in the americas, historically, the term "indian" has been most commonly used in reference to the indigenous people of the continents since european colonization in the 15th century. qualifying terms such as "american indian" and "east indian" were and still are commonly used in order to avoid ambiguity. the u.s. government has since coined the term "native american" in reference to the indigenous peoples of the united states, but terms such as "american indian" remain popular among indigenous as well as non-indigenous populations. since the 1980s, indian americans have been categorized as "asian indian" (within the broader subgroup of asian american) by the united states census bureau.