# Indigenous Australians in America **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 27, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indigenous-australians-in-america/478874 "2008-12-27T20:59:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indigenous-australians-in-america/478874/1 "2008-12-27T20:59:11Z")
Totally random crazy question here. How many people live in the USA who identify themselves as Indiginous Australians? -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indigenous-australians-in-america/478874/2 "2008-12-27T21:17:59Z")
They don’t appear on the U.S. Census data in any column I can find. It’s possible they’re lumped in with “black.” ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indigenous-australians-in-america/478874/3 "2008-12-27T21:21:07Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > They don’t appear on the U.S. Census data in any column I can find. It’s possible they’re lumped in with “black.” The odd thing about that is (if true), they are the group most separated from African blacks so that would be completely inaccurate. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indigenous-australians-in-america/478874/4 "2008-12-27T21:22:00Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > They don’t appear on the U.S. Census data in any column I can find. It’s possible they’re lumped in with “black.” I assume they would check the box marked “other- please list.” ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indigenous-australians-in-america/478874/5 "2008-12-27T22:58:41Z")
Yeah, I’m not saying “black” is genetically the most correct section under which to list them, just where I figured they’d end up. I suppose the closest existing major category would be “Pacific Islander-Polynesian” but even that’s a pretty far leap. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indigenous-australians-in-america/478874/6 "2008-12-27T23:58:11Z")
> [@Wikipedia](#): > > Indigenous Australians are distinguished as either Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders, who currently together make up about 2.6% of Australia’s population. > [@Wikipedia](#): > > The population [of Australia] is just over 21.3 million Indigenous Australians are a small percentage of the small population of this country. That’s, what? About 426,000 people? The number of Indigenous Australians living in the US would have to be minuscule if there are only 400k in Oz. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indigenous-australians-in-america/478874/7 "2008-12-28T00:18:02Z")
The Census Bureau has an ancestry code (802) for “Australian Aborigines.” In tabulations I’ve found, the population figures are included sometimes under “Australian” (codes 800-802) and sometimes under “Other Pacific Islander.” I haven’t found any population figures associated with code 802 alone. Then again, I’ve never had much luck navigating the census website, [www.census.gov](http://www.census.gov) Maybe somebody else can find it. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indigenous-australians-in-america/478874/8 "2008-12-28T00:40:53Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I haven’t found any population figures associated with code 802 alone. Then again, I’ve never had much luck navigating the census website, [www.census.gov](http://www.census.gov) Maybe somebody else can find it. The census website is a fucking dog’s breakfast. Whoever designed it needs to be fired, unless the census folks actually _intend_ for information to be difficult to find.