Usage of “East Indian” to distinguish from “Native American”

Question

I know someone who uses the term "East Indian" to refer to people from India, or whose ancestors are from India, lest they be misunderstood to mean Native American.

This struck me as unusual and confusing, and I am curious if others use the term this way. If I referred to someone as "East Indian," would you assume that the person was from India, from the eastern part of India, from somewhere like Indonesia -- or would you just be confused (like me) and ask for clarification? Is there another, better way of saying "Indian from India"?

Answer 1

I would be equally puzzled by "East Indian", guessing it was the eastern portion of India.

Perhaps it's a regional thing, but in my experience there is no longer a need to specify the usage. Indian in the Native American sense isn't going to be found outside of an obvious historical context. Unless you're reading a Louis Lamour novel, the presumption is you're speaking of a person from India.

If you really have to specify, I would avoid "Indian from India" as it's both redundant and awkward. I would simply say something like, "My co-worker Binu is from India".

Edit to add:

Based on some more research and the comments below, it's almost certainly a regional thing. Also noteworthy that the US Census calls this group "Asian Indian".

Pennsylvania: 0.1% Native American and 0.7% Asian Indian.

California: 0.8% Native American and 1.3% Asian Indian.

Arizona: 4.5% Native American and 0.5% Asian Indian.

Depending on where you're at, the likelihood of there being any ambiguity varies widely.

Answer 2

East Indian makes me think of someone from the East Indies, specifically the Dutch East Indies — now Indonesia — even though Dutch East Indies is anachronistic.

I tend to prefer to refer to people from the country of India.

(If I know enough to be specific, I say "Chandy is from South India," or "Naveen is from Hyderabad.")

Answer 3

I just say "Indian" to refer to people from India and so far this has never led to any confusion. When I want to talk about "Indians" in the US I use the term Native Americans.

The term East Indian would confuse me and my first reaction would be to think of someone from the eastern part of India. The intended meaning of an Indian national is too anachronistic since the terms "East Indies" and "West Indies" are rarely used now unless one is talking about history.

Answer 4

I think the 'Indians' tag for native American tribes came from Christopher Columbus who had set out to find India, and who 'found' America instead. But to refer to a person from the 'true' India, I think 'Indian from India' makes the most sense, in spite of the obvious inconvenience.

I know that East Indians in India refers to a separate community of people who were colonized by the Portuguese.