In the past 10 years or so academic historians have switched back to using 'Indian' again.[1] For the most part, I'm told, simply because it's useful (from the

In the past 10 years or so academic historians have switched back to using 'Indian' again.[1] For the most part, I'm told, simply because it's useful (from the perspective of prose style) to have a shorter synonym for 'Native Americans' to pull out once in awhile. But also because some indigenous groups have argued for re-appropriating the term 'Indian.' I agree that it's confusing. [1] One example from an academic whose background is Shoshone: Ned Blackhawk, Violence Over the Land: Indians and Empires in the Early American West (2006)