Since I was born in this country, aren’t I, by definition, a native American?
Being born in the country makes you a citizen by birth. So does being born elsewhere of one or both parents who are citizens of the U.S., except this only goes for one generation abroad.
“Native American” and “Native Alaskan” are taken to refer (most narrowly) to members of recognized tribes, or (somewhat more broadly) to their descendants. But the word is also taken ti refer to the indigenous people of this country. The two definitions are not same.
1. What about the descendants of the tribes of the southwest (primarily Arizona, California and New Mexico) that were not recognized by the Spanish and simply treated as subjects by them? Today, we call them Hispanics. (They’re not the only people we call Hispanics.) Yet, these tribes are the indigenous peoples of those places. If you think Native American and Native Alaskan refers to indigenous people, then they’re Native Americans as well as Hispanic.
2. What about descendants of the tribes that assimilated into the United States prior to being recognized? I suppose we call them whites.
3. What about people who are descendants of whites and blacks who became members of tribes? There are a lot of members of Indian tribes of Oklahoma who are as white as any white, or as black as any black, and yet are members of their tribes. A tribe is a culture and legal entity (by reason of a treaty with the U.S.). It is not a racial group.
I myself have no problems with any of these gray areas as long as we don’t attach preferences in college admission or employment to the distinctions, and we as long as we don’t distinguish one from another person in their civil rights. As for being a birth rite citizen as opposed to a naturalized citizen, as far as I can tell the only difference that makes is that you can become President of the United States whereas a naturalized citizen cannot.