I asked this question in a subpost but got no good reply. So here it is again in the subject. Specifically :
1> As the dictionary says Indians who used to live near the river Indus in “India”. So obviously calling Native Americans as Indians is wrong. I know the history behind calling them Indians. What I am asking is do the natives feel offended in today’s world to be addressed as Indians ?
2> If they don’t feel offended to be called Indians, do they associate themselves with India in any way ? What I mean to say here is, if Natives were wrongly identified as say arabs in the first place, I am sure they would’nt like to called arabs in today world. What is so “good” about India that the natives don’t mind being associated with that name ??
3> If they do feel offended, then do they prefer to be adressed by thier tribe name ?
4> And what about the real Indians - the guys from India. Do they find it derogatory that their name has been wrongly used over centuries ? Or are they pleased that even natives of other places don’t mind being called Indians ?
Incidentally, I have an observation, except the natives (American Indians) where American comes first, all others have American come second (African American, Asian American, Cuban American, Mexican American, etc. etc. ) - why is that ?
By and large, though it’s a misnomer, no, they’re not offended. Generally when speaking engilsh, they call themselves “Indian”. No, they don’t have any special affinity for or kinship with India any more than any other ethnic group, just a shared name.
What’s more, the tribe name we generally call them by is usually a term from another tribes language that means “enemy”, or a pejorative. Most tribes own name for themselves means “the people”. Like the Navajo for instance…Navajo is a (IIRC) Hopi word meaning “enemy”. The Navajo word for their tribe is “Dineh”, “the people”. Not hard how to imagine how this came about:
White Man: What do you call those people who live over there?
Indian: Them? We call them “enemy”.
White Man: “Enemy”, eh? Let me write that down…
But still, they call themselves “Navajo” when speaking english (at least to me).
It seems improper to call Native Americans “Indians”, since it is completely incorrect. However I can tell you most Native Americans I know (which is quite a few, having lived in Oklahoma for the past few years) refer to themselves as Indians more often than they refer to themselves as Native American during casual conversation. And of course they don’t fell any connection to India or its inhabitants due to a (somewhat) shared name.m
Although they may call themselves “Indians” amongst themselves.
Most whom I’ve met prefer Indian, (if you can’t refer to them as Ojibwa or Lakota or whatever), although you will encounter other views. We once had a poster on these boards, phaedrus, who insisted on Native American. (Of course, he was a contrarian in all things.)
The reason that people say American Indian rather than Indian American (as in Irish American) probably reflects the point that they were indians (or Natchez or Cherokee) upon whom Americanism has been imposed, rather than an American whose heritage is from elsewhere. In other words, most people saw them as “indians” and then added the adjective “American” to distinguish from “East” whereas the other ethnic groups are seen as “American” modified by where they (or their ancestors) originated.
Incidentally, not all Native Americans are Indians. Eskimos and Aleuts are not part of the same linguistic group as the vast majority of Indians in North & South America.
Most Indians I know just say “Indian” - or of course their tribal/ethnic identity. One of my friends who is Dine (Navajo), usually says ‘native’ instead.
This irritates me a bit, but a lot of times I’ll hear people refer to all people from India as “Hindus” - without knowing the specific religion or language. For instance, if someone said “my neighbors are Indian” - most people I know would think “Amerindian” right away. So if people from India are involved, one may hear “my neighbors are Hindu”. (They could very well not be Hindus at all of course).
I work on a reservation with a lot of tribe members (though not tribal myself). Since there are several tribes in this area, I usually refer to them by their tribe name. It seems the older generation prefers the tribe name while younger ones don’t really care. I haven’t really heard if they associate “Indian” with India (whom I personally refer to as “the guys about to nuke Pakistan”). I hear them use “Indian” when referring to members of other tribes. I call the one I work with “boss”. I could take a poll of people around here if you want me to.
The term “Native American” was originally coined in referring to Native American Peoples–those groups who had a presence in what is now the U.S. at the time Europeans arrived. It was not meant to refer to individuals. Furthermore, it’s a confusing term to use for individuals–I’m of European ancestry, and I’m a native American.
While the term Indian is not flawless, it’s pretty universally understood, which is a BIG plus. In contexts where that word alone is not clear, American Indian or Asian Indian will avoid confusion.
Actually, there are several distinct Indian language groups: Uto-Aztecan, Siouan, Na-Dene/Athapaskan, Muskogean, Caddoan, and of course, Algic/Algonquin–and those are just the ones that came to my mind offhand.
It also seems improper to call “Indians” “Native Americans”. As Gary T points out, most Americans are of European ancestry and are native to North America. Thus we “European Americans” are actually “Native Americans”.
In addition, Indians are also immigrants. They’ve just been here a lot longer than people of European stock. (Of course you could take it all the way back to Lucy and argue that we’re all Africans in reality.)
So perhaps if we want to be PC, we should call Indians “Aboriginal Americans”.
[sub](Of course, it’s easier just to call them “people”.)[/sub]
Having lived around the Lakota for the last 20 years
i find that they usually refer to themselves as Indians.
They may use a tribe name when referring to someone
from a different tribe.
Hasn’t anyone seen that episode of the Simpsons with all the anti-immigration laws, where Apu is going to be deported? There’s a great little bit at the end about Indians and Native Americans.
“Indian” is no more incorrect than most other words. If we are going to disqualify all words which are ethimologically wrong then we will have to invent another language because lots (if not most) of English words have evolved to the point where their present meaning is only loosely related to their original meaning.
I found a Canadian catalogue of assorted native/FN/Indian social work videos and resources that had a notation in the index that said something like “many American First Nations people still use the term “Indian” therefore this word is used in the title of many of the items listed here”. I thought that a wee bit snooty.
Thanks, Kniz. Maybe if Andy_fl were kidnapped from his home and sold in Spain, he’d empathize with not having his ethnicity described by the invocation of the tyrant’s name.
