Native American name controversy Totally Explained

Everything about The Native American Name Controversy totally explained

The Native American name controversy is an ongoing dispute over the acceptable ways to refer to the indigenous peoples of the Americas and to broad subsets thereof, such as those living in a specific country or sharing certain cultural attributes. Once-common terms like "Indian" remain in use, despite the introduction of terms such as "Native American" during the latter half of the 20th century. Many English terms have been used or considered for such purposes, such as Red Indians, American Indians (or simply Indians), the American Indian race, Native Americans, Original Americans, First Nations, Indigenous Peoples of America, Amerindians, Amerinds, and more. However, none have found universal acceptance. Typical reasons for contesting a name are

ambiguity or accepted multiple meanings of the words used, like American or indigenous;
prior use for a different set of people, as in the case of Indian;
existence of unrelated common meanings, like native;
conflict with prior legal definitions, like Aboriginal;
sentimental attachment to a previous name;
that the term is often considered or pejorative, as for Eskimo;
resentment about having a name imposed by outsiders;
presumed political implications of the name, as with Native;
reluctance of individual groups to be referred to by a collective name; and several others. Further complications arise when translating names between different languages, since even words that are closely related linguistically may have very different cultural loads in the respective speaker communities. "The People", "First Men" and "Original People" are the most common translations for various Indigenous American tribes.

In some countries, certain broad names have been defined by law, such as First Nations and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada. Even in those cases, there may be lingering debates on whether certain groups fit the legal definition or not, or whether the name or its definition are adequate.

Endonyms and exonyms

Where controversy exists over the naming of a group of people, one solution is to use the name preferred by the people in question themselves. However, this principle applies poorly to large multi-ethnic groups, since different sub-groups often have incompatible preferences. Moreover, every natural language has traditionally ignored this principle, exerting its privilege to invent its own ethnic terms for other peoples. English is no exception, and uses terms such as German, Dutch, and Albanian, disregarding the self-appellations and preferences of those subjects (Deutsch, Nederlands, and Shqip). Not surprisingly, English names for the pre-Columbian Americans are largely assigned by tradition, and are not always accepted by the peoples themselves.

Meanings of basic terms

A major source of confusion and controversy is that many of the words that are or could be used in naming those peoples are inherently ambiguous or inappropriate.

Indian

The term Indian is commonly thought to have begun with the misconception by Christopher Columbus that the Caribbean islands were the islands in Southeast Asia known to Europeans as the Indies, which he'd hoped to reach by sailing west across the Atlantic. Even though Columbus's mistake was soon recognized, the name stuck, and for centuries the native people of the Americas were collectively called Indians. Much of the use of the word has to do with connotation more than definition.

2. Of or pertaining to the aborigines, or Indians, of America; as, Indian wars; the Indian tomahawk. [1913Webster]

2. One of the aboriginal inhabitants of America; — so called originally from the supposed identity of America with India. [1913Webster]

The American Heritage Dictionary excludes "Eskimos, Aleuts, and Inuit" from Indian in an American context.
   The 2006 Associated Press Stylebook recommends use of the term American Indian and reserves Native American only for direct quotations and names of organizations.
   The terms "Indian" and "American Indian" are used by the U.S. government as standard descriptors. There is a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), for example. Similarly, the Smithsonian's new National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC (2004), uses the older term, as does its quarterly full-color publication, American Indian.
   In Canada, although all governments are now careful to use the terms First Nations (for "Indians") and aboriginals (First Nations, plus Métis and Inuit), the federal ministerial portfolio in charge of their affairs is the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, and "Indian Reserve" is still a legal land description. Some First Nations also use "Indian Band" in their official names.
   The usage "Red Indian", common outside of North America, is offensive to many, and somewhat archaic in the United States and Canada.
   In Mexico, the use of "Indio" is offensive to many, and sometimes cause of dispute.

American

The meaning of American has two common meanings: while it may refer to the Americas in general (meaning 1), it often refers specifically (therefore not exclusively) to the United States of America and its territories (meaning 2). Merriam-Webster gives (1) an American Indian of the Americas; (2) an inhabitant of the Americas, native or not; (3) a U.S. citizen; and (4) the language. The American Heritage Dictionary gives three meanings as Merriam-Webster, without "an American Indian". since the end of the last glacial period (c. 8,000 B.C.—10,000 years ago), along the northern tier of what is now the United States, definitively at least 4,000 years B.C. in what is now Seattle, for one example. Native Americans have lived elsewhere in the Americas far longer. When the people of the Norte Chico were building at least seven large-scale settlements on the Peruvian coast between 3200 B.C. and 2500 B.C., there was only one other urban complex on the planet: Sumer, in the Tigris-Euphrates valley.
Such claims (or the possibility thereof) may lead to rejection of the label by the "non-natives". These may argue, for example, that the "natives" themselves were invaders to even earlier inhabitants; or that they're no longer residing on their "native" land; or that there's insufficient historical evidence of their native status; and so on. The issue boils down to the undecidable question of how long a group should reside in a place before it deserves the label "native". This reaction has actually occurred in the US, for example, against the term Native Americans.

