Original subtitles

Before Europeans arrived, 100 million

people lived in the Americas. They spoke

over 1,000 languages. They built cities,

democracies, and trade networks spanning

continents.

Then 90% of them died in 100 years.

Here's what happened to every major

Native American tribe and what they're

doing today. The Cherokee Nation,

originally from the southeastern United

States, Georgia, North Carolina,

Tennessee, and Alabama. Population

before European contact, 50,000.

The Cherokee developed their own written

language in 1821, created by Sequoyah.