Puerto Ricans vs. Native Americans: Distinct Peoples

Puerto Ricans are the people of Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory in the Caribbean. Their ancestry is predominantly a mix of Spanish European, West African (enslaved), and Indigenous Taíno.

Native Americans are the Indigenous peoples of the continental Americas (U.S., Canada, Mexico, Central/South America), comprising hundreds of distinct tribes (e.g., Navajo, Cherokee, Lakota, Maya, Quechua) each with unique languages, cultures, and histories.

While Puerto Ricans carry some Taíno Indigenous DNA, they are a distinct ethnonational group formed through Spanish colonization and the Atlantic slave trade—not a Native American tribe. The Taíno themselves were largely decimated by the 16th century.