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Because it's all down to an ancient mistake. When Cristopher Columbus set out his intention was to find another route to India - Another Country, another continent entirely. Then he stumbled upon America instead. But he was so convinced that he'd reached India that he called the natives "Indians" - which they are not - and the name stuck.
On top of that the native Americans aren't one homogenous group, they're a fair number of different tribes, with some fairly large cultural differences between them. Lumping them all together ignores those differences, and deny them their right to part of their history.
Among the very first native Americans encountered by explorers were the Beothuk tribe of Newfoundland and Labrador, who made extensive use of local red pigment to paint their own hair, skin, clothes, homes, babies, the corpses of their dead, their weapons and tools - everything was painted red. The term "Red Indians" was therefore logically and sensibly applied to them and later extended to all natives in North America.
"Red Indian" is cosidered to be both racist and inaccurate. First of all, referring to their skin color as "red" is equivalent to calling Africans "black," or Asians "yellow." Second, the term "indian" is a misnomer attached by the first explorers to the Western Hemisphere, who though they had reached the country of India. Nevertheless, most native Americans do no mind being called "Indians," much like most African-Americans do not mind being called "black." But it is polite to avoid these terms unless you know the person well.
Because when the American Continent was discovered they though it was India! They called them Indians and the name stuck. Of course later they called the red Indians to distinguish them from India Indians. Native American is modern term (to be political correct) and not correct either since the American Indians came from Asia.
Some of my family has been in the US since before 1789. I think that make me a native American!
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What are young red Indians called?
Pre-adolescent and adolescent sunburnt native americans. Jeez Louise!
Who is christifor Columbus?
He discovered America and found life of Native Americans. Thay were brown so he called them Red Indians.
What group of native Americans called themselves the mesquaki meaning the red earth people they lived at the shore of lake butte des mortes?
the fox tribe
Why is the name redskins offensive to American Indians?
Because Indians are known as red-skinned people.
Why did Europeans call Native Americans Indians?
the europeans called the native Americans red Indians because christopher Columbus headed to India and thought he could get there by going in another direction he hit south America and presumeed he was in India however he was wrong and ever since everyone called them red Indians because of when christopher thought they were red Indians until a few years ago when it was anounced that it is politically incorrect to call native Americans red Indians
What is the relation between Indians and read Indians?
The difference between Indians and RED Indians is as follows. Indians are people who have their origin in the Indian sub continent. Red Indians refers to Native Americans. Columbus who wanted to discover India at the behest of the Queen of Spain (to get rich spices from India) took a wrong turn at the traffic light and ended up in North America. Here he saw the native Indians who had a reddish hue to their skin and he called them Red Indians (thinking he was in India).
Why did the Spaniards travel to the Americas between 1500 ad and 1600 ad?
Because they were looking for a shorter/better route to the Indies; thus the native Americans were called: Red Indians
What is a red Indians axe called?
A tomahawk is a type of axe native to North America
Where does red Indian lives?
"Red Indian" is an archaic term applied to Native Americans to distinguish them from Indians from the subcontinent of India. You can thank Chris Columbus for the confusion.
Who were red Indian?
AnswerRed Indians are now known as Native American or American Indians. The origin of the term "Red Man" is not clear. Native Americans are known to have a copperish or brownish hue although some Native Americans can get sunburn and turn redish. Many tribes did paint themselves for war and red may have been the most popular color to indicate tribes intention for combat. Other sources say red refered to the bloody scalps of victims.
Where are the red Indian reserves in Canada?
There is NO SUCH THING AS RED INDIANS! this is extremely insulting to the different tribes of Native Canadians and Native Americans, these slang words to describe the peoples of North America must be stopped by educating the individuals who still use these terms. East Indians come from India hence the word "Indian" The skin colour of Native North Americans is brown and a little darker than Caucasians.
How the red Indians became Native Americans?
One has to wonder why anyone still refers to the American Indian as "red". Beyond that Native American is just a politically correct (in some people's eyes) name for the American Indian.
