2006-07-10 00:17:07 · 18 answers · asked by beyond paradise 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Cultures & Groups ➔ Other - Cultures & Groups
I know all this stuff about Columbus but what about the Indians that live in Igaloos.There are other Indians besides Red Indians in America. It seems that it is a word loosely connected with aborigines.
2006-07-10 00:32:03 · update #1
early explorers were trying to find a western route to india. when they landed in america, they thought they had found india, and then, referred to the natives as indians.
2006-07-10 00:21:45 · answer #1 · answered by CALLIE 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jeez, Columbus DID NOT THINK HE HAD FOUND INDIA. Being familiar with India, don't you think he'd know that he WASN'T THERE when he hit the Indies?
It shocks me how prevalent this myth is.
People at that time knew the earth was round. Columbus DID NOT SAIL to prove that it wasn't flat. Their mistake was the calculation of the circumference of the earth--they believed it was only 2/3rds of what it is--or about 17,000 miles (somthing like that). Columbus believed it would be easier to reach India headed west rather than going all the way around Africa.
Well, it didn't work. He hit the Indies and Cribbean Islands. And "Indians" comes from "Hijos de Dios" (EEhos de DEEos), meaning "Children of God." He KNEW he hadn't hit India!!!
2006-07-10 10:30:37 · answer #2 · answered by Songbird 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When Christopher Columbus landed here, he thought he was in India. So that's how Native American's got the name Indians.
2006-07-10 10:05:57 · answer #3 · answered by Poppi 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because when Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain to the New World, he thought that he was in East Asia or India, so he called the natives he found "Indians".
2006-07-10 07:25:00 · answer #4 · answered by Ken W 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When Columbus arrived to America he thought he was in the "Indias". So, the people living here were indians for him.
2006-07-10 07:21:49 · answer #5 · answered by Pippo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because when Columbus landed in the New World, he was a little mixed up, to say the least! Not knowing the entire northern or southern portion of another entire continent even existed, he believed he had arrived in--India! So, he referred to the native people he encountered, by the name of the country he believed himself to be in. Today, we use the term 'Native Americans' which makes a lot more sense.
2006-07-10 07:27:26 · answer #6 · answered by no1kn0smi 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm assuming you mean American Indians.
It's because when the first white settlers arrived in the Americas, they didn't know that the Americas were there and they thought that they've gone right round to India. So they just called the people they saw as Indians.
2006-07-10 07:22:08 · answer #7 · answered by k² 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The old legend was that Columbus thought he had reached islands near India (hence they are called the "Indies" [but why 'West' Indies???), and so the inhabitants were called Indians. It will be interesting to see if you get a more accurate answer -- I don't trust the old legends much.
2006-07-10 07:22:40 · answer #8 · answered by artful dodger 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We don't have any indians that live in Igloos in this country.
Do you mean eskimos? I just call them eskimos.
American Indians are now called native Americans.
It only took a few hundred years to straighten out Columbus's mistake.
Now only ignorant people think they're Indians
2006-07-10 07:42:52 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Stupid reason: Because when Christopher Columbus landed here, he thought he was in India/the East Indies.
2006-07-10 07:20:24 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
According to George Carlin, it's because Columbus spoke poor Spanish, and called them a people 'in dios', which means 'In God'. Indian is a derivative of that.
2006-07-10 07:27:04 · answer #11 · answered by Cunning Linguist 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