Why are red Indians called Indians?

Answer 1

The Spanish were looking for a trade route to India. ("India" at the time referred to a much larger area of Asia and the East Indies, not just the present-day nation of India.) Since no maps had been made outside of the local area, the Spanish did not know that the Americas stood between them and India. They sailed across the ocean and landed on the Americas. Thinking it was India, they called the natives there, Indians.

As the History records tell, the original journal of Columbus 'The New World Revealed' had been lost, we have to go by the writings of Columbus's biographer and historian, Bartolome de las Casas who described of the journal of the Voyages.

The detailed account what this biographer states is of great similarity to the style and culture read and heard of India; the hospitality he and his men received from the Natives like gold ornaments etc. that he was offered and then they were taken by him to Spain, speak of the Indian Cultures and Traditions as were exhibited by the Natives.

Another factor of his calling them Indians was the brownish red complexion of those Natives. The political and social set up that he found was also similar to the Indian Kings and Monarchs also .
They are called that because Christopher Columbus thought he was in India so the term Indian just stuck
They are called that because Christopher Columbus thought he was in India so the term Indian just stuck
The myth that has been perpetuated for generations that Columbus thought he was in India and named the natives Indians is nothing more than a myth.

The Paugesauks in the late 1980's hired a spanish ancient dialects linquistics expert to translate Columbus's diary. He found that Columbus was so impressed with the peoples' spirituality and their devotion to the Creator, that he referred to them as In Dios meaning walking in God's way.

Some person misread that along the way and figured Columbus missed India by half a world and mistakenly referred to the Natives as Indians.

Because when the explorer came to the Americas, he thought he had reached India, then later in history America was formed and the "Indians" there became known as American Indians

Answer 2

Well, if you were aguy from Europe, before the days of TV, movies and easy travelling - you might just think that there was a bit of a reddish tint to their skin.

Answer 3

When Christopher Columbus arrived in the Bahamas (in the New World), he encountered natives. He assumed that he was on an island off the coast of India, even though India was actually thousands of miles away, so he assumed these natives had to be "Indians".

Answer 4

When Columbus came to the new world, he thought he had reached the Indian subcontinent of Asia, and so called the natives he found Indians. The natives of the new world were later called red Indians to distinguish them from natives of India, and because the color of their skin was redder.

Answer 5

They were called that because Christopher Columbus, the man who EVERYONE thinks discovered the new world, (even though Leif Erickson & other Norsemen were the ones who really discovered it) called them Indians, thinking that he and his trusty crew had landed in India. Later, he discovered his mistake and made his crew swear to never tell anyone they didn't actually land in India, but in a whole new continent all together.