Source
Native Governance Center
Native Governance Center Style Guide
Access posture
About
Native Governance Center (NGC) is a Native-led nonprofit dedicated to “assisting Native nations in strengthening their governance systems and capacity to exercise sovereignty,” working through leadership development (its Native Nation Rebuilders program), tribal governance support, and public resources. Its Style Guide (February 2021) gives writers guidance on respectful, accurate language for Indigenous nations and peoples, and is paired with NGC’s widely shared “Beyond Land Acknowledgment” guidance.
In the commons it anchors the Indigenous & Tribal Sovereignty chapter.
Access
Host posture is private-mirror-link-out: the guide is published openly on nativegov.org (linked) and was live at the last check. The commons keeps a private preservation copy for citation verification and links out. The archived PDF had smart-quote rendering issues that were hand-corrected, so quotes are verified against the source. Quotes are held within fair-use limits.
Publication details
Terms citing this source
- American Indian Use with care
“Use American Indian or Indian when requested by a particular interview subject …”
— p. 4 (capitalization rule) and p. 6 (The People and Nations We Serve)
- Asian American Use
“Capitalize other racial and ethnic identifiers, such as Asian and Latinx.”
— p. 4, References to Racial, Ethnic, Cultural (and Political) Groups
- Asian Use
“Capitalize other racial and ethnic identifiers, such as Asian and Latinx.”
— p. 4, References to Racial, Ethnic, Cultural (and Political) Groups
- BIPOC Use with care
“Use Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) rather than People of Color (POC) …”
— p. 4, References to Racial, Ethnic, Cultural (and Political) Groups
- Black Use
“Capitalize Black. … DO NOT capitalize the word white.”
— p. 4, References to Racial, Ethnic, Cultural (and Political) Groups
- First Nations Use
“Elements of Indigenous Style recommends capitalizing the following terms: Creator, First Nations …”
— p. 7, Other Miscellaneous Terminology
- Indian Country Use with care
“Capitalize the term Indian Country.”
— The People and Nations We Serve → Other terminology related to Native nations and lands
- Indian Use with care
“Use American Indian or Indian when requested by a particular interview subject …”
— The People and Nations We Serve → Other terminology related to Native nations and lands
- Indigenous Use
“Refer to the people we serve as: Native people, Native, or Indigenous.”
— p. 6, The People and Nations We Serve
- Indigenous Use
“Indigenous style uses capitals where conventional style does not.”
— Opening framing, quoting Elements of Indigenous Style (Younging 2018)
- Latinx Use
“Capitalize other racial and ethnic identifiers, such as Asian and Latinx.”
— p. 4, References to Racial, Ethnic, Cultural (and Political) Groups
- Native American Use with care
“Refer to our organization as Native-led, rather than Native American-led.”
— p. 5 (Our Work) and p. 6 (The People and Nations We Serve)
- people of color Non-preferred
“Use Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) rather than People of Color (POC) …”
— p. 4, References to Racial, Ethnic, Cultural (and Political) Groups
- Reservation Use with care
“DO NOT capitalize reservation, unless it's part of a specific reservation name …”
— p. 6, The People and Nations We Serve → Other terminology related to Native nations and lands
- Tribe Use with care
“Refer to the nations we serve as Native nations. Use Tribal nations or Tribes in special circumstances, if necessary.”
— p. 6, The People and Nations We Serve → Native nations / Other terminology related to Native nations and lands
- white Use
“DO NOT capitalize the word white.”
— p. 4, References to Racial, Ethnic, Cultural (and Political) Groups