The European colonization had devastating impact on Native Americans due to environmental changes and the introduction of diseases:
The introduction of European weapons linked to the popularity of beavers led to overhunting. <u>Overhunting led to the extinction of beavers which affected the ecosystem as a whole. Europeans also brought pigs to the new land that ended up eating the foods deers and other animals depended on leading to scarcity.</u>
<u>Europeans brought with them diseases (such as smallpox) that the native population were NOT immune to which resulted in a great number of deaths. The high mortality rate of the older population meant the loss of both tradition and knowledge.</u>
