I am not aware if the word "Indian" ever meant "native" . The way I heard the story was that Christopher Columbus set out to find a shorter trading route to India and the Indies and since he knew the world was round he went in the opposite direction than was usual to get there. When he reached the first dry land (central America) he assumed that he was in some uncharted region but close to India and he began to call the local inhabitants "Indians". Apparrantly the name has "stuck" for over 500 years.