@Dutchess_III I know that, but some people in the Indian Tribes do have a red undertone. I have a peach undertone, my husband has a yellow-green undertone, etc. The Eskimos mostly have darker skin and they live up in the snow in Alaska, so there aren’t always pale white people in snowy places, which is contra to what I suggested, but also doesn’t fit with the vitamin D explanation either.
I’m not saying it’s ok to walk around calling Native Americans redskins. There is evidence of the Native Americans calling themselves redskins back to colonial days, but I don’t think there is clear evidence why. I don’t think we know for sure if they self-named themselves that term, or the British did.
Even if you don’t use the word red, their skin was often light brown in the west, which fit in with the arid landscape. They also tend to tan easily.