What Should Be Correct Term To Call Native Americans As?

kahat

Jun 6 2005, 11:42 PM

I was just reading a closed thread where people were discussing about Native Americans, and some of them were referring Native Americans as Indians.

So I am surprised that if you call a few Native Americans as Indians, what will you call people with 1 Billion population(Indians of India) as?

Don't you think that Indians is politically wrong term to refer them as. Or its a time when Indians from India should start asking for rights? Laughing

What should be correct term to call them as?
Native Americans OR Native Indians OR American Indians

Xboxgamer1200

Jun 7 2005, 02:35 AM

I believe they should be called Native Americans. Either that or we could just call them "Those whom were here first". I personally believe that would be a better choice since there would be no discrepancy with the terminology and nobody could argue with that.

Saint_Michael

Jun 7 2005, 03:41 AM

me being an american oooh don't email bomb me now respecting ones culture and religion (except one) is the best you can do if y ou know the tribes you can use that term if not native american is fine indians has been tolerated but some people still don't like it

rejected

Jun 7 2005, 03:56 AM

Well it depends on what you're thinking.

Are people from India native to America? If so then, yes.

If they're from india and were never from America, they should be called Indians.

Saint_Michael

Jun 7 2005, 04:06 AM

the question is referring to the indians the first came to the americas before the spanish and then the english invaded

biscuitrat

Jun 7 2005, 04:30 AM

People from India should be called Indians and people who lived on America before Americans should be called Native Americans. They're only called "Indians" because of Columbus' mistake of calling the Caribbean the West Indies.

Sprnknwn

Jun 7 2005, 10:08 AM

I think i would be better to call the european americans "Colonian Americans" or whatever instead of calling the aborigens "natives". The natives in fact are more americans than the new americans, although the continent wasn´t called America before.

Native Indians is an awful term. With that you don´t even know where they are from. Asia?

brandice

Jun 7 2005, 12:12 PM

"The people who inhabited the land known as North America first"... I think most people say Native Americans, That's what is written in the kid's textbooks now. My grandmother, who is half Native American, says Indians.

When referring to people from India, I've always saied "Indian Indians"

shigajet

Jun 7 2005, 12:14 PM

We have the same debate in Canada, although most people use the term First Nations people more often. Makes sense, though. After all, they have lived there way before the first Europeans set foot in the "New World" (what is now North America)

Joshua

Jul 10 2005, 01:35 AM

Native Americans is probably best. If you want to call them "Indians" better call everyone who isn't one an "Indian giver" then

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Galahad

Nov 2 2006, 11:00 PM

I think, that "Native Americans", should be called whatever their tribe name is... I mean, OK, they all look similar, have sligtly reddish tan, one could say they are one race, a race for themselves... But, if we take into account, that white race, has different nations, such as the french, germans, polaks, and others, why can't natives, have something like that... So, if the tribes name is Sioux, they should be called the Sioux, and so on, and so on...

What was the name they had for American continent? It's the Europeans that gave it such a name, so even Native Americans, can be wrong... Maybe they called America Bambiland, or Great Wast Land, so they would technicaly be called Great Wast Landers

My oppinion is, if they can't be called by their tribes name, then, at least, Native Americans...

And we know who the Indians are... You know... That country, India? Pretty much people there, and I'm sure they're no more too happy with this name game, then the natives... People should pay more attention to these details... Details are everything

beeseven

Nov 1 2006, 11:52 PM

Why would you call them "Native Indians"? Please tell me that's the joke option.

Anyway, the politically correct term is "Native Americans," but the historical term is "Indians." I don't believe that it should make a difference, but a lot of people get offended about really small things. Some of them don't mind being called Indians, others do; it really depends who you're talking to.

jhsmurray

Oct 30 2006, 10:57 AM

I believe that the best term is Native American. It's part of the acronym NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act ), which directly involves the heads of Native American nations. If they had a problem with "NA" I suspect they would have requested it to be changed.

On a side note, lately there's been a debate between ARPA (Archaeological Resources Protection Act) and the local Native American community in Washington State about ownership of recently discovered bones that are over 8,000 years old. The Native Americans believe that it is the remains of their forefathers (and therefore subject to repatriation and burial in the Native American way), while the scientific community believes that Native Americans had not traversed to the American continent by that time, and instead of giving the bones up to the Native Americans, these bones should be studied further.
http://www.archaeology.org/9701/etc/specialreport.html

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