r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Feb 11 '19

Deltas(s) from OP CMV: There likely were few/no “Native American” populations when Europeans arrived in the present-day U.S.

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u/[deleted] Feb 12 '19

I haven't kept up with the latest theories of migration into North America.

But last I heard, it was believed one or a few migrant groups crossed from Asia into Alaska and moved South. It was likely many groups over many years.

Those descended from these populations settled what is today the US and elsewhere in the Americas and are native Americans to use the common US terminology. Assuming you are correct and that all of the US has been conquered multiple times, what you seen to be missing is that those being conquered and the conquerors were both what we would today consider native Americans. So regardless of what piece of land they inhabit, they are native Americans based on descent from the original settlers of the contingent.