Originally posted by Isosceles_CAT
Pardon my ignorance, but is that really true?
from
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Native-American
Encyclopedia: Native American
Native Americans (also American Indians, Amerindians, Amerinds, or Red Indians) are indigenous peoples and descendants of those who lived in the Americas prior to the European colonization. Many of these tribally affiliated ethnic groups endure today as political communities.
The name "Indians" was bestowed by Christopher Columbus, who mistakenly believed that the places he found them were among the islands in Southeast Asia known to Europeans as the Indies. (See further discussion below).
Canadians generally use the term First Nations to refer to Native Americans; the Canadian Indian Act, however, which defines the rights of recognized First Nations, refers to them as Indians. In Alaska, because of legal use in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANSCA) and because of the presence of the Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut peoples, the term Alaskan Native predominates. In Canada, however, Inuit are not considered First Nations (neither are M tis).
The preferred term in Latin America for the original inhabitants of the Central and South America is Indigenous peoples. (See further discussion below.) Native Americans officially make up the majority of the population in Bolivia, Peru and Guatemala and are significant in most other former Spanish colonies, with the exception of Costa Rica, Cuba, Argentina, Dominican Republic and Uruguay.
