integrate images from Britannica ImageQuest into your lessons to encourage meaningful connections, to help students learn more about Native American culture, and to better understand the impact of Native people in history to:

Boost SEL skills, helping students empathize and connect.
Elevate critical-thinking, reading, and writing abilities.
Foster media literacy with relevant digital materials.

Play Video

Indigenous people today

This Expedition: Learn lesson introduces students to the ideas that Indigenous people identify themselves in different ways and that studying a group’s culture is one way to find out more about the group. Through video, images, and text, students learn about some of the Indigenous groups around the world today, with a focus on American Indians and their culture.