Native American name controversy

The Native American name controversy is an ongoing discussion about the changing terminology used by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas to describe themselves, as well as how they prefer to be referred to by others. Preferred terms vary primarily by region and age. As Indigenous peoples and communities are diverse, there is no consensus on naming. Historically, until late in the 20th century, most Indigenous people in the Americas were collectively called "Indians". The distinct people in the Arctic were called "Eskimos". Both terms have declined in usage in formal speech.

When discussing broad groups of peoples, naming may be based on shared language, region, or historical relationship, such as "Algonquin-speaking peoples", "Pueblo-dwelling peoples", " Plains Indians", or " LDN peoples" (Lakota, Dakota and Nakota peoples).

Many English exonyms have been used to refer to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas (also known as the New World), who were resident within their own territories when European colonists arrived in the 15th and 16th centuries. Some of these names were based on French, Spanish, or other European language terminology used by earlier explorers and colonists, many of which were derived from the names that tribes called each other; some resulted from the colonists' attempt to translate endonyms from the native language into their own, or to transliterate by sound. In addition, some names or terms were pejorative, arising from prejudice and fear, during periods of conflict (such as the American Indian Wars) between the cultures involved.

In the 20th and 21st centuries, there has been greater awareness among non-Indigenous peoples that Indigenous peoples in the Americas have been active in discussions of how they wish to be known. Indigenous people have pressed for the elimination of terms they consider to be obsolete, inaccurate, or racist. During the latter half of the 20th century and the rise of the Red Power movement, the United States government responded by proposing the use of the term "Native American" to recognize the primacy of Indigenous peoples' tenure in the country. The term has become widespread nationally but only partially accepted by various Indigenous groups. Other naming conventions have been proposed and used, but none is accepted by all Indigenous groups. Typically, each name has a particular audience and political or cultural connotation, and regional usage varies.

In Canada, the term "First Nations" is generally used for peoples covered by the Indian Act, and "Indigenous peoples" used for native peoples more generally, including Inuit and Métis, who do not fall under the "First Nations" category. Status Indian remains a legal designation because of the Indian Act.

Issues affecting the debate

* Historical, traditional use of a term (example: "Indian" is a name which many elders have known all their lives, and their families may continue to use the familiar term)
* Rejection of a word perceived as quaint or pejorative (example: " Eskimo")
* Rejection of names used by outsiders and not used by the tribe itself, or Indigenous peoples at large (example: "Nez Perce" is a French phrase; "Native American" was coined by the US government)
* Perception that a name is inherently racist, or has over time acquired racist overtones (example: "Redskin")
* Rejection of names assigned by an occupying and oppressive colonial government or expedition
* Belief that a name is too inclusive or not inclusive enough of all Indigenous peoples, so does not effectively represent the intended group. Examples: "Aboriginal", more widely associated with Aboriginal Australians, given its wide use on that continent, became a legal designation in section 35 of the Canadian Constitution Act, 1982. The United Nations uses "Indigenous" to refer to all tribal peoples around the world (as their representatives chose to be identified); "Native American" in general use has not applied to Indigenous peoples within Canada or Mexico.
* Reluctance of tribal peoples to be referred to by a collective, racial name, rather than simply by their traditional, individual name for themselves
* Belief that a universal or collective name suggests, inaccurately, that the Indigenous cultures referred to are homogeneous, monolithic bodies, rather than the widely varied separate nations and cultures that they are
* Belief that "Indians" cannot be used to describe global Indigenous cultures when it is already used as the national demonym for citizens from India, a non-Indigenous culture

United States

"Indian" and "American Indian" (since 1492)

Europeans at the time of Christopher Columbus's voyage often referred to all of South and East Asia as "India" or "the Indias/Indies", sometimes dividing the area into " Greater India", "Middle India", and "Lesser India". The oldest surviving terrestrial globe, by Martin Behaim in 1492 (before Columbus' voyage), labels the entire Asian subcontinent region as "India",''Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia,'' 2003 named ultimately after the Indus River.

Columbus carried a passport in Latin from the Spanish monarchs that dispatched him ''ad partes Indie'' ("toward the regions of India") on their behalf. When he landed in the Antilles, Columbus referred to the resident peoples he encountered there as "Indians", reflecting his purported belief that he had reached the Indian Ocean. The name was adopted by other Spanish and ultimately other Europeans; for centuries the Indigenous peoples of the Americas were collectively called "Indians" in various European languages. This misnomer was perpetuated in place naming; the islands of the Caribbean were named, and are still known as, the West Indies.

As European colonists began to settle in the Americas in the 16th and 17th centuries, and have more sustained contact with the resident peoples, they understood that the residents were not a homogeneous group sharing a unified culture and government, but discrete societies with their own distinct languages and social systems. Early historical accounts show that some colonists, including Jesuit missionaries in New France, attempted to learn and record the autonyms of these individual groups, but the use of the general term "Indian" persisted.

In 1968, the American Indian Movement (AIM) was founded in the United States. In 1977, a delegation from the International Indian Treaty Council, an arm of AIM, elected to collectively identify as "American Indian", at the United Nations Conference on Indians in the Americas in Geneva, Switzerland. Some activists and public figures of Indigenous descent, such as Russell Means, prefer "American Indian" to the more recently adopted "Native American".

Alternative etymology

In the late 20th century, some American public figures suggested that the origin of the term was not from a confusion with India, but from the Spanish expression ''En Dios'', meaning "in God", or a similar one in Italian. Proponents of this idea include comedian George Carlin.

Muscogee