Title: Native Americans - What did they call themselves? [Archive] - Straight Dope Message Board
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Content: Native Americans - What did they call themselves? [ Archive] - Straight Dope Message Board
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View Full Version : Native Americans - What did they call themselves? welby
05-06-2003, 08:10 AM
Back when North America was dicovered, explorers called the natives "Indians" becasue they thought they had found a part of India. Today, to be politically correct we call them "Native Americans." But what did these people call themselves before the white man came? I know that they had tribe names, but was there a term to refer to all of the people, much as some might say "Englishmen" or "Frenchman?" What did they call the land they lived on? It certainly wasn't America, so what was it?