Diversity:    
Diversity between tribal groups is great in language, culture, histories and  governments.
Individual diversity within any  group is great.

Identity:       
There is a great diversity among individual American Indians as identity is developed,
defined,  and redefined by many entities, organizations, and people.
There is a continuum of Indian identity ranging from highly assimilated to very traditional and is unique to each individual.
 There is no generic American Indian.

Culture:        
The ideologies of Native traditional beliefs and spirituality persist into modern day life as tribal cultures, traditions and languages are still practiced by many American Indians and are incorporated into how tribes govern and manage their affairs.

Additionally, each tribe has its own oral history beginning with their origins that are as valid as written histories. These histories predate the "discovery" of North America.

History:        
History is a story told from the subjective experience of the teller.
History told from an Indian perspective often conflicts with what most of mainstream  history tells us.
 

Sovereignty: 
The supreme power from which all specific political powers are derived. Sovereignty is inherent. It cannot be given to one group by another. Three forms of sovereignty exist
 in the U.S.--federal, tribal and state.

Under the American legal system, Indian tribes have sovereign powers separate and
 independent from the federal and state governments. However, the extent and breadth of tribal sovereignty is not the same for each tribe.

Reservations are land that have been reserved by the tribes for their own use through treaties  and was not "given" to them. The principle that land should be acquired from the tribes only through their consent with treaties assumed that both parties to treaties were sovereign powers.
                      

U.S. Policies:
                     
Federal Indian policies shifted through 7 major periods that impacted Indian people and shape who they are today and what they write about. Much of Indian history can be related through several major federal policy periods.

                      Colonization Period
                      Treaty Period
                      Allotment Period
                      Boarding School Period
                      Tribal Reorganization
                      Termination
                      Self-determination

Courtesy of Professor Kate Shanley (Assiniboine), University of Montana  and Montana Office of Public Instruction