Usually, when most people utter the work Indian they are referring to Native Americans, but when I hear the word Indian I think of people from India. And when the confusion is uncovered I realize I know more people of Indian ancestry than Native Americans.
There are now over three million people of Indian ancestry living in the US, meeting or exceeding the number of Native Americans.
It will probably be a long time until society corrects this behavior, but the change should start with our government.
We ask that the Bureau of Indian Affairs be renamed to better reflect its charter and to help reduce confusion.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_American
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States