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Help[Opinions] American Indian is politically correct...
in reply to a message by lakin5
I studied American Indian courses in college, it was actually my focus. All the professors who taught my Native American courses were American Indians and were active tribal members.
In the US the term that most American Indians prefer is actually their tribes name but for a general term Native American or American Indian are both equally acceptable.
When the term Native American first came about it was invented by a college professor who was not an American Indian. When the term was first derived most tribal members disliked the term feeling it was once again an attempt of control by white people of their culture or even at worst an attempt to destroy what little bit of treaty laws that were still followed by the US government because in all the paperwork they are called Indians. Tribal members are used to being taken advantage of by the US government so they were worried it would be used against them if they let go of the term Indian completely for the term Native American. So at first most American Indians preferred the term American Indians to Native Americans. There were surveys conducted which found this out. Most recent studies have found that the younger generation of American Indians either prefer or don't dislike the term Native American but once again most tribal members prefer you to reference their specific tribe.
So overall Native American and American Indian are both generally acceptable in the US and individual tribal members each have a different preference although generally younger members are more likely to prefer Native American while older members prefer American Indian.
As others have mentioned in Canada First People or First Nations are the most common acceptable terms.
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Favorite Names:
Aurora, Hazel, Josephine, Vivian, Fiona, Delphina, Dorothea, Althea, Artemis, Sabrina, Frida, Maeve, Luna, Iris, Clara, Aveline, Matilda, Marguerite
Ciaran, Rowan, Brendan, Malcolm, Felix, Robin, Julian, Tristan, Magnus, Arthur, Adrian, Cedar, Cedric, Xavier, Connor, Silas, Gavin
In the US the term that most American Indians prefer is actually their tribes name but for a general term Native American or American Indian are both equally acceptable.
When the term Native American first came about it was invented by a college professor who was not an American Indian. When the term was first derived most tribal members disliked the term feeling it was once again an attempt of control by white people of their culture or even at worst an attempt to destroy what little bit of treaty laws that were still followed by the US government because in all the paperwork they are called Indians. Tribal members are used to being taken advantage of by the US government so they were worried it would be used against them if they let go of the term Indian completely for the term Native American. So at first most American Indians preferred the term American Indians to Native Americans. There were surveys conducted which found this out. Most recent studies have found that the younger generation of American Indians either prefer or don't dislike the term Native American but once again most tribal members prefer you to reference their specific tribe.
So overall Native American and American Indian are both generally acceptable in the US and individual tribal members each have a different preference although generally younger members are more likely to prefer Native American while older members prefer American Indian.
As others have mentioned in Canada First People or First Nations are the most common acceptable terms.
---------
Favorite Names:
Aurora, Hazel, Josephine, Vivian, Fiona, Delphina, Dorothea, Althea, Artemis, Sabrina, Frida, Maeve, Luna, Iris, Clara, Aveline, Matilda, Marguerite
Ciaran, Rowan, Brendan, Malcolm, Felix, Robin, Julian, Tristan, Magnus, Arthur, Adrian, Cedar, Cedric, Xavier, Connor, Silas, Gavin
This message was edited 2/5/2018, 12:37 AM
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