Native American
The term American Indian is used for the people who were in North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean Islands when the Europeans first came there. The Europeans made a mistake and thought they were going to India, so they called the people "Indians". They are one kind of Aboriginal Americans.Other names for these for Native Americans are First Nations and "Red Indians" (a term rare now because it is sometimes offensive). Sometimes these people are called "Indians", but this is confusing because it is the same word used for people from India. The words aboriginal or first people or indigenous people are also used. There are many different tribes of American Indian people, with many different languages.
Many of the American Indians died after the Europeans came to their countries, from diseases that came with the Europeans that were new to the Indians, in wars with the Europeans, or because the Europeans made them work as slaves.
Some Indian tribes and languages of North America and central America are Cherokee, Maya or Yucatec Maya, Nahuatl, Navajo, and Sioux.
Some Indian tribes and languages of South America are Aymara, Guarani, Quechua, and Tupi.