E.T., I think that Peter was referring to the tribes that were small in membership, and lacked the warrior clans that others had, and were facing a no win situation. One of the things that hurt the Indians, is that tribal differences prevented them from coming together in a huge army to protect their people and their lands. Even at Little Big Horn, where the Dakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho, joined forces, the warriors fought as individuals instead of attacking like a the trained armies of Europe had learned to do, as many soldiers performing as one cohesive unit.
It is very true that disease killed far too many of the natives, and another thing that hampered them, was that the white Europeans introduced them to whiskey for which they have no tolerance.
In colonization, the white man made a serious mistake all over the world, in thinking that other races were savages, and not on a par with the white race. They failed to notice that they were all human beings. Maybe they were different in color, and had different rituals, but they were humans equal in intelligence potential. |
