Why are Native Americans called Native Americans?

Answer 1

Native Americans are called such because they came to North America hundreds, if not thousands of years before the continent was ever found or named North America (and consequently America and Canada) by the white immigrant settlers from Spain, England, France, and many other countries "across the pond."

Answer 2

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 3

The term "Native American" is used (generally by Caucasians) to refer to the entire spectrum of individuals who are descended from the people living in North America at the time European explorers became aware of another continent they did not know about. The use of "Native American" has been promoted as being a more ethnically sensitive and politically correct term than "Indian", which was what Christopher Columbus referred to the indigenous populations because he mistakenly thought he had sailed into the East Indies.

However, the term "Native American" paints a very broad stroke over dozens of different peoples, cultures and values. A very brief listing of the different people living in what has become the continental United States includes the Mohawk, the Cherokee, the Chippewa, the Shawnee, the Pawnee, the Sioux, the Apache, the Ute and the Comanchee; there are many more, each with their own cultures, traditions and heritages. If you are speaking in broad demographic terms, such as characterizing the ethnic heritage of the United States population, using "Native American" has been accepted. However, if you are speaking of a narrower population, it is better manners to directly state the individual group name, such as descendants of the Pawnee in Nebraska.

Caucasian settlers in many cases destroyed the indigenous cultures, and it has only been over the last 20-30 years that as a nation the United States is trying to come to grips with the devastation wrought by national white-centric policies throughout the nation's history. Substituting "Native American" for "Indian", while on many levels symbolic and semantic, is a meager start to understanding the damage caused by a people that relegated anyone of a deeper-than-peach skin tone to being second class citizens at best and no better than animals at worst.

Answer 4

They are called "Native American" because they were here before any of the white settlers arrived. "Indian" refers to the mistake Columbus made when he arrived in America and thought he was in India. Some of America's indigenous people call themselves "Indians," while others prefer the term "Native American" or some other designation (usually tribal). Many people prefer to be called by their tribal nation name such as Hopi or Navajo or Lakota or Suquamish. It the same as most Europeans who think of themselves as French or Italian or English not European. For example, most Navajo think of themselves as Navajo not Indian or any other term and see themselves as quite different than other people. Considering there is more language and culture variation in the Americas than there is in Europe it is a bit odd to lump everyone together with one term. The only thing these peoples have in common is their history of difficult dealings with European colonial powers and their successor states.

Real Indians prefer that they be called "Native Americans" because calling them Indian was a mistake.