24/10/2025
Why is there, An American Indian-Native American name controversy and why are Native Americans Called Indians?
Well, that was the term “Indians” as applied to the Natives, or the indigenous peoples of the Americas, is thought to have originated in a misconception on the part of the Europeans who arrived in Central America in 1492. Since Christopher Columbus began his journey to America with the intent of finding an alternate route to Southeast Asia, he is said to have assumed that the people he came into contact with upon reaching land were Indians (And that is one thought). Despite the fact that people probably realized this mistake within hours or at least within days, the name remained in use. Which began the American Indian-Native American name controversy; one could say.
Similarly, the islands in Central America came to be called the "West Indies", as opposed to the "East Indies" that Columbus originally had in mind as his destination
So the American Indian-Native American name controversy is an ongoing discussion about the changing terminology used by indigenous peoples of the Americas to describe themselves, as well as how they prefer to be referred to by others. But today, the preferred terms vary primarily by region and age. Also if it is between family members, or between known Indian to Indian or known Native/ Indigenous to known Native/ Indigenous , As indigenous people and communities are diverse, there is no consensus on naming, aside from the fact that most people prefer to be referred to by their specific tribe or nation.
Then came into play, the “Negative” views of American Indians or Native Americans (or Indians) are especially evident in numerous American English words and phrases. Early general examples refer to them as barbarians, heathens, and infidels. Subsequently there arose such terms and phrases as Indian giver, speaking with a forked tongue, squaw, wild Indian, the racist designation redskin, and, finally, lo! the poor Indian; among others.
Then we went through period of when discussing broad groups of peoples, especially Native, Indigenous people of America , we went to naming them based on shared language, what we thought was their culture, region, or historical relationship, such as "Algonquin-speaking peoples", "Pueblo-dwelling peoples", "Plains Indians" or "LDN peoples" (Lakota, Dakota and Nakota peoples).
Likewise many English and Spanish exonyms have been used to refer to the indigenous peoples of the Americas, who were resident within their own countries or territory when the Spanish and other European colonists arrived in the 15th and 16th centuries. Some of these names were based on French, Spanish, or other European language terminology used by earlier explorers and colonists; some resulted from the colonists' attempt to translate endonyms from the native language into their own; and some were just plain pejorative terms arising out of some preconceived ideas or prejudice and fear, during periods of conflict between the cultures involved.
Then came the 20th and 21st centuries, where indigenous peoples in the Americas started to come more vocal about the ways they wish to be referred to, pressing for the elimination of terms widely considered to be obsolete, inaccurate, or racist in their minds. Especially, during the latter half of the 20th century and the rise of the Indian rights movement, the United States government responded by proposing the use of the term "Native American", to recognize the primacy of indigenous peoples' tenure in the nation, at least that was part of the idea..
The term at first was met with only partial acceptance. It gain quicker acceptance by urban indigenous groups and in the academic world. But many establish, Native groups did not accept the term. So we began, to have other naming conventions ask for and have been proposed and used, but none are accepted by all indigenous groups to date. Typically, each name has a particular audience and political or cultural connotation, and regional usage varies.
So in the 1970s, the academic world began promoting the term Native Americans as a politically correct alternative to ”Indians” or “ American Indian”..
Some people said and feel that Native Americans is more accurate and less stigmatizing. However, many “Native Americans” also has some issues, as anyone born in the Americas, indigenous or not, could be considered "Native American" if the term is taken literally. "Indigenous peoples of the Americas" is the most accurate term, many will tell you too. But many will tell you, that term is too cumbersome to be used regularly in everyday speech. Likewise, many say the same about “American Indian-Native American”, term. “Native Americans” has caught on to some degree, especially in the media,and with the Social Media groups, but the term “Indians’” and “American Indians” is still widely used in many circles, in many tribes, and between many Natives to Natives. .
So we find that many American Indian-Native Americans, Native Americans continue to refer to themselves as Indians, especially those of older generations: Old Ones and Elders. You will find many who use the term:
American Indian. In addition, American Indian is the official legal term used in the United States, but that has change a lot of recent years. But some or you could say, many don’t want it either; like the Taino, Hawaiians Natives, Native Alaskan and others. .
So some point to the term; “Indians” because they know where it came from and the price paid for it by their ancestors and it can also be a useful term because it traditionally does not include the indigenous people of Hawaii or Alaska, a distinction not present in the term “Native Americans”.
Likewise, we had and have some folks, in the late 20th century, who are American public figures suggested that the origin of the term was not from a confusion with India, but from the Spanish” expression En Dios, meaning "in God", or a similar one in Italian. Some of the Proponents of this idea include the late American Indian activist Russell Means; the author Peter Matthiessen, author of In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, a view of American Indian history through the life and trial of Lakota activist Leonard Peltier; the comedian George Carlin and others.
In his book “The Wind Is My Mother, the “Muscogee” writer Bear Heart (Nokus Feke Ematha Tustanaki) wrote: "When Columbus found the natives here, they were gentle people who accepted him, so Columbus wrote in his journal, 'These are people of God' ("una gente in Dios"). Later the 's' was dropped and Indio became Indian." However, as the writer David Wilton noted in his book Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends, this phrase does not appear in any of Columbus' writing. Wilton also says that since Greek and Roman times, more than a millennium before the voyages of Columbus, many European languages used variations of the term "Indian" to describe the peoples of the Indian subcontinent.
So it appears, the correct term to use or way to refer to American Indians, Native Americans will probably continue to be debated well into the foreseeable future some or many. However, for better or worse, the term “Indians” has certainly pervaded legal, literary, and vernacular language in both North and South America. It's strange to think that such an entrenched word is most likely based on a mistake.
