Columbus' mistake in 1492 of calling Native Americans Indians was made because Columbus wrongly assumed that he had voyaged to islands off the coast of Asia, called The Indies; and he died in 1506 supposedly still believing just that. Afterward, it wasn't until 1513, when Balboa discovered the Pacific Ocean (& claimed it for Spain) - to the westward of the Isthmus of Panama - that the New World became obvious. Then the West Indies islands (e.g., Cuba) had to be distinguished from the antipodal East Indies (e.g., Java) - literally a whole world apart. As for Native American peoples, because the Old Testament in the Bible did not mention them specifically, debate raged among Europeans until 1537 as to whether or not Indians were really human beings - which at that time meant being actual descendants of the first human parents, Adam & Eve. European ignorance of Indians led to arrogance about them. Finally, after 45 years of Encounter (1492-1537), a Papal proclamation announced that Indians are truly human - but they still got stuck with the wrong label of Red Indians. And apparently it was European fishermen on the Grand Banks off the coast of Newfoundland [New-Found Land] who started the idea of Native Americans being The Red Race. The reason? - The Beothuk Indians of Newfoundland smeared their skin with red ocher (iron oxide / hematite), perhaps for a cosmetic, perhaps as an insect-repellent, perhaps both. The subsequent European misassumption that Native Americans had genetically red skin then spread as widely as Columbus' wrong label of Indians. So, starting with these two early faux pas, and adding five-centuries'-worth of additional misunderstandings since then, is it any wonder at all that today's Native Americans still are skeptical of Euramericans' endeavors at making group-identifications of Natives, for whatever purpose?