The legally correct term is “Indian.” Obviously they had their own names for themselves. “First Nations” and “Native” are terms that are not rooted either in Indians’ names for themselves nor in the U.S. government’s name for them.
Of course native people didn’t call themselves Indian prior to settlers assigning them that name, with legal consequences. But native people usually refer to their tribe identity, like Diné or Lakota, rather than the generic term Indian.
As an actual Indian from India I do get annoyed that Columbus's misconception has lived on this long, although I understand there's nothing I can do to change that.
The legally correct term is “Indian.” Obviously they had their own names for themselves. “First Nations” and “Native” are terms that are not rooted either in Indians’ names for themselves nor in the U.S. government’s name for them.
Of course native people didn’t call themselves Indian prior to settlers assigning them that name, with legal consequences. But native people usually refer to their tribe identity, like Diné or Lakota, rather than the generic term Indian.
As an actual Indian from India I do get annoyed that Columbus's misconception has lived on this long, although I understand there's nothing I can do to change that.
At this rate they’ll fix the ambiguity by fully adopting Bharat.
CGP Grey argues this same point: not only is Indian the legally correct term, but it’s the correct term in general. https://youtu.be/kh88fVP2FWQ?si=touZCydc-7jckeLh
He doesn't seem to talk anything about the endonym of the inhabitants of the country of India so I'm not sure how it's the correct term in general.