Schools should use the correct terms when talking about Native American History

[Kishan]

Recently I began a petition online to raise the awareness of one of the most careless inaccuracies in History textbooks and curriculum across the country - The practice of referring to Native Americans as "Indians". Indians are from India, and have their own distinct history, culture and customs. The Indian-American population has eclipsed 1 million, and many of them feel as if their identity has become lost as their correct ethnic designation has become synonymous to indigenous natives.

The term "India" first appeared in ancient texts dating back to Darius the Great of Persia in 500 B.C, it was derived from the term Sindhu, which is what the people of the bronze age Indus Valley Civilization called the Indus River. The term "India" has since been used to refer to civilizations east of the Indus River, it appears in many ancient Greek and Roman texts.

By the 15th Century, Western Europeans became interested in the lucrative Indian spice trade, and wanted to find an alternative route to India as well as the Orient. At this time, the theory that the Earth was spherical and thus able to be Circumnavigated was widely accepted. Christopher Columbus set sail westward from Portugal, across the modern day Atlantic Ocean in an attempt to reach the eastern shores of India.

We all know Columbus had actually landed on the island of Hispaniola, comprising of modern-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The Europeans had no knowledge that the Americas existed; therefore Columbus assumed he landed in India. The people he came into contact on Hispaniola, the indigenous Taino population, were then branded as Indians.

It was quickly realized that Columbus had not actually landed in India, but in the "new world". This was confirmed by Amerigo Vespucci's expedition across the Atlantic 11 years later.

Yet the practice of referring to Native Americans as "Indians" has stuck ever since.

Native Americans are not Indians.



Any comments and discussion on this thread regarding the matter can be held below. Thank you.

 

[oldfart]

Recently I began a petition online to raise the awareness of one of the most careless inaccuracies in History textbooks and curriculum across the country - The practice of referring to Native Americans as "Indians". Indians are from India, and have their own distinct history, culture and customs. The Indian-American population has eclipsed 1 million, and many of them feel as if their identity has become lost as their correct ethnic designation has become synonymous to indigenous natives.

The term "India" first appeared in ancient texts dating back to Darius the Great of Persia in 500 B.C, it was derived from the term Sindhu, which is what the people of the bronze age Indus Valley Civilization called the Indus River. The term "India" has since been used to refer to civilizations east of the Indus River, it appears in many ancient Greek and Roman texts.

By the 15th Century, Western Europeans became interested in the lucrative Indian spice trade, and wanted to find an alternative route to India as well as the Orient. At this time, the theory that the Earth was spherical and thus able to be Circumnavigated was widely accepted. Christopher Columbus set sail westward from Portugal, across the modern day Atlantic Ocean in an attempt to reach the eastern shores of India.

We all know Columbus had actually landed on the island of Hispaniola, comprising of modern-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The Europeans had no knowledge that the Americas existed; therefore Columbus assumed he landed in India. The people he came into contact on Hispaniola, the indigenous Taino population, were then branded as Indians.

It was quickly realized that Columbus had not actually landed in India, but in the "new world". This was confirmed by Amerigo Vespucci's expedition across the Atlantic 11 years later.

Yet the practice of referring to Native Americans as "Indians" has stuck ever since.

Native Americans are not Indians.



Any comments and discussion on this thread regarding the matter can be held below. Thank you.

"Native Americans" is also misleading. It also refers to the nativist political movement of the early nineteenth century. I prefer the Canadian solution of referring to First Nations.

 

[USNavyVet]

Recently I began a petition online to raise the awareness of one of the most careless inaccuracies in History textbooks and curriculum across the country - The practice of referring to Native Americans as "Indians". Indians are from India, and have their own distinct history, culture and customs. The Indian-American population has eclipsed 1 million, and many of them feel as if their identity has become lost as their correct ethnic designation has become synonymous to indigenous natives.

The term "India" first appeared in ancient texts dating back to Darius the Great of Persia in 500 B.C, it was derived from the term Sindhu, which is what the people of the bronze age Indus Valley Civilization called the Indus River. The term "India" has since been used to refer to civilizations east of the Indus River, it appears in many ancient Greek and Roman texts.

By the 15th Century, Western Europeans became interested in the lucrative Indian spice trade, and wanted to find an alternative route to India as well as the Orient. At this time, the theory that the Earth was spherical and thus able to be Circumnavigated was widely accepted. Christopher Columbus set sail westward from Portugal, across the modern day Atlantic Ocean in an attempt to reach the eastern shores of India.

We all know Columbus had actually landed on the island of Hispaniola, comprising of modern-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The Europeans had no knowledge that the Americas existed; therefore Columbus assumed he landed in India. The people he came into contact on Hispaniola, the indigenous Taino population, were then branded as Indians.

It was quickly realized that Columbus had not actually landed in India, but in the "new world". This was confirmed by Amerigo Vespucci's expedition across the Atlantic 11 years later.

Yet the practice of referring to Native Americans as "Indians" has stuck ever since.

Native Americans are not Indians.



Any comments and discussion on this thread regarding the matter can be held below. Thank you.

I refer to them as the ones who got their asses kicked. How's that? Better than Indian?

 

[Pennywise]

Recently I began a petition online to raise the awareness of one of the most careless inaccuracies in History textbooks and curriculum across the country - The practice of referring to Native Americans as "Indians". Indians are from India, and have their own distinct history, culture and customs. The Indian-American population has eclipsed 1 million, and many of them feel as if their identity has become lost as their correct ethnic designation has become synonymous to indigenous natives.

The term "India" first appeared in ancient texts dating back to Darius the Great of Persia in 500 B.C, it was derived from the term Sindhu, which is what the people of the bronze age Indus Valley Civilization called the Indus River. The term "India" has since been used to refer to civilizations east of the Indus River, it appears in many ancient Greek and Roman texts.

By the 15th Century, Western Europeans became interested in the lucrative Indian spice trade, and wanted to find an alternative route to India as well as the Orient. At this time, the theory that the Earth was spherical and thus able to be Circumnavigated was widely accepted. Christopher Columbus set sail westward from Portugal, across the modern day Atlantic Ocean in an attempt to reach the eastern shores of India.

We all know Columbus had actually landed on the island of Hispaniola, comprising of modern-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The Europeans had no knowledge that the Americas existed; therefore Columbus assumed he landed in India. The people he came into contact on Hispaniola, the indigenous Taino population, were then branded as Indians.

It was quickly realized that Columbus had not actually landed in India, but in the "new world". This was confirmed by Amerigo Vespucci's expedition across the Atlantic 11 years later.

Yet the practice of referring to Native Americans as "Indians" has stuck ever since.

Native Americans are not Indians.



Any comments and discussion on this thread regarding the matter can be held below. Thank you.

"Native Americans" is also misleading. It also refers to the nativist political movement of the early nineteenth century. I prefer the Canadian solution of referring to First Nations.

Both terms are bullshit. No one knows who were the first in any region of the globe. And as a citizen born of two citizen parents, I consider myself a Native American.

 

[warwulf]

Both terms are bullshit. No one knows who were the first in any region of the globe. And as a citizen born of two citizen parents, I consider myself a Native American.

The Kinniwick Man disagrees with you. He was here 10000 years ago and predates ANY and ALL so-called 'native American' indian bullshit.