Happy Camp, California
June 8, 2021
I am in an area of California where there are several reservations. I wondered where the term "Indians" came from. I probably learned this when i was young but had forgotten. Anyway the answer is....
The term "Indian," in reference to the original inhabitants of the American continent, is said to derive from Christopher Columbus, a 15th century boat-person. Some say he used the term because he was convinced he had arrived in "the Indies" (Asia), his intended destination. Others say the term refers to his diary entry, in which he describes the natives as "una gente in Dios" (a people in God).
Whether from confusion or romanticism, "Indian" is a word of illusion, not a description of reality. But the word has stuck. It is commonly used by indigenous peoples of this continent to refer to themselves in a generic way, as a supplement to their real names. It is used throughout "federal Indian law," the domain of United States law concerned with rights and status of the original peoples of this land.
"Native American" is a phrase coined in the 1960's to replace "Indian" with a supposedly more appropriate term. Regardless of the intent, the term is no more appropriate than its predecessor. "America" is derived from Amerigo Vespucci, a 16th century Italian navigator who was once said to be the "discoverer" of the continent. How can the people who were already here be named with his name?
Other generic words are also problematic. "Native" and "indigenous" can rightfully be applied to anyone (or thing) born in a place, not only those who were born first. "Aboriginal" refers only to what was here "from the beginning," but the concept of "beginning" poses problems, too.
There was a world-famous Italian natural philosopher in the 1440s who conjectured that the distance around the Earth at the latitude of Spain/Italy to be (mistakenly) around 17,000 miles. Since they knew the distance from the West Coast of Spain to the east coast of China to be between 10,500 and 11,000, Columbus thought sailing west 3,500 to 4,000 miles would place him in the eastern islands of the Indies (Indonesia....). Both Spain and Portugal were trying to find a route to India, China, and The Indies, but Portugal was sailing around Africa. Columbus convinced Ferdinand and Isabella to underwrite three ships because it might make Spain's trek to The Indies shorter than Portugal's circuitous route.....