USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The word Indian came to be used because Christopher Columbus repeatedly expressed the mistaken belief that he had reached the shores of South Asia. Convinced he was correct, Columbus fostered the use of the term Indios (originally, “person from the Indus valley”) to refer to the peoples of the so-called New World.

Detailed explanation-2: -In the 1970s, college students in archaeology such as myself learned that the first human beings to arrive in North America had come over a land bridge from Asia and Siberia approximately 13, 000 to 13, 500 years ago. These people, the first North Americans, were known collectively as Clovis people.

Detailed explanation-3: -In the United States, Native American has been widely used but is falling out of favor with some groups, and the terms American Indian or Indigenous American are preferred by many Native people. Native peoples often have individual preferences on how they would like to be addressed.

Detailed explanation-4: -The term ‘Indian’ is a misnomer that was used to describe the native Americans by Christopher Colombus. Colombus set out to discover India but ended up discovering America. He took to calling the native Americans ‘Indians’ due to his mistaken assumption of having reached India.

Detailed explanation-5: -The Haudenosaunee, more commonly known as the Iroquois Confederacy, is comprised of six nations-the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora.