The first Americans As many as 15 million Indians lived in what are now the United States and Canada. The American Indians formed hundreds of tribes, with many different languages and ways of life. Some tribes in Central and South America--including the Aztec, Inca, and Maya--established advanced civilizations.
What were the Americas like in 1491, before Columbus landed? Our founding myths suggest the hemisphere was sparsely populated mostly by nomadic tribes living lightly on the land and that the land was, for the most part, a vast wilderness.
Prior to colonization there were barely any Europeans in America, and Native Americans made up most of the human population. Often times the different tribes would go to war, or trade. The Native population lived in relative peace, but the peace was broken when Europe discovered America.
