The entirety of the Americas was full of people before Europeans, whole and rich civilizations with cities and artwork and histories that settlers almost or in some cases completely succeeded in destroying. It’s too great a tragedy to put into words.
The intentional genocide never gets talked about so all there is is this sense that everything from before 1492 just kind of petered out. Wars were fought over this land. Horrific massacres of whole populations. Forced conversions and mass enslavement.
As a kid I really paid attention in school. For a while I thought this was to my detriment as the history was false. However now I have a good recall of the propaganda for reference. All this to say: it is taught as a handful of skirmishes and encounters with indigenous populations were rare.
I recall it being said that some colonizers didn't believe in the local populations as they were so sparse. And that encounters were mistaken for ghosts or angry spirits. It's taught as if the land was home to maybe a few thousand people. Most of whom were nomadic conveniently.
