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It has always been a personal pet peeve of mine when Native Americans are referred to as "Indians." It has nothing to do with respect for Native Americans or political correctness; it is entirely about actual correctness. Calling them Indians means having to actually differentiate between Indians, from the subcontinent of India, and Indians, from the Americas. It seems like laziness is the biggest factor. It is far easier to say and write/type "Indian" than "Native American." But, my History teacher and even my textbook both use the word "Indian." Is this really acceptable practice in higher education (it's my freshman year)? Is it accepted in academia in general?

Laurel
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Curious Layman
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    in academic contexts? Only when citing period references. – keshlam May 01 '15 at 22:53
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it should be migrated to the English language site. –  May 02 '15 at 00:46
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    @jakebeal Is how the academic community views this not relevant. If so, then fine. However, I certainly disagree it belongs in the English language site. I don't care how English majors see this issue. My concern is with academia at large. – Curious Layman May 02 '15 at 02:53
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    @JimmyG. I don't think academics have any particular difference from the rest of the world in this case. –  May 02 '15 at 02:55
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    This is actually a really contentious issue. If there's any (small) difference between academia and the rest of the world, it's that academia particularly cares about using the terms people self-identity with, especially for groups that could be considered marginalized. The difficulty is that people disagree about which terms are preferable. Some strongly prefer American Indian to Native American; some feel oppositely; some don't much like either term and prefer to be described as a member of a particular nation. –  May 02 '15 at 03:38
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    In any case, I think this is a great question, but I agree with jakebeal that it's probably a better fit on another stack exchange site. The English language site isn't about English departments but rather about how the English language is used. I'm not certain it's the best place for the question, but I think it would be more conducive to exploring this issue than the academia site is. –  May 02 '15 at 03:42
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    This isn't a question about English language, it is about politics and academia, especially in higher education. Why would anyone think that a site limited to English language would have better insights into what is considered appropriate in the context of higher education? –  May 02 '15 at 05:08
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    I guess I was hoping to see that some colleges or other academic institutions had expressly stated a position on the subject. No offense to you all, but I wasn't looking for consensus from users of this site; rather, I was hoping for stated positions. – Curious Layman May 02 '15 at 05:10
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    @JimmyG. No offense taken, and please do continue to ask questions here. It's just that a) a poll of stated opinions isn't a good fit for the SE format and b) if you ask the question in most academic environments, e.g., a computer science department or medical school or a German language department, you're not going to get answers that are particularly more informed than in any other well-educated place. –  May 02 '15 at 12:03
  • @JimmyG. While there might be an academic institution with a published position, it seems you would be more likely to find a published position if you looked more broadly. If you could point to published positions outside academia, then it might make sense to look within academia. As it stands, it is not clear to me that it is an academic issue. – StrongBad May 02 '15 at 19:39
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    I doubt you will find any better answers than those given for Short, Politically Correct word for Native Americans. It's complicated, in the same way that some are offended by Latino and others by Hispanic. Also see What would you call a person from India? and Usage of “East Indian” to distinguish from “Native American”. – choster May 03 '15 at 15:39
  • Why not just use amerindian ? – J. LS May 03 '15 at 18:51
  • It depends on who you're talking to. Some Native Americans prefer the term "Indian", some despise it. And as is common with such things, the preferences change over decades. Remember that "negro" was once considered polite, while "black" was not, when describing an African American. – Hot Licks May 04 '15 at 12:03

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It certainly is unusual, and constitutes a red flag. Take a close look at the book, and listen carefully to the teacher, to see if the ideas are problematic as well.

Hopefully there is an office of diversity on campus you can bring this problem to, if you see some areas of concern.

aparente001
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    It's not that simple, except perhaps among some in the (mostly Anglo) Northeastern chattering classes. – choster May 04 '15 at 04:08
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    OK. But this answer seems to be based on an unexamined supposition that the word "Indian" is itself inherently problematic. But for people who aren't themselves Indian, rather than deciding on their own if this is an area of concern, it'd be better to ask people who actually are Indian/Native American if they think the usage is a problem. The OP probably doesn't even know for sure if the teacher or the author is themselves Indian/Native American, so it would be pretty presumptuous to try to correct them on their terminology based on only their own "pet peeve" about the word. – herisson May 04 '15 at 06:47
  • There's a whole Wikipedia article on the name controversy. Some Native American groups and people use "Indian" but it's fair to say that most don't. (Solution is generally to ask people or copy their own usage, but it's not always possible if people disagree about what they themselves should be called.) It does sound as if the OP is from India or has some other similarly strong reason to be upset about it. – Stuart F Aug 26 '23 at 17:50