Therefore, don't expect all American Indians to look alike. Don't let television stereotypes go unchallenged. Unfortunately, for both Native and non-Native American children, television still shows the savage warrior or occasionally the noble savage stereotypes. Understand that the Indian viewed Columbus and others as invaders, yet they welcomed and helped European settlers. In fact, war in itself is savage.
Stereotypes are sneaky.
This did not all happen in battle. What really defeated American Indians were the diseases brought to this continent by the Europeans. Since American Indians had never been exposed to smallpox, measles, tuberculosis, syphilis and other diseases that plagued the Old World, they had no immunity and were thus ravaged. Between 1492 and 1910, the American Indian population declined to about 200,000. It was germs and disease that defeated the Natives.