Is there a right way to identify our authors or Native Americans?

Many Native Americans prefer to be called by their group names (i.e., Mohawk).  This makes sense.  Still others argue that “Native Americans” is an improvement over “Indians.”  Others note that the word “Indian” translates from in Dios, which means “with or in God.”  Regardless of their reasons, many Native people continue to use the term Indian.

This debate also brings up the following questions:

• How do we negotiate between personal, communal, and national identities?
• How does our use of language mark us, carrying historical connotations we often cannot control?
• Why is the debate over naming–like the debates over mascots–inherently political?

I take my prompt for the use of “Indian” from the historian James Wilson, who includes a note about his own use of the term.  Nearby in Canada, they use terms like first nations people or even aboriginal.  I use these terms as well, though I am aware that each differs in connotations.

It may be best if you work from the group outward, naming an author by their tribal affiliation if you know it.