Native Americans and "Indians"

[Skibabinz]

If using the word "Indian" got me a day off of work I'd be all for it. We all know Columbus was an asshole, but we're not going to give up a day off. It does very much sadden me that to justify Columbus day we have to feed our kids a shit ton of lies about how great he was.

Psh, I may not have kids yet, but when my nephew asked about him I picked out a book on Leif Ericson and promptly corrected him. Apparently his teacher called my sister in law complaining that he was trying to act out about how wrong she was. Turns out he was merely correcting her when she claimed Columbus had not only discovered North America, but had founded Boston, the first American colony. I promptly took him out for pizza.

[Denkou]

If using the word "Indian" got me a day off of work I'd be all for it. We all know Columbus was an asshole, but we're not going to give up a day off. It does very much sadden me that to justify Columbus day we have to feed our kids a shit ton of lies about how great he was.

Sadly I think many people in the U.S. still think Columbus was a nice man who came here and brought civilization with him and everything was sunshine and daisies. The fact that we have an entire day dedicated to him is a joke. Then again I don't have enough faith in the public school systems to start changing anything they teach about him. It sucks.

[UnluckyAmateur]

They shouldn't be called indians but it is too deep to get rid of, just like the word Yall.

Might as well live with it.

[Wildtree]

They losing less sweat over it than non-indians..

[Dispraise]

You're arguing about the proper English term to use to refer to groups of people whose native tongues are not English. Stop it.

[Netherspark]

"Indian", is just easier to say than "Native American".

Did the natives actually have a word for the people as a whole?

[Skibabinz]

"Indian", is just easier to say than "Native American".

Did the natives actually have a word for the people as a whole?

From my understanding they usually referred to each other by tribe, then the individual person.

[lokinrond713]

Because Americans are stupid and racist.

"Oh sure we conquered ur land, killed u and kicked the rest of u out till we conquered ur land and killed u in the west but ur really overreacting about this whole Native American v Indian thing."

[Dhrizzle]

Because Americans are stupid and racist.

"Oh sure we conquered ur land, killed u and kicked the rest of u out till we conquered ur land and killed u in the west but ur really overreacting about this whole Native American v Indian thing."

Wrong argument here, the native Americans have accepted "Indian" as a generic, blanket term. I think it should stand as a reminder of what an awful navigator Chris. Columbus was.

[Glesganed]

Does Native American even work? Given that it pertains to peoples who inhabited that land prior to the land mass being referred to as America.

[OzoAndIndi]

I might just be overreacting, but this seems kind of silly. Am I right that they shouldn't be called Indians?

Personally I feel what's proper is what people who exist under those labels prefer. Native folks I've known online over the years tended to use the word Indian. Though they of course don't speak for all, but none of them used Native American and didn't like it much. (Although "native" alone didn't seem to be an issue.)

If I were them, yeah, I think I'd rather that people stuck with what I wanted to be called, not what they feel more comfortable calling me. I mean that's like a guy wanting to be called Bob but others being more comfortable calling him Sue so they think Sue is politically correct... lol

[ChaosEater]

I have a 50 page paper on the Aztec almost finished a 30 page paper on the Plains Indians that I just submitted as a draft to my professor. Generally speaking, during both my research as well as during my class studies it seems that while Native American is accepted as the overarching label, when referring to smaller units such as individual tribes or even geographical groups the term Indians is used instead. It was rare for an author to reference say Plains Native Americans or Pueblo Native Americans as opposed to Plains Indians or Pueblo Indians.

[Deleted]

Currently, I am taking a US history course, and now 2 weeks in, this is starting to really bug me. Both in my text book and from my teacher, they refer to Native Americans as Indians. Now, I know why they are called this, and both the book and my teacher explain that the term comes from confused European explorers mistakenly believing they were in India, but it seems strange to be calling them Indians in this day and age where we all know full well that they aren't Indians. Colloquially, it makes some sense because it's just become part of our culture to call them that, but in a school course (mind you this is an AP course,) they still refer to them as Indians while they are clearly not.

I might just be overreacting, but this seems kind of silly. Am I right that they shouldn't be called Indians?

Well, in our language we have 2 words for them, that both actually sound alike. One is Indijci - which is for people from India and the other is Indijanci - which is for Native Americans. You can't confuse them really. But I mostly call them real Americans.

[Sledfang]

Amerindians is the best possible term. It is logical, accurate, and isn't offensive in any way.

Indian doesnt make that much sense. Its misleading.

Native American doesn't make much sense either. The first people living in the Americas weren't born there so they werent truly native, they migrated.

[poser765]

So we should just keep doing something, that's technically incorrect, because we've already been doing it for so long? Got it.

When the people in question really don't give much of a shit, yes that is exactly what we do. When all the Choctaws, Kiowas, Seminoles, Cherokees, Poncan, Sioux, Creek, et al start referring to themselves as something other than Indians, then I will to.

In the mean time, they are Indians.

[PickleballAce]

Well, in our language we have 2 words for them, that both actually sound alike. One is Indijci - which is for people from India and the other is Indijanci - which is for Native Americans. You can't confuse them really. But I mostly call them real Americans.

Hulk Hogan is the only real American, brother.

[Spiffums]

Most terms used with "race" are used incorrectly. They mix nationality with race and come up with something that has nothing to do with "race".

[xezar]

We can always call em Redskins, and then when it becomes widely accepted that Washington football team's name won't seem so offensive...

[Sam the Wiser]

I'll just make this simple for you OP. They themselves call themselves Indians. You're wasting time trying to change it at this point. This is almost as bad as the whole nigga crisis.

[the game]

My native american studies class is taught by a native american. He calls himself an indian. He also refers to other indians as indians. If they're ok with it then I don't see the problem.