How many natives were killed

European settlers killed 56 million indigenous people over about years in South, Central and North America, causing large swaths of farmland to be abandoned and reforested, researchers at University College London, or UCL, estimate. The increase in trees and vegetation across an area the size of France resulted in a massive decrease in carbon dioxide CO2 in the atmosphere, according to the study.

Carbon levels changed enough to cool the Earth by , researchers found. Columbus arrived in ,. Before this study, some scientists had argued the temperature change in the s, called the Little Ice Age, was caused only by natural forces. Read More. But by combining archaeological evidence, historical data and analysis of carbon found in Antarctic ice, the UCL researchers showed how the reforestation -- directly caused by the Europeans' arrival -- was a key component of the global chill, they said.

Many myths and misunderstandings dominate the public discourse, hindering informed discussion on this subject that is so important to the future of our nations. Some recognized genocides, such as the Holocaust and the genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda, took place over specific periods of time and were characterized by mass killings.

But colonial genocide is a slow-moving process. The policies of colonial destruction of Indigenous peoples took place insidiously and over decades. The acts of violence and intent to destroy are structural, systemic and cut across multiple administrations and political leaders.

Under international law, genocide is both a crime that engages individual criminal responsibility and a wrongful act that engages state responsibility. Genocide is defined in international law as certain prohibited acts or omissions committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a protected group of people.

There is no doubt that the Indigenous peoples of Canada, despite their diversity, are a protected group. Here are some considerations:. These are only examples, many others have been committed over the decades and are well documented.

The latter reflects a payment system that was put in place after many disease epidemics had already run their course, the authors of the new study noted. So the new study offers a different method: the researchers divided up North and South America into regions and combed through all published estimates of pre-Columbian populations in each one.

In doing so, authors calculated that about Once Koch and his colleagues collated the before-and-after numbers, the conclusion was stark. That means about 55 million people perished because of violence and never-before-seen pathogens like smallpox, measles , and influenza. Using these population numbers and estimates about how much land people used per capita, the study authors calculated that indigenous populations farmed roughly 62 million hectares , square miles of land prior to European contact.

Over time, trees and vegetation took over that previously farmed land and started absorbing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Julia Pareci of the indigenous Pareci community stands iin front a corn field planted within an Indian reservation, near the town of Conquista do Oeste, Brazil. Carbon dioxide CO2 traps heat in the planet's atmosphere it's what human activity now emits on an unprecedented scale , but plants and trees absorb that gas as part of photosynthesis.

So when the previously farmed land in North and South America — equal to an area almost the size of France — was reforested by trees and flora, atmospheric carbon-dioxide levels dropped. Antarctic ice cores dating back to the late s and s confirm that decrease in carbon dioxide. That CO2 drop was enough to lower global temperatures by 0. Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle had tied an American flag to his lodge pole as he was instructed, to indicate his village was at peace.

When Chivington ordered the attack, Black Kettle tied a white flag beneath the American flag, calling to his people that the soldiers would not kill them. As many as were massacred, mostly women and children. At this time, a war hero from the Civil War emerged in the West.

Two, the women and children offered little resistance. Three, the Indians are bewildered by our change of policy. Burial of the dead after the massacre of Wounded Knee. Anti-Indian anger rose in the late s as the Ghost Dance spiritual movement emerged, spreading to two dozen tribes across 16 states, and threatening efforts to culturally assimilate tribal peoples.

Ironically, just over years later, the resilient American Indian population has survived into the 21st century and swelled to more than 5 million people. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Live TV. This Day In History.