In bibliophage’s Sacagawea, he consistantly uses the term Indian to describe the people living in the US who were there before the Europeans got there.
Then, in one sentence only, we get the term Native American:
I’m just curious as to what conditions merrit “Indian” and what merrit “Native American”. I’m not getting huffy about this, I just find it an interesting quirk of how we use these phrases that caused Bibliophage to choose to change terms mid article.
There’s no need for a secret decoder ring. I generally use “Indian” as the catch-all because that’s what the Indians I know use. I sometimes use “Native American” to avoid excessive repitition of “Indian,” to avoid confusion with people from India, or–as in this case–just because the rhythm of the phrase fits better in some contexts. In my sarcastic putdown of Ms. Reed, I simply thought the somewhat impressive-sounding six-syllable phrase was a better buildup than the three-syllable word.
Better one? that great Native American actress, Donna Reed.
Better two? that great Indian actress, Donna Reed.
Better one, I think.