Indigenous American peoples pre-European contact sustained vibrant communities. Although wheels, gunpowder and a written language may not have been around, sustainable hunting and farming (better than European farming), complex languages and political minds were present.

Europeans were ill-equipped physically and mentally to survive in what is now called the Americas. European settlers and colonizers relied on Indigenous people for their survival, as they did not know how to feed themselves, protect themselves, or house themselves.

Indigenous peoples skillfully sculpted ecological landscapes and Europeans destroyed it in favor of “civilized” farming techniques that served to create massive ecological problems that we still deal with today.

For political influence, see the Iroquois Confederacy and its impact on the American Revolution and US democracy.

There are countless examples of the intelligence and agency of Indigenous American peoples. Greg Palmer writes, “They were tough, violent human beings, just like Columbus."

Setting aside the biased opinion in measuring/comparing brutality in this statement, their humanity should not be justification for their genocide.

Chloe Tolman is an applicant to WVU's PhD history program, with a specialty in Indigenous Studies.