The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word TONTO
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
T
O
N
T
O
More clues leading to the result TONTO
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "an Indian, some might say" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case an indian, some might say = tonto.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.