Dear nautico-ga;
Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question.
The term ?Americans Indians? was once commonly used to those whose are
descendants of the original indigenous American people. Technically,
everyone born in America is a ?Native American? but not all Native
Americans are ?Indian?. To add confusion to an already confusing
issue, the term ?Indian? in itself is a misnomer. The indigenous
people of America were not (and never were) ?Indian? at all. In fact,
Christopher Columbus, who believed mistakenly that the mainland and
islands of America were part of the Indies, in Asia, first applied the
name ?Indian? to them in error and it stuck.
Unlike an ?African American? (and others) for example, whose heritage
is evident by the name they are commonly known by, one cannot refer to
American Indians as ?Indian Americans?. To do so would be to suggest
their heritage could be traced to India, and nothing could be farther
from the truth. It would be equally ridiculous to say ?American
Americans?, so ?American Indian? came to be the preferred, and
seemingly most accurate term to distinguish the indigenous people of
this continent from the indigenous people of East Asia and the Asian
Indies.
When referring to peoples whose heritage can be traced to indigenous
American, Alaskan or Hawaiian inhabitants, it is still appropriate to
use the terms ?Indians?, ?Alaska Natives? or ?Native
Hawaiians/Hawaiian Islanders? (respectively) unless the subject of the
term objects. While technically inaccurate, these terms are commonly
used in the English language and merely denote the heritage of the
indigenous descendants of the peoples of the continental United
States, Alaska and Hawaii.
The term "Native Americans" came into the English lexicon in common
usage in the 1960's with respect to American Indians and Alaska
Natives over time, the term AMERICAN INDIAN has also been expanded to
include ALL native peoples of the United States and its territories,
including Native Hawaiians (although it has never really been widely
accepted by the tribes and clans of Hawaii), Chamorros, and American
Samoans among others.
In another interesting twist, archeologists now believe there is
evidence to support the theory that many of the people known today as
?Native Americans? are actually ancestors of people from somewhere
other than the American continent. What we are witnessing with regard
to the ?the names? is a political correctness (albeit a bit tardy) ? a
relatively new phenomenon in our culture. From all appearances is
seems that the ancestors of the indigenous people of America now
prefer to be called ?Native Americans? rather than being stereotyped
as ?Indians? in much the same way that ?African Americans? now feel
more comfortable with their ?official? label than the now outdated and
unacceptable practice of referring to them as ?Colored People?. Though
?naming? a category of people for identity purposes (or discrimination
purposes) is a silly concept in it?s own right, it was eventually
realized by later generations that if people MUST be called something
on official documents, the label ?Colored People? was just a
ridiculous premise altogether since all people are pigmented in some
way or another.
The trend of embracing heritage labels is a fluid one and these names
will likely change again in time, but the fact remains that we cannot
please everyone on every official form and document. Many Native
Americans actually prefer to be called ?Indians? and are quite proud
of that title. Others more readily embrace the name ?Native Americans?
or insist on being called only by the name of their Tribe (Cherokee,
Choctaw, Inuit, Navajo, etc). Still other, more contemporary ancestors
of the indigenous people have begun referring to themselves, and
encouraging others to refer to them as ?Original Peoples? or ?First
Nations? as they are called now in Canada and increasing more often in
the US.
So you see, there really isn?t one official label by which any groups
of people are ALWAYS known. Everything you?ve read here may be little
more than an interesting (hopefully) lesson in history and
linguistics, but in answer to your question ?Is it on the way out??,
we have to accept that it must be, for few titles seem to last forever
(regarding ANY race or origin of people) and like all the rest, this
one in particular which has an obvious habit of changing with new
generations, seems destined to be replaced again in time by a new and
better term eventually like all it's predecessors. Is this in an
effort to appease the "Native" descendants because they have
historically endured so much misery already? Perhaps, who knows. If
not, they certainly DESERVE (in my opinion) to be called whatever
makes them happy, since few other consolations have been afforded
them.
I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
"Why the inconsistency?"
There's no explantion except to say that so many documents and
activites exists that there's no logical way to have them ALL say the
same thing, unless of course we adopt a dictatorship type government
and every agency does as the dictator says they must. With regard to
names, I would imagine that universal consistency just isn't that
important an issue.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
INFORMATION SOURCES
CHANGING IMAGE
http://research2.csci.educ.ubc.ca/indigenation/Identity/index/Sheena/Changing%20Image.htm
NATIVE AMERICAN OR INDIAN?
http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US8/PC/nativeam.html
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
INDIAN
AMERICAN INDIAN
NATIVE AMERICAN
ORIGINAL PEOPLES
FIRST NATIONS
NICKNAMES
LABELS
CATEGORIES
POLITICALLY CORRECT |
