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gwaydms t1_iu77o64 wrote

Reply to comment by thajcakla in TIL that when the French first arrived in North America they met the Ojibwe Indians who introduced them to other tribes but used nasty names. The Lakota/Dakota people were called "Nadowessiwag," which became Nadouessioux in French, then Sioux in English. It means "little snake." by marmorset

Two reasons I can think of:

  1. Their Native name may be difficult to pronounce for someone who doesn't speak that language. It might even mean something bad or embarrassing if mistranslated or mispronounced. One Sioux, whose name meant His Very Horses Fear Him, found himself called Man Afraid of His Horse.
  2. The meaning of the name is immediately obvious. They may even use the Native name and the translation. The writing traditions of some Native languages have characters and diacritics that may not be clear to a reader.
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