This study's purpose was to examine connections between ethnic identity and self-esteem in Native adolescents. A three-factor model of ethnic identity included (a) Native identification, a subjective sense of commitment to Native culture, (b) Anglo, identification, an analogous sense of belonging to the dominant culture, and (c) group-esteem, evaluative appraisals of one's heritage ethnic group. Self-esteem was operationalized with measures of global self-esteem, academic self-concept, and social self-concept. Participants were 164 Native and 150 Anglo grades 10 and 11 students attending a high school in the US Southwest. Confirmatory Factor Analyses and mixed ANOVAs assessed the cross-cultural applicability of study measures. Hierarchical regression was used to evaluate four specific hypotheses. Overall, Native youth had lower self-esteem than Anglo adolescents, but the difference depended on the facet of self-esteem. It was largest for academic self-concept. For global self-esteem the difference was close to statistical significance. No difference was apparent for social self-concept. Hypothesis 1, that Native youths' level of Native identification would be positively associated with self-esteem was not supported. The second hypothesis, that Native youths' level of Anglo identification would be positively associated with their self-esteem, was supported by positive associations between Anglo, identification and both academic and social self-concept. A third hypothesis that predicted a positive association between Native adolescents' group-esteem and self-esteem was supported by positive associations between group-esteem and each measure of self-esteem. The fourth hypothesis implied that association between group-esteem and self-esteem would grow stronger as Native identification increased, but results revealed that as Native identification increased, the association between group-esteem and self-esteem became weaker. The results are discussed considering three theoretical frameworks that inspired the hypotheses (i.e., identity theory; symbolic interactionism; and, a Jamesian account of self-esteem). None of the frameworks accounted for the overall pattern of associations between the three-factors of the model and self-esteem. An alternative interpretation is presented, emphasizing the importance of minority group status as an influence on Native young peoples' self-esteem. The limitations of the study are explored, along with their implications for future theorizing and research in this area. Implications for prevention programs aimed at Native youth are discussed.