American Indians don't like 'Native American'?

Question

My great-grandmother was a full-blooded Navajo. I look like a Navajo and have talked with scores of Indians. I used to live in Tahleguah, OK, where the seat of the Cherokee gov't is. I also lived in Missoula, MT.
Almost to a person, Indians have told me that they HATE 'Native American'. It is a PC name applied to them by white people. They especially don't like 'American' as a noun. As a geographical adjective, 'American Indian', they don't mind. So why all the PC stuff from everyone? They've been Indians since the whites got here. They prefer 'Indian'. Why don't you call them Indians?

jdecors -- untrue. India wasn't called India in Columbus's day. It comes from his error attempting to use Spanish (he was Italian) in calling them 'In dios', trying to say, 'Children of God'.

Answer 1

Your right about ol drunken CC, he was headed to HINDUSTAN, and landed on a green island where people were naked ant thought it was EDEN. He called them "LOS GENTES EN DIOS" or "the people of god" later it became simply "los en dios" an then 'en dios" (of god). When he set sail there was no INDIA, there was HINDUSTAN, and KHALISTAN etc.

All my papers, roll card, cdib, etc say INDIAN.
All the legislation says INDIAN
MY Elders especially say INDIAN or more likely "Indin"

I AM CALIFORNIA INDIAN.
I come from 3 Nations, North to South, Achumawi, Maidu, Miwok. ALL of the Rancheria signs say INDIAN..

To me there is a difference between "native americans" and us "INDIANS".
THEY just found out their GGGGG grama was some kinda princess, WE have always BEEN INDIAN.
THEY can pass for white, WE have always BEEN INDIAN.
THEY are LEARNING their culture, WE have always BEEN INDIAN
THEY protest mascots, WE fix grandmas roof, and make sure she has wood for winter.

Answer 2

I'm a quarter Indian and I don't actually care if people say Indian or Native American. What I don't like is the term Hispanic which is equally contrived. As for what India was called by Europeans of the Columbus' day, I think it was called India in Spanish and Portuguese even if it wasn't in English. But I could be wrong.

Answer 3

Hello:

I agree with the person who said that Indians is a misnomer, since it refers to the people of India and Columbus didn't know there were a couple of continents in between.

But as to names, maybe they should be called by the name of their original nations: Navajos, Zuni, Cherokees, Seminoles, Lakota, etc.

Answer 4

people do it because it is a way of further denigrating Indians.

Being an Indian I find it offensive only because white people don't call each other "Non-native Americans".... Instead white people only add the little descriptors as a means of saying "I'm an American and your a Native or African or Jewish or whatever - American".

Its actually quite funny in a twisted way that these PC people have adapted to such a racist thing.


Kind of funny listening to all these people talking about Christopher C making up the term... last I heard the closest he got to the US was Puerto Rico... and the last time I checked that was in the Caribbean... so what's the relevance of him?

Answer 5

Well I usually refer to them as Native American because they are not Indian. Indian refers to someone who is from India. I was told that this is the correct term to call them. I also agree about the Black American. I am American a Black American of African ancestry. So Black American would be more fitting.

Answer 6

Because when you say "Indian" you think of people from India. The reason they were called Indians in the first place was because Columbus thought he was in India, due to that being his destination to gather spices.

My husband is American-Indian and that's what his family calls themselves.

Answer 7

As a descendant myself, I feel that our people were called 'Indian' in error because a white sailor got lost. 'Indian' is a native of India or The West Indies; 'Native' means naturally found in a certain area. Not brought from across an ocean.

Answer 8

Just don't call me late to dinner.

The person who wanted to call people by their "tribal" names might have been on the right track except that the tribal names often have little meaning to their so called tribes. Most tribal names were "given" to us by Europeans.
And as a mixed origin person I certainly don't like be called "other".

When we get to the place that we just call "people" people rather than trying to label everyone by race/tribe/religion, this world will be a better place.

Answer 9

i prefer indigenous because indian is the mistake of the white man, and im not indian from india, and native american is okay with me, it does depend on which community of natives you ask,

Answer 10

almost every Indigenous group of those who occupied Turtle Island before the arrival of European or other Foreign Countries had a specific name they referred to themselves as -- which indicated they were " THE TRUE PEOPLE, " while others were not.

whenever I ask someone " are you of THE PEOPLE " the majority know what I'm referring to. most of them who are admit to their Indigenous Ancestry while others who are not shrug their shoulders and go about their business.