I took a class this past semester on Colonial American history.  A large portion of the course was spent on Colonist-Native American relations.  In the many sources we read about this topic, the authors used the words “Indian” and “Native American” interchangeably.  Some of them noted this in their introductions, stating that they would use the former term to simplify things, but many did it without any explanation.  And for some reason this bothered me.

I was raised and educated with the term “Indian.”  From the time I learned about the first Thanksgiving and up until my AP U.S. History class, it was mostly “Indians” did this and “Indians” said that.  I had never really thought about it until this semester when I was bombarded with literature about this particular race of people.

When I was in elementary school, I went on a field trip to a living Native American museum somewhere in New Jersey.  I remember having ham salad on a hamburger bun for lunch while sitting next to my mother.  I also remember that, during one of the presentations, one of the kids at the museum that day asked, “Are you a real Indian?” and that the man standing before us flatly said, “No.”

I was confused by this, as were many of the children around me, because he appeared to be one.  Then he continued his sentence.

“I am a Native American.”

He was clearly offended by the term “Indian.”  “Indians are from India,” he said, and that is true.  However, when I was older, I started to assume that an Indian was just someone who was native to an area of land before it was discovered and civilized.  Needless to say, I was wrong.

I suppose this kind of distinction is comparable to calling someone either black or an African American.  For some reason, using the word “black” always seems to be insulting coming out of a white person’s mouth, even if African Americans call themselves black.  Also included would be the term “negro,” one used rarely, if at all, nowadays because of its extremely negative connotation and association with slavery.

I guess it all comes down to wanting to be represented properly. This child knew that the man standing before him was a Native American, but called him an Indian thinking they meant the same thing.  But to someone who wants to identify him- or herself with the nation they have called their home for hundreds of years, the distinction is of the utmost importance.

Do any of you have any thoughts on this?

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