Population figures for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas before European colonization have been difficult to establish. Estimates have varied widely from as low as 8 million to as many as 100 mil
Contemporary illustration of the 1868 Washita massacre by the 7th Cavalry against Black Kettle's band of Cheyenne, during the American Indian Wars. Violence and conflict with colonists were also important causes of the decline of certain Indigenous American populations since the 16th century.
Illustration of Indigenous people of North America
Illustration of Indigenous people of South America
Bust of Cuauhtémoc in el Zócalo, Mexico City
American Indian Wars
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The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were initially fought by European colonial empires, the United States, and briefly the Confederate States of Am
Population history of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas
…decline, including exposure to Eurasian diseases such as influenza, pneumonic plagues, and smallpox; direct violence by settlers and their allies through war and forced removal; and the general disruption of societies. Scholarly disputes remain over the degree to which each factor contributed or should be…
1899 chromolithograph depicting the Great Sioux War of 1876
Jamestown Indian massacre of 1622
Siege of Fort Detroit during Pontiac's War in 1763
The abduction of Jemima Boone by Shawnee in 1776