Indigenous

Even though the term "indigenous" may sound similar to "Indian," the two are quite unrelated. The term comes from Latin indigena, "native," formed from indu "in" and gen- "beget".
According to The American Heritage Dictionary: "Indigenous specifies that something or someone is native rather than coming or being brought in from elsewhere: an indigenous crop; the Ainu, a people indigenous to the northernmost islands of Japan."

Aboriginal and Aborigine

The English adjective "aboriginal" and the noun "aborigine" come from a Latin phrase meaning "from the origin," which was first applied to native peoples of central Italy who were contemporaries of the ancient Romans.
According to this etymology, therefore, it could be used for ethnic groups who "were there since the beginning," for example the first to arrive in a region, or those who can be identified in the earliest historical or archaeological records. Indeed, it has been occasionally used in this sense in English, at least since the 19th century, for indigenous populations all over the world, including the Americas.
Aboriginal may imply a more direct or ancient link to the past (especially one that predates recorded history) than indigenous, but there's considerable overlap in meaning between the two terms.
However, this general use has been largely preempted by narrower legal or common usage definitions that it has received in some countries. Throughout most of the English-speaking world, it's commonly understood to refer to the Indigenous Australians. It has also special legal status in Canada (see below).

Names for United States native peoples

In the United States, Native American and American Indian are commonly used to denote the indigenous peoples in the United States. Both terms are almost exclusively used to describe the natives of the contiguous United States, usually excluding the indigenous peoples of Hawaii and the Aleut, Inuit, and Yupik peoples of the far north.
The terms Alaska Natives is used for the indigenous peoples in Alaska (including the Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut), and Native Hawaiians is used for those of Hawaii.

Indian and American Indian

"American Indian" is often a legal term. It is the phrase used to describe indigenous people of the western hemisphere in United States Federal as well as many state and local laws. Most treaties refer to "American Indians" of a particular tribe. It makes sense to refer to "American Indians" when referencing legal issues. (I.e. The United States signed treaties with more than 800 "American Indian" tribes.)
In the 1960s and 1970s efforts were made to change "Indian" to "Native American" or, sometimes, "Amerindian". It wasn't entirely successful, with the new name being as problematic as the old. Charles C. Mann noted in his 2005 book that "every native person whom I've met (I think without exception) has used 'Indian' rather than 'Native American'."
One historical basis for the distaste that many Indians have for the designation "Native American" stems from non-Christian aspects of the early Native American Church. In its Annual Report for the year 1916, the Indian Rights Association (IRA) included an article entitled "The Ravages of Peyote," which attacked the "baneful" effects of the peyote religion: "[afarmer's] health is often affected, and interest is lost in the things which tend to better living." The Report describes Native American Church practices as unchristian, indulgent, and sexualized.(As a defensive measure, in 1918, the peyote religion adopted its current name, Native American Church, first in Oklahoma, and in at least six other states by 1925). The term American Indian is often shortened to Indian when the context allows, for example in the name of the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs. The derivative term Injun is considered offensive.

Native American

Description and usage

The term Native American was introduced in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s by those who hoped it would be more accurate than Indian and free from its negative stereotypes. What it means exactly depends on the context of its use, and who is using it, and is thus often a great source of confusion. It can mean:

All Indians of the Americas

All Indians of the Americas, excluding the Inuit, Aleut, native Hawaiians and some others who arrived later.

Indians indigenous to pre-Columbian America who are presently living in the United States, including Inuit, Aleuts, Hawaiians and native Pacific Islanders (Native American Languages Act of 1990).

All Indians of the Americas, including the U.S. and Canada but not including Mexico or further south

Anyone born in the Americas, including those of European descent for example. Many of those who are covered by the term strongly prefer "American Indian" over "Native American". According to the US Census Bureau, as of 1995 50% preferred "American Indian", 37% "Native American", and the remainder preferred other terms or had no preference. The term has also been contested by some non-Native U.S. citizens, both for the perception that the name diminished their own status or rights (anyone born the US could be called a "Native American"), and also as part of the general backlash against "political correctness", for which the term was often cited as an example. However, there's a growing consensus that either term is correct and that the terms may be used interchangeably. However, many now prefer to be designated by their specific tribe.)

