# Native Americans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 10, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans/549883 "2010-08-10T23:14:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bernieyeball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c89c15/32.png) [@Bernieyeball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bernieyeball)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans/549883/1 "2010-08-10T23:14:07Z")
I always get grief when I pose this question but I think it is a reasonable inquiry. I suspect the humans who inhabited this continent before the arrival of Europeans did not call it North America or America. How can they be Native “Americans”? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans/549883/2 "2010-08-10T23:19:53Z")
Because we now call it America. But “Native American” is an invention by white people, and most Indians seem to prefer “Indian”. Although that opens another debate of a similar kind. So, call them by their tribal affiliation (eg, Lakota). But aside from that, words mean what we we want them to mean. A hot dog isn’t a dog. Peanut isn’t a nut. I type on my computer, but it isn’t a typewriter. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans/549883/3 "2010-08-10T23:34:48Z")
In English, we call it America. “Native American” is an English-language term. As it happens, the word for the continent in some Native languages _is_ “America,” or something close to it, simply because individual tribes had no basis for thinking in terms of the whole continent before European arrival. In Cherokee Tsalagi, the word is Ameliga. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans/549883/4 "2010-08-10T23:42:08Z")
Because we need a word that means “the people who inhabited the continents we now call North and South America, and their descendants”. AFAIK, no Indian tribe had a word that meant that before they borrowed one from another language. We don’t always call people what they call themselves, and this isn’t limited to Indians. We call people from France French, even though that’s not what they call themselves. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans/549883/5 "2010-08-10T23:42:50Z")
The native word for Japan is ‘Nippon’ yet we refer to the people who live there as Japanese. This isn’t difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Bernieyeball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c89c15/32.png) [@Bernieyeball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bernieyeball)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans/549883/6 "2010-08-10T23:45:05Z")
J Mace, As Tommy Smothers once said: “Words are just a plaything to me.” I will take your “word” for it that most (North American) Indians prefer Indian. It’s always the honkies that hassle me about this. I think tribal or nation names are just fine. From one native Earther to another. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans/549883/7 "2010-08-11T00:49:12Z")
> [@Bernieyeball](#): > > J Mace, > As Tommy Smothers once said: “Words are just a plaything to me.” > I will take your “word” for it that most (North American) Indians prefer Indian. > It’s always the honkies that hassle me about this. > I think tribal or nation names are just fine. > From one native Earther to another. Welcome to this message board. You might want to take a few minutes and acquaint yourself with the rules and what the different forums are for. This one is for asking questions with factual answers. We try to keep opinions in the forum “IMHO” and debates about topics in GD. Enjoy. This is a great place to find out answers to serious (and not so serious) questions, and debate with some pretty sharp people. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans/549883/8 "2010-08-11T01:15:15Z")
> [@Bernieyeball](#): > > I always get grief when I pose this question but I think it is a reasonable inquiry. > I suspect the humans who inhabited this continent before the arrival of Europeans did not call it North America or America. > How can they be Native “Americans”? [Moderator Note] It seems to me that you’re more concerned with scoring rhetorical points rather than actually seeking factual information here. If you wish to debate whether “Native American” or “Indian” or some other term is most appropriate, it would be best to open a thread in Great Debates than in General Questions. I’m going to close this one to give you a chance to start from scratch. As **John Mace** says, it would be best to read the forum descriptions and do some reading to get a sense of what this site is about before you start any more threads. Colibri General Questions Moderator