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Native American Studies is an interdisciplinary academic field that examines the history, culture, politics, issues and contemporary experience of Native peoples in North America. Increasingly, debate has focused on the differences rather than the similarities between other Ethnic studies disciplines such as African American studies, Asian American Studies, and Latino/a Studies. Drawing from numerous disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, history, literature, political science, and gender studies, Native American Studies scholars consider a variety of perspectives and employ diverse analytical and methodological tools in their work.

Some practitioners advocate for decolonization of indigenous peoples, political autonomy, and the establishment of a discipline dedicated to alleviating contemporary problems facing indigenous peoples.

Since first contact with Europeans, the Native historical experience in the Americas was marked by forceable and sometimes willing attempts at assimilation into mainstream European American culture. Beginning with missionaries and leading up to federally controlled schools the aim was to educate American Indians so that they could go back to their communities and facilitate the assimilation process. As cited by David Beck in his article "American Indian Higher Education before 1974: From Colonization to Self-Determination," the schools were used as a tool for assimilation. Their main focus was not intellectual but to give training for industrial jobs or domestic jobs.

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s-1960s contested mainstream methods of assimilationist indoctrination and the substance of what was being taught in K-12 schools and universities througout the United States. American Indian students, coupled with sympathetic professors, assisted in creating new programs with new aims. Rather than being focused on Indians going back to their communities to educate along the lines of assimilation there was a move to educate for empowerment. Programs that did community outreach and focused on student retention in campuses have risen out of that movement. Furthermore, the programs in schools created a new interpretation for American Indian history, sociology, and politics.

• Taiaiake Alfred (Kanien’kehaka/Kahnawake Mohawk)
• Roger Buffalohead (Ponca)
• Ward Churchill
• Elizabeth Cook-Lynn (Crow Creek Sioux)
• Vine Deloria, Jr. (Standing Rock Sioux)
• Philip Deloria (Standing Rock Sioux)
• Donald Fixico (Sac & Fox, Shawnee, Creek, & Seminole)
• Jack Forbes (Powhatan-Renape-Lenape)
• Daniel Heath Justice (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma)
• Arnold Krupat
• Devon A. Mihesuah (Choctaw)
• Andrea Smith (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma)
• Russell Thornton (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma)
• Gerald Vizenor (White Earth Anishinaabe)
• Robert Allen Warrior (Osage)
• Jace Weaver (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma)
• David E. Wilkins (Lumbee)
• Robert A. Williams, Jr. (Lumbee)
• Craig Womack (Muskogee)

• Colgate University N.A. Studies Colgate University
• Cornell University N.A. Studies Cornell University
• Dartmouth College N.A. Studies Dartmouth College
• Haskell Indian Nations University N.A. Studies Haskell Indian Nations University
• Humboldt State University N.A. Studies Humboldt State University
• University of Arizona N.A. Studies University of Arizona
• University of California, Berkeley N.A. Studies University of California, Berkeley
• University of California, Davis N.A. Studies University of California, Davis
• University of California, Irvine N.A. Studies University of California, Irvine
• University of California, Los Angeles N.A. Studies University of California, Los Angeles
• University of Hawaii, Manoa Center for Hawaiian Studies University of Hawaii at Manoa
• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign N.A. Studies University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• University of Iowa N.A. Studies University of Iowa
• University of Massachusetts, Amherst N.A. Studies University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• University of Montana N.A. Studies University of Montana
• University of New Mexico N.A. Studies University of New Mexico
• University of North Carolina, Pembroke N.A. Studies University of North Carolina, Pembroke
• University of Oklahoma N.A. Studies University of Oklahoma
• University of Washington N.A. Studies University of Washington

see also Guide to Native American Studies Programs in the United States and Canada

• National Association of Native American Studies