does it have anything to do with the Asian country?
2007-01-05 10:40:31 · 21 answers · asked by shell 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Cultures & Groups ➔ Other - Cultures & Groups
Erm, how could anyone think it was a racist question, what an idiot!
2007-01-06 10:28:53 · update #1
Because there was a theory in the 15th century that since the world was round if you sailed far enough west you'd get to the east!
They looked for a route to the Indies and found... you guessed it!
So it's based on Christopher Columbus' idea that he had landed in the Indies (then meaning all of south and east Asia) when he had actually reached the Americas. Same reason as it's the 'West' Indies!
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2007-01-05 10:48:07 · answer #1 · answered by Nobody 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Christopher Columbus didn't know of the "New World" (or what is now called America) when he sailed Westward. He was actually trying to find a shortcut to India, by not sailing South around the Southern tip of Africa. (The Suez Canal did not exist at the time, incredibly shortening travel and transportation time to the East.) When Columbus arrived in the New World (America) he thought he arrived in India, and mistakenly called the natives "Indians".
2007-01-05 18:58:45 · answer #2 · answered by Kilroy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No Indians are from India but Christopher Columbus called the Native Americans "Indians" because he thought he was in India. Native Americans are the real Americans sadly their land was taken from them
2007-01-05 18:49:39 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, Christopher Columbushad named the Native Americans Indians because he thought he was in India.
2007-01-05 18:47:47 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
When the first explorers discovered America they thought they have reached India and the natives ( the original inhabitants) were named as Native Indians..So they named it as Indians. Later Amerigo Vespucci found out that the country was not India so it was renamed as America.
2007-01-05 18:56:47 · answer #5 · answered by cupid 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Christopher Columbus, trying to find a Western route to India/"the Indies", thought he'd arrived there.
The 'copper' colour of the skin led to the inhabitants being described as 'Red Indians'.
The islands of the Caribbean are still called "The West Indies", for the same reason.
2007-01-05 18:50:44 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
because they came from the asian continent via the berring strait and alaska and colonised the americas. Or it could be that columbus thought he'd reached india, probably the 1st explnation but either will do.
2007-01-05 18:49:48 · answer #7 · answered by wave 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because when the explorers landed in North America they thought they had reached India.
2007-01-05 18:43:08 · answer #8 · answered by castle h 6 · 4⤊ 1⤋
because when columbus discovered america he was looking for an alternative route to Asia and when he landed he thought he was in India
2007-01-05 19:16:51 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, Indians comes from the word "indigenous" meaning Native. People considered them native to the world and called then Native Americans or, as we call them today, Indians.
2007-01-05 18:50:00 · answer #10 · answered by rebecca_noel 2 · 0⤊ 4⤋