While in Canada, while Status Indian remains a legal designation due to the Indian Act, the term "Indian" is generally considered offensive when used by non-Natives with the term First Nations being preferred for peoples covered by the Indian Act and Indigenous peoples preferred for Native peoples generally or when talking about Inuit and MĂ©tis who do not fall under the "First Nations" category.
Some of the salient issues affecting the debate are:
Historical, traditional use of a term (example: "Indian" is a name which many Old Ones and Elders have known all their lives, and their families may continue to use the familiar term.
Rejection of names used by outsiders and not chosen by the tribe itself, or indigenous people at large (As example: "Nez Perce" is a French phrase; "Native American" was coined by the US government)
Rejection of a word perceived as quaint or pejorative (as example: "Eskimo")
Belief that a name is too inclusive or not inclusive enough of all indigenous people so does not effectively represent the intended group. Take for examples: "Aboriginal", still used in Canada, has become associated with Aboriginal Australians, given its wide use on that continent; the United Nations uses "Indigenous" to refer to all tribal peoples around the world (as their representatives chose to be identified); "Native American" in general use has not applied to indigenous peoples within Canada or Mexico, but it is beginning too. Especially, when used with DNA Testing and others. Also used for some Immigrants from Central and South America and Mexico to the states.
Reluctance to be referred to by a collective, racial name, rather than simply their traditional name for themselves.
Perception that a name is inherently racist, or has over time acquired racist overtones (example: "Redskin")
Rejection of names assigned by an occupying and oppressive colonial government or expedition
Belief that a universal or collective name suggests, inaccurately, that the indigenous cultures referred to are homogeneous, monolithic bodies, rather than the widely varied separate nations that they actually are.
Some say, that the understanding that "Indians" cannot be used to describe global indigenous cultures when it already is used for people from India
Also the objections to the usage of "Indian" and "American Indian" include the fact that "Indian" arose from a historical error, and thus does not accurately reflect the derivation of the people to whom it refers; and some feel that the term has absorbed negative and demeaning connotations through its historical usage that render it objectionable in context.
Some objections to the usage of, "American Indian" is often understood to mean only the peoples of the mainland body of the United States, which excludes other Natives, who are in the United States who are considered indigenous peoples of the Americas; including the Haida, Tlingit, Athabascan, Inuit, Yup'ik (Yuits/Alutiiq/Cup'ik), Iñupiat, Aleut (i.e., the groups whose traditional languages are Eskimo–Aleut languages), Marshallese, and Samoan; who are referred to collectively as either Alaskan Natives, First Nations, Native Hawaiians or Siberians. But part of the problem there is, that many of them don’t want to be known as Native Americans either.
Likewise, supporters of the terms "Indian" and "American Indian" argue that they have been in use for such a long period of time that many people have become accustomed to them and no longer consider them exonyms. Both terms are still use widely used today. Also "American Indian" appears often in treaties between the United States and the indigenous peoples with whom they have been negotiating since the colonial period, and many federal, state and local laws also use it.
Some other facts to realist; you can see in the Oxford English Dictionary which cites usage of the uncapitalized term native American in several publications reaching as far back as 1737, but it is unclear whether these words or texts refer to indigenous peoples or simply to persons born on American soil; when looking at the individual texts in different writings.
In and during the 1850s period, we can see where a group of Anglo-Saxon Protestant Americans used the capitalized term Native Americans to differentiate themselves from recent Irish and German immigrants, both of whom were predominantly Catholic. This group later formed the "Know-Nothings", a 19th-century political party that opposed immigration to the United States, a policy known as nativism. The Know-Nothings also called themselves the "Native American Party" and were referred to in the press with the capitalized term.
It also true, that in 1918, leaders of the Pe**te Religion incorporated themselves as the Native American Church of Oklahoma. In 1956, Aldous Huxley wrote a letter in which he thanks his correspondent for "your most interesting letter about the Native American churchmen".
The use of Native American or native American to refer to peoples indigenous to the Americas came into widespread, common use during the civil rights era of the 1960s , but especially in the 1970s. As stated above; this term was considered to represent historical fact more accurately (i.e., "Native" cultures predated Spanish and other European colonization), while activists also believed it was free of negative historical connotations that had come to be associated with previous terms.
We can see the beginning in 1982 and through to 1993 period, that most American manual of style began to come to the agreement that "color terms" referring to ethnic groups should be capitalized as proper names, as well as Native American, but the” Critics[“ argue that the typographical detail of capitalizing native to differentiate between the term's use for indigenous peoples and other meanings is easily overlooked in written grammar, and ineffective in speech, as a whole.
Likewise , other objections to “Native American”; on whether capitalized or not—include a concern that it is often understood to exclude American groups outside the continental US (e.g., Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico), and indigenous groups in South America, Mexico and Canada. The word American is sometimes questioned because the peoples referred to resided in the Americas before they were so named.
As of 1995, and according to the US Census Bureau then, 50% of people who identified as indigenous preferred the term American Indian, 37% preferred Native American, and the remainder preferred other terms or had no preference Since then the Self-identifying Native Americans have move it up to around 60 to 70 percents, by some accounts!
So it appears, the correct term to use or way to refer to American Indians, Native Americans will probably continue to be debated well into the foreseeable future some or many. However, for better or worse, the term “Indians” has certainly pervaded legal, literary, and vernacular language in both North and South America. It's strange to think that such an entrenched word is most likely based on a mistake
