i also figured native americans have to be related to asians.
I decided not to "correct" you earlier, but I grew up around many different people who were descended from various western American Indians.
They actually considered the phrase "Native American" to have no meaning and they are quite insulted by the PC nomenclature, from the time it began. They don't mind being called American natives (take note of the lower case "n"), but prefer to be called Indians, since there is a tradition there and many of them still refuse to recognize the USA or the Mexican governments.
Most of the people I knew spoke their native dialects in their homes, lived in small family communities and learned English from their grandfathers, around a fire. They have little regard for the modern phrases. I DO have a great deal of regard for their lifestyle, which is based on individual freedoms and improving oneself. You can call them Indians. It's OK, although if you call them western Indians that means Apache, Hopi, Yaqui, Navajo, Comanche, Pueblo, Souix, etc and if you say eastern Indians, you are talking about the Cherokee, Miami, Iroquois, Seneca, Kickapoo, Menomini, Algonquin and Pottawatomie, etc. That could get a little tricky.
i don't care what they wanna be called. they are not indians. indians live in india. that name came from a mistake. in finnish the word is "intiaani" where as true indians are called "intialainen." so the words are different in finnish for the "indians" and the indians in india. maybe that's why i call them indians in english even though they are native americans. which they are. whether they want to be or not as the country was named america. they should quit their whining and get on with it. if they have a better name for america then they should come up with one. 
That is stupidest shit I have ever heard ... fuck!
People should be allowed to be called what they want to be called, whether the fucking Finns know anything about them or the Spanish either. The name they are called is an adaptation to many other English ways that were forced on them. Believe me they are not whining nearly as much as the fucking idiots who refer to them as Native Americans. BTW, they do have another/better name for America, but it is not possible to write it out in less than a couple of paragraphs, with some concise directions, because it is mostly gestural. If you think they haven't "gotten on with it," then you have a bit to learn. I will not waste any more of my time.
Most Indians prefer to go by their Tribal names. In Maine it's Passamaquoddy or Penobscot, in New Hampshire it's Abenaki. In New mexico, it's Navajo or Hopi, In New York, there's Mohawk, Seneca. To name a few! A friend of mine with close ties to a few Indian tribes, has told me that in general business or social contacts, they don't care if they are called Indians. But, they prefer to be referred to as their tribal identities otherwise. For the most part Indians are flexible in that, as long as it's done with respect and understanding of their cultural identities.
In other words, they're people, like all of us.
Of course that's true when they refer to themselves or other respected peoples, but I was referring to what they prefer that we as outsiders call them. The more traditional minded Indians I have known would much rather we, "as outsiders", call them by a name that we can pronounce rather than constantly fucking up the inflection of their sacred names. It is a matter of respect and honor, either of which history has shown that we have very little in their eyes.
As you say, though, they are people, just like us and many who were raised in a traditional way are "tired of all that old shit" and have not continued to live "holy" lives.
