A: American Indians, Native Americans, and First Nations people are synonyms. They all refer to the same people. Indigenous people is a broader term that refers to any culture that lived in a place first. So Native Americans are all indigenous people, but not all indigenous people are Native Americans. For example, native African cultures are also indigenous. Most indigenous people in the US use American Indian, and most indigenous people in Canada use First Nations.. Native Americans or indigenous Americans are frequently used to refer to people in both countries.