Christopher Columbus thought he was in India, so he referred to the people there as Indians. That makes sense. However, he wasn't in India; he was in America. So, while "Native Americans" isn't the perfect term to describe that group of people, it seems far more appropriate than Indians, which comes across as kind of silly to me.
That would be like if the following scenarios occurred:
- A person sails to Africa thinking it's America. From that time forth, certain people in Africa are referred to as Americans.
- Someone sails to Japan thinking it's Australia. Certain folks in Japan have since been called Australians.
- A delusional man sets sail to Ireland thinking it's Mars. Ireland is now full of Martians!
Maybe this is why Americans are notoriously bad at geography. Christopher Columbus just paved the way for the rest of us! Hooray for Columbus Day! Columbus - the capital of Ohio, which is, where is that again? Crap, where's my globe? Where's the U.S. on here? Eh, whatever. What's on the tube?
That would be like if the following scenarios occurred:
- A person sails to Africa thinking it's America. From that time forth, certain people in Africa are referred to as Americans.
- Someone sails to Japan thinking it's Australia. Certain folks in Japan have since been called Australians.
- A delusional man sets sail to Ireland thinking it's Mars. Ireland is now full of Martians!
Maybe this is why Americans are notoriously bad at geography. Christopher Columbus just paved the way for the rest of us! Hooray for Columbus Day! Columbus - the capital of Ohio, which is, where is that again? Crap, where's my globe? Where's the U.S. on here? Eh, whatever. What's on the tube?
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