One important thing is that what did Trump say that now we cannot use the word Indian? He wanted to say that now people feel bad just by saying Indian and Indian people can use the word Indian and if someone else does it then there is an uproar. However, Trump said this in his own style and sometimes even his fans find it difficult to understand his style. But it is important for Indians to understand this story also. Because a lot of the public knows but many people still don’t know that when Trump was saying that he can no longer use the word Indian, he was not talking about Indians.
American Indian does not mean Indian
When people in America say Indian, it does not mean Indian. The original inhabitants of that place are called Indians. Earlier they were also called Red Indians but now people feel bad even when they say so. So there is a need to understand what this whole matter is. Even among those who know about the case, many may not know the whole story. This name Indian has a different story in America. And the latest chapter of this story has just been opened by Donald Trump himself. Thanksgiving is a big festival in America. It is a tradition there that the whole family meets there for Thanksgiving dinner. Its history in short: It is believed that when white people from Europe went to settle in America, there were many clashes with the natives there. So once there was a settlement between the natives and the British and there was a big feast. And from there the tradition of Thanksgiving dinner began.
The whites betrayed the natives
In later years, many Native historians believed that the Native people had actually been betrayed by the whites and their lands had been taken over. Therefore, many natives now see this festival of Thanksgiving as a page in the history of their slavery. However, whites celebrate this festival with great enthusiasm. But Donald Trump spoke on phone to the army personnel who could not go home and in the same conversation, he tried to make a joke in his tone and said that now people cannot even use the word ‘Indian’. Only Indian people can use the word Indian and this was a joke on the original inhabitants of America. What Trump meant to say was that nowadays the danger of hurting sentiments has become such that there has been a kind of censorship on words.
Discovery of India from the West
Some people believe that calling the natives Indians is wrong and it has become a sensitive issue. Whereas many natives do not feel bad at all in calling themselves Indians. It had nothing to do with Indians but this clip went viral on social media. But how did the original inhabitants get the name Indian? That story is more than 500 years old. The year was 1492. Spain was ruled by the royal family in Europe. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. There was an Italian sailor, you may have heard his name, Christopher Columbus. Columbus believed that the sea route to India would be shorter by going west instead of east from Spain. Because the world is round, even if you go in the opposite direction, you will definitely reach India.
Columbus wanted to come to India for spices
Everyone wanted to reach India. Everyone dreamed of bringing spices, gold and money from India. But everyone was trying to reach the east by sailing ships. Columbus estimated that it would be smaller from the west. To the west of Europe was the Atlantic Ocean. No one had gone and seen what lay beyond that in the west. People of other European countries believed that by going through the Atlantic Ocean, they would not know whether the winds would favor them or not. And ships then moved only with the flow of wind. They used to paddle and move in the air with the help of rudder. So no one wanted to take the risk. But the Spanish royal family sponsored Columbus to go and find a new path. Columbus went into the sea.
Columbus reached West Indies
After months of travel, on 12 October 1492, they reached an island. He thought he had come to India. Whereas that was the island which is today called Bahamas. In West Indies. In fact, the West Indies are also called Indies because Columbus thought that this was India. It was later revealed that he had reached a new world, which was later named the American continent. So those islands came to be called Western India i.e. West Indies. Well, that’s a matter for later. At that time Columbus thought that this was India. Columbus thought this was the coast of India and he thought this was the Indian Ocean. The people he met there were not white. So Columbus assumed that these were Indians.
Started being called American Indian in US
Neither were those people from India, nor from Asia. That was the American continent and they were the original inhabitants there. They lived there for thousands of years. They had their own tribes. But this mistake of Columbus became history. And gradually, Spain, Portugal, England, everyone started calling the original people of America as Indians. This name stuck. And this name entered the laws, maps and books there. In American law he was described as American Indian. Their areas were called Indian Country. 500 years have passed, but the pain of the natives remains. Now they are called Native Americans but they are still struggling today. They have more than 500 tribes, each with its own name, language and culture. Like, Navaho, Cherokee etc. He says that he is not an Indian but he is the real owner of America.
Americans started liking this name
In the 1960-70s, there was a movement there, the Red Power Movement. Native American people said that the name Indian hurt them because it was Columbus’s mistake. This is not their identity. He started identifying himself as ‘Native American’. That means the original inhabitants of America. This name spread in schools, books, media. But still not everyone is unanimous on this. Some elderly natives believe that it is better to be called American Indian because it is their heritage. So now many natives like to be called American Indians or Indigenous Americans. In the 1995 census, 50% of the natives described themselves as ‘American Indian’. Trump’s statement was on this debate. That some people call themselves Indians but if they call themselves white, then there is an uproar.
What is the difference between American Indian and Indian American?
Now what’s the matter, there are too many Indians there. So this confusion arises that if the natives are called Indians there then what are the Indians called there? So now it has happened that the original inhabitants are called Native Americans or they are called American Indians. Red Indians are not spoken because they are accused of apartheid. Because they were called red on the basis of their skin color. So there is an uproar when you say red Indian. And that goes into the category of apartheid and racism. So now they are called American Indians and the Americans of Indian origin are called Indian Americans. That means American Indians became the original inhabitants there. And people of Indian origin became Indian Americans. Therefore, it is important for you to know this also. If an Indian speaks there, he is not talking about you, he is talking about the American Indian people. When they talk about Indians they will say Indian Americans. American Indians and American Indians, and all this chaos was spread by the mistake of that man whose name was Christopher Columbus. to cut a long story short.