Other derogatory terms

Another pejorative term that was once broadly accepted is "heathens", referring to the Native Americans' presumed non-Judeo-Christian religious beliefs. "Injun" is an intentional-mispronunciation of "Indian", generally used in a joking way to mock or impersonate Native Americans' supposed accented English (for example "Honest Injun", "Injun time"). These terms are now universally considered derogatory and bigoted. Most Native Americans now agree that "Squaw" is a derogatory word as well with negative connotations of Native American women. "Indian princess" is increasingly out of popular usage among Native Americans and held demeaning to Native American women.

Names for Canadian native peoples

In Canada, the term Aboriginal peoples in Canada is used for all indigenous peoples established in the country, including the Inuit and Inuvialuit, as well as the Métis.
The term First Nations is used in a more restricted sense, for all the indigenous peoples in Canada except the Inuit, Inuvialuit, and Métis.

First Nations

In Canada, the term "First Nations" (most often used in the plural) has come into general use for the Indigenous peoples of North America located in what is now Canada, and their descendants, who are neither Inuit nor Métis. The singular commonly used on culturally politicized reserves is the awkward "First Nations person" (when gender-specific, First Nations man or First Nations woman). A more recent trend is for members of various nations to refer to themselves by their tribal/national identity only, for example "I'm Haida," "we're Kwantlens," in recognition of the distinctiveness and diversity of First Nations ethnicities.
However, some tribal governments of Canada also use the term First Nations to refer to any indigenous, tribal or nomadic society. In this usage, the Roma, Sinti, Saami, Māori, Hmong, and the Australian Aborigines are also considered "First Nations".

Canadian Indians

The term Indians was once used to refer to the peoples now called First Nations, but it has fallen largely in disuse. However, it's still relevant in many legal and administrative contexts.
The Canadian Indian Act, which defines the rights of recognized First Nations, does refer to them as Indians. The federal government department in charge of First Nations affairs is the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs headed by the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. People officially recognized by the Indian Register under that act are commonly known as "Status Indians", although "Registered Indian" is the official term. Land set aside for the use of First Nations are known as Indian reserves.
The term Indian is also used in the official names of many .

Aboriginal Peoples in Canada

The term Aboriginal is defined in the Canadian Constitution to include "all Indian, Inuit, and Métis peoples of Canada" (Constitution Act, 1982, Subsection 35(2). The term is understood to include also the Inuvialuit.
The term is also used in the U.S., though much less frequently. It is occasionally used in the UK The term Aborigines isn't used in Canada to refer to indigenous American peoples.
The alternative term Indigenous Peoples (or Tribes, or Nations) has been used as equivalent to Aboriginal Peoples.

Native Canadians

"Native" or "Native Canadian" is an ambiguous term, but it's often used in conversation or informal writing. However, First Nations and Aboriginal Peoples seem to be more widely used.

Anishinaabe

The Algonquin term for "Original People", Anishinaabe or Anishinabe, is used as a cross tribal term in Algonquian majority areas such as "Anishnabe Health" and "Anishnabe Education and Training Circle". The term is also used in the Upper Midwest region of the United States.

Canadian French nomenclature

In Canadian French, the terms are première(s) nation(s) for "First Nations" and autochtone instead of "Aboriginal" (used both as a noun and adjective).
The term indien or indienne is used in the legislation, although the preferred term is now amérindien. The term indigène isn't used as it's seen as having negative connotations because of its similarity to the French equivalent of "indigent", for example "lazy". The old French term sauvage (meaning "wild") is no longer used either, as it's considered racist.

Chinook Jargon nomenclature

The Chinook Jargon, the old trade language of the Pacific Northwest, uses siwash—an adaptation of the French sauvage—to mean Indian/Native American/First Nation, either as adjective or noun. While normally meaning a male native, it's used in certain combinations, for example siwash cosho, meaning a seal, but literally "Indian pig" or "Indian pork".
Like sauvage, siwash has come to have negative connotations in many native communities, while it remains in common parlance in others. When used by non-natives it's considered entirely derogatory except in placenames and certain other usages. In the creolized form of Chinook Jargon spoken at the Grand Ronde Agency in Oregon, a distinction is made between siwash and sawash. The accent in the latter is on the second syllable, resembling the French original, and is used in Grand Ronde Jargon with the benign meaning of "anything native/Indian", while siwash is considered defamatory.
The Chinook Jargon term for a native woman is klootchman, an originally Nootkan word which became commonplace in regional English to mean a native woman, or (as in the Jargon), all women and also anything female. Hyas klootchman tyee, "queen", klootchman cosho, "sow"; klootchman tenas or tenas klootchman, girl or little girl. Generally when used by itself in regional English klootchman means a native woman only, and didn't acquire a derisive context as has siwash or squaw. The short form klootch, encountered only in English-Chinook hybrid phrasings, is often derisive, however, especially with modifiers (for example "blue-eyed klootch"). .

Names by continent

North America

There is no accepted special name for all indigenous peoples in North America as a whole, although Native American is sometimes used. The term North American Indian is often used for a member of the more restricted group comprising the First Nations in Canada together with the Native Americans in the United States. This term is usually understood to exclude the Alaskan Natives and the Inuit and Métis of Canada, and the indigenous peoples of Mexico. In Mexico, the preferred expression is Indigenous Peoples (pueblos indígenas in Spanish, however, Indians (indios, índios) is often used too, even by indigenous peoples themselves, since this expression isn't seen as derogatory.

South America

In South America, like in Mexico, the preferred expression is Indigenous Peoples (pueblos indígenas in Spanish, povos indígenas in Portuguese). However, Indians (indios, índios) is often used too, even by indigenous peoples themselves, since this expression isn't seen as derogatory.

Indigenous Peoples and Indians of Latin America

In Mexico, Brazil, and several other countries, these names are normally applied only to the ethnic groups that have maintained their identity and, to a some extent, their original way of life. In those countries there's also a large segment of the population with mixed native and European ancestry, who are largely integrated in mainstream society, and no longer identify themselves with their ancestral native groups. There are also Ladinos who don't have significant European ancestry, but have adopted the culture of the White and Mestizo population. These people were originally called mestizos in Mexico, caboclos in Brazil; however, those terms have largely fallen in disuse as that segment has come to predominate among the population.

Aborigines

The Spanish aborigen, cognate of English Aborigine, is also used in Spanish America, particularly in Chile and Argentina. The corresponding Portuguese term, aborígenas, is almost never used in Brazil.

Pre-Columbian and Pre-Cabraline Peoples

The term "Pre-Columbian Peoples" (Sp. pueblos precolombinos, Pt. povos pré-colombianhos) is used to refer to the ethnic groups that existed before the arrival of the Europeans, but not for their modern descendants. The term refers to Columbus, who landed in Hispaniola in 1492.
In Brazil, Pre-Columbian is often replaced by "Pre-Cabraline" (Pt. pré-cabralinhos), after Cabral who first landed in Brazil in 1500.

In both Americas

For the natives of the Americas as a whole, the phrase indigenous peoples of the Americas can be considered self-defined by the accepted meanings of "indigenous peoples" and "Americas," and seems to be the current preferred term in some anthropological and linguistic circles.
Still, its precise meaning can be disputed. For example, it's debatable whether it includes the indigenous people of Hawaii and other US territories outside the Americas. While those peoples have no known historical, cultural, or genetic connection with the indigenous peoples of the Americas, from a political and legal viewpoint they should arguably be considered "indigenous peoples" of their respective countries.
Other names that have been used or proposed for the indigenous peoples of both continents include:

Indian

As discussed above (# Indian and American Indian), this term has much precedence in the United States, but is considered offensive by some. However some older generations of Native Americans call themselves that.

American Indian

Given the ambiguity of Indian, it was often necessary to use American Indian in order to distinguish those peoples from the natives of the East Indies, or the West Indies. However, as noted above, American itself is ambiguous.

Red Indian

In Britain and some other English-speaking countries outside the Americas, the term Red Indian is still used to differentiate the American natives from the "East Indians". However, in North America the term is now considered an offensive racial slur, and is rarely if ever used.

Amerindian

In the French-speaking world, the term Amérindien was coined for the same purpose. The term was imported into English as Amerindian, sometimes abbreviated Amerind. This term gained some popularity among linguists, anthropologists, and other social scientists. The term is officially used by The World Almanac.
However, in scientific circles the term Amerind is often restricted to a subset of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, mostly from South and Central America, Mexico and the Southern United States. The peoples in this group share many genetic and cultural features that set them apart from the Na-Dene peoples, which comprise the majority of the U.S. and southern Canada indigenous peoples, and from the Eskimo peoples in Alaska and the Canadian Arctic: (Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut). Many anthropologists believe that these Amerind peoples are the descendants of the first immigrant wave from Siberia (15,000–10,000 years ago).

Native American or American Native

At face value, Native American and American Native could be taken to mean indigenous peoples of the Americas. This meaning is used in this article; however, some restrict its meaning to refer specifically for peoples in the United States, as discussed above, (# Meanings of basic terms). This term is also regarded as offensive by some, as discussed above, (# Indian and American Indian).

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