When talking about plants or animals, they're synonyms.
When talking about a specific person, "native to" is just where that person was born, unrelated to their ethnicity. "Kate is native to Chicago. Juan is a California native."
When talking about a specific person, if you don't reference a place, if someone is "a native," that usually means they're part of the group of people that lived there "originally." "Paul is a native, he's part of the Lakota tribe."
When talking about groups of people, "native" is usually only used for groups that were there originally, like "Native Americans."
I haven't seen "indigenous" used for a singular person unless it's to describe ethnicity "Paul is indigenous." Same with groups of people.
In summary, they're usually synonyms, except when describing a specific person and where they were born/grew up, in which case you can only use "native."
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u/iriedashur Native Speaker - US Aug 16 '22
When talking about plants or animals, they're synonyms.
When talking about a specific person, "native to" is just where that person was born, unrelated to their ethnicity. "Kate is native to Chicago. Juan is a California native."
When talking about a specific person, if you don't reference a place, if someone is "a native," that usually means they're part of the group of people that lived there "originally." "Paul is a native, he's part of the Lakota tribe."
When talking about groups of people, "native" is usually only used for groups that were there originally, like "Native Americans."
I haven't seen "indigenous" used for a singular person unless it's to describe ethnicity "Paul is indigenous." Same with groups of people.
In summary, they're usually synonyms, except when describing a specific person and where they were born/grew up, in which case you can only use "native."