Title: Native Americans - What did they call themselves? [Archive] - Straight Dope Message Board
Headings: 

Content: They all consider "native American" to be part and parcel with "liberal whites who will wring their hands all day and not really do a damned thing to help". chula
05-07-2003, 04:30 PM
Now that you've had a chance to think about it, isn't it pretty obvious, welby? Indians called themselves "people." There would be no need for a word that differenciated them from people from other continents, because they didn't know that there were people on other continents. light strand
05-07-2003, 04:43 PM
Wow Dogface, it's cool how you got to speak for all Indians, and get a gratuitous slam in on liberals too! Sofa King
05-07-2003, 04:49 PM
The term "native American" is increasingly being used to describe all aboriginal peoples within the United States. That includes Native Alaskans, and American Indians, and sometimes Native Hawaiians. In very general terms, Indians come from the lower 48 states. I'm sure there are exceptions. I've spoken with more than a few paranoid Indian affairs lawyers who don't like to use "Native American" because they fear the term may one day be used to undermine the trust responsibility that the United States has toward American Indians.