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What the aboriginal inhabitants of North and South America, commonly referred to as “Indians”, are today, came from vastly different origins themselves, some from Asia, some crossing the Pacific from the Melanesian archipelagos of Oceania, and even some few crossing what was then a land bridge covered with glacier from Europe, And they came in several different waves, some much later than others.

In the territorial area of the United States alone, there were some 400 or more distinct groups at the time of Columbus, many of whom undertook mutual battles of extinction with each others. Just consider the differences that were between the Navajo and the ancient cliff dwellers, known as the Anasazi. For centuries, perhaps, the Navajo harassed the Anasazi, until the Anasazi undertook an extermination program on the Navajo, catching them, killing them, cooking them and eating the stew, tossing away their bones. Even today, the Navajo speak in hushed tones, of “the old ones”, never referring to them openly, as the Anasazi cursed the Navajo for all eternity.

The Anasazi, it seems, did not survive to the present day, for only the ancient cliff dwellings attest to the fact they were ever here. They were supposedly related to the resent day Pueblo people, who now live peaceably with the Navajo.

Or consider the Cheyenne of Wyoming, who were subject to border raids by the neighbors, the Crow. In one dramatic confrontation at a mountain called Crow Heart, a band of young Crow males was captured by the Cheyenne, and the Cheyenne chief asked the Crows who their leader was. All the Crow willingly pointed him out, and he was brought before the Cheyenne chief. Upon affirming that he was, in fact, the leader, the chief plunged a knife into the chest of the young Crow, pulled out the still beating heart, and took a bite out of it. His mouth dripping with the blood of the unfortunate Crow, the chief turned to the rest of the Crow, and told them, go back and tell your people what you have seen here today.

The Crow never bothered the Cheyenne after that.

And these were just two incidents, among what must have been innumerable times when differences were settled with combat, or stealth, or downright treachery.

Hernando de Soto was the first European explorer to come through what is now the State of Georgia (1540).

He found many settlements of various unassociated tribes of people, throughout his travels.

In one village, the people lived on the site of large earthen mounds.
They were asked how and why the mounds were built.
It was a mystery to those people,
who said their tribe had been living there for many many years,
but the mounds were already there when they arrived.

Where did the mound builders go?
Likely wiped out by some other tribe many years earlier.