Why are Native/Indigenous Americans still called "American Indians" by the U.S. government?

Question

Since European countries started to colonize North America, the indigenous peoples have been referred to as "Indians." I'm assuming this is because, when Columbus landed in the Americas, he expected to land in the East Indies. Afterwards, it was understood that he instead landed on a new continent.

So, if it is not politically correct to refer to these people as "Indian," because Columbus did not land in the East Indies, why does the government still use this term for official purposes? (i.e. Indian Health Service)

Answer 1

Source: Wikipedia

Further information: Native American name controversy

Common usage in the United States

Native Americans are more commonly known as Indians or American Indians. The term Native American was introduced in the United States in preference to the older term Indian to distinguish the indigenous peoples of the Americas from the people of India, and to avoid negative stereotypes associated with the term Indian. Some academics believe that the term Indian should be considered outdated or offensive. Many indigenous Americans, however, prefer the term American Indian.

Criticism of the neologism Native American comes from diverse sources. Russell Means, an American Indian activist, opposed the term Native American because he believed it was imposed by the government without the consent of American Indians. He has also argued that the use of the word Indian derives not from a confusion with India but from a Spanish expression En Dio, meaning "in God".

A 1995 U.S. Census Bureau survey found that more Native Americans in the United States preferred American Indian to Native American. Most American Indians are comfortable with Indian, American Indian, and Native American, and the terms are often used interchangeably. The traditional term is reflected in the name chosen for the National Museum of the American Indian, which opened in 2004 on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

Bottom line:

Columbus chose that name... and it stuck, even five centuries later. And it doesn't seem like many Native Americans are complaining. (Still... I am.)

Answer 2

Another reason is inertia. Indian is a legal term established by long use; the word permeates Title 25 of the United States Code, which is even called Indians. For at least one chapter, chapter 21, the term is explicitly defined (at 25 USC 1903(3)). Replacing or rewriting this code would be a huge undertaking.

In comparison, Canada has undertaken to make a change similar to the one contemplated by this question. The Indian Act Amendment and Replacement Act was enacted in 2014, but it seems to be slow going: the Indian Act is still in force as of this writing.

Answer 3

It's not only an American issue. In Canada the "correct" term is First Nations. When starting out as a developer, one of my first jobs was to modernize the tribal database and genealogy management software of an Indian Tribal Council. (Specifically these guys: https://nuuchahnulth.org/). I noticed that all of their terminology used Indian, e.g. %Indian ancestry, etc. I asked them if I should change it all to First Nations. The said no, we're used to it, First Nations is too long/inconvenient and First Nations is ambiguous as to Indians vs Inuit(which in itself lumps the Yupik people in the Inuit category, even though they are traditional enemies with the Inuit). So let's say it's a matter of bureaucratic inertia and self-preference.

P.S. the funny thing is that they still gave me crap for using Indian in a meeting with our sales guys, instead of First Nations.

Answer 4

The largest problem is that both names fly in the face of how actual tribal members identify themselves. Both names have a common component, "American." But the tribes identify themselves individually as Cheyenne or Apache, not commonly based on continental grouping. The American grouping is an artificial construct of the Europeans. The name itself is based on that of Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci.

Why would one name bestowed by an Italian explorer be better than another name by a different Italian explorer?

The very construct of a name for everyone who is descended from people living in the Americas in 1491 is a very eurocentric approach. France and Germany are adjacent to each other and no one would characterize the French by German actions in, say, 1942. But people have no problem lumping together the diverse tribes under the Native American label. That label would of course fit just as well for the hundreds of millions of people who were born in the Americas, whose immediate ancestors were born in the Americas, and have no connection with relatives elsewhere.

Why would tribal members prefer a label that lumps them with the descendants of their oppressors over a label that lumps them with other victims? Neither is really accurate. Neither is based in their own words.

Answer 5

Yet another reason for not using so-called politically correct terminology for American Indians (or anything else FTM) is that a large majority of Americans dislike political correctness. According to the study "Hidden Tribes: A Study of America’s Polarized Landscape" (Hawkins, Yudkin, Juan-Torres, & Dixon) as quoted in a recent Atlantic Magazine article https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/large-majorities-dislike-political-correctness/572581/

"Among the general population, a full 80 percent believe that “political correctness is a problem in our country.”"

"Whites are ever so slightly less likely than average to believe that political correctness is a problem in the country: 79 percent of them share this sentiment. Instead, it is Asians (82 percent), Hispanics (87percent), and American Indians (88 percent) who are most likely to oppose political correctness."

So why would the government want to make a disruptive change which a) costs money (e.g. reprinting all the "Bureau of Indian Affairs" literature); and b) is going to irritate the great majority of people, especially the people whose description is being politically corrected?