In The Wake Of The NCAA v. Bradley Debate...

...there is the beginning of a great discussion over at Bill's place.

To back up what I said on that subject, I'll add this:

The recommended method is to refer to a person by their tribe, if that information is known. The reason is that the Native peoples of North America are incredibly diverse. It would be like referring both a Romanian and an Irishman as European. . . . [W]henever possible an Indian would prefer to be called a Cherokee or a Lakota or whichever tribe they belong to. This shows respect because not only are you sensitive to the fact that the terms Indian, American Indian, and Native American are an over simplification of a diverse ethnicity, but you also show that you listened when they told what tribe they belonged to.

What's in a Name? Indians and Political Correctness
by Christina Berry, All Things Cherokee