Don’t forget that people make assumptions about words sometimes regardless of their context.
Sometime ago on these boards I posted about us Brits; describing ourselves quite accurately as the “natives of these isles”, do such and such.
Another Doper who is a Brit from an ethnic minority got quite huffy about my post believing me to be making a dig about non white people.
But back to the O.P., its common understanding that anyone who talks about “Native Americans” is talking by common accepted usage about Amerindians; not people who happened to be born in the U.S.
Quite often when people talk about “Masons” they are referring to men who are members of a fraternal organisation not people who work stone for a living.
And I’ve yet to meet someone who DOES work stone for a living getting upset about the lodge members being described as such.
(And yes I actually do know some stone masons)
Personally I can’t see why the debate has got so heated.