‘Native American’ or ‘Indigenous’? Journalism group rethinks name

By MICHAEL WARREN
Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — The Native American Journalists Association is aiming to become more inclusive as its members vote on whether to rebrand as the Indigenous Journalists Association. The group with more than 950 members is voting ahead of its annual conference this week. Practical reasons for the change involve more inclusion with journalists in Canada and conformity with United Nations terminology. But it also reflects an evolution in how Native Americans self-identify and efforts to move away from terminology that was imposed on them. Board member Jourdan Bennett-Begaye is Diné, a member of the Navajo Nation, and such tribal affiliations come first. But she and other Native journalists are building alliances with Indigenous people around the world.