The history of disease and epidemics that affected the Indigenous peoples of the Americas is defined by two distinct factors: localized endemic health conditions and foreign pathogens introduced throu
Drawing in Book XII of the 16th-century Florentine Codex (compiled 1540–1585) of Nahua suffering from smallpox
Nineteenth-century American artist's conception of a medicine man caring for a sick American Indian, from an 1857 book illustration.
Drawing of Aztec people suffering from measles epidemic
Sixteenth-century Aztec drawings of victims of smallpox (above) and measles (below)
Native Americans are the Indigenous peoples of the United States, particularly of the lower 48 states and Alaska. They may also include any Americans whose origins lie in any of the Indigenous peoples
Native American disease and epidemics
…General: Native Americans in the United States Population history of indigenous peoples of the Americas…
Shriver Circle Earthworks and the Mound City Group (on the left), c. 200 BCE to c. 500 CE, depicted in a 2019 portrait
The Discovery of America (1844) sculpture, depicting a triumphant Columbus and a "female savage" (Native woman)
Native peoples are concerned about the effects of abandoned uranium mines on or near their lands.
National Indian Youth Council demonstrations, March 1970, Bureau of Indian Affairs Office