Native Americans got to America through multiple migrations from Asia, mainly through the Bering land bridge during the last Ice Age, when the sea levels were lower.
Although some more recent theories also suggest that Native Americans may have gotten to America through additional coastal migration routes along the Pacific Rim and possibly through other paths across the Atlantic that indicates a more complex settlement process than we previously thought.
Before discovery America was called Indigenous names such as Turtle Island, Abya Yala, Anahuac and Aztlan and America was also called European names before discovery such as Vinland, Las Indias Occidentales, Tierra Firme and New World.
Turtle Island was a name for America used by many First Nations in North America, which is rooted in mythology about the continent being a giant turtle.
Abya Yala was a name for America used by some groups in South America, which means the "Land of Full Maturity" or "Land of Life.".
Anahuac was a name for America used by Uto-Aztecan and other Mesoamerican tribes which means "Country by the water" or "land surrounded by water".
Aztlan was a name used for America and is a mythological homeland for some tribes, which means "land of the seven caves".
Vinland was a name for America that was given by Norse explorers, the first known Europeans to reach North America around 1000 A.D.
Las Indias Occidentales is a name given to America which is the Spanish name for the Americas, as they mistakenly believed that America was part of Asia.
Tierra Firme is another name given to America and is the Spanish term that referred specifically to the mainland portion of the Americas.
New World is a name for America that was coined by explorer Amerigo Vespucci, who realized the land was a separate continent and not part of Asia.
Indigenous people are the original inhabitants of a region that have historical continuity with pre-colonial societies as well as a strong connection to their ancestral lands as well as natural resources.
Indigenous people maintain distinct languages, social systems and cultures that also predate and differ from the dominant societies around them.
Examples are the First Nations in Canada, Maya in Mexico, Sami in Sweden, the Ainu in Japan and Guatemala.
Indigenous people have a historical connection to a territory prior to the colonization or the establishment of current state boundaries.
The indigenous people also have a strong link to their traditional territories, which is also fundamental to the indigenous peoples collective physical and culture survival.
Indigenous people also self identify as distinct from other sectors of society and are resolved to preserve their identity and they also maintain at least in part, their own economic, social and political institutions.
And indigenous people also have unique languages, cultures, knowledge systems and beliefs.
Examples of indigenous people are Americas like Native Americans, American Indians, and Alaska Natives in the United States, First Nations, Metis in Canada and Inuit.
Europe such as the Sami in Sweden, Norway and Finland.
Asia, the Ainu in Japan.
Africa, the Berbers and the San people.
And Oceania or the The Maori in New Zealand and Aboriginal Australians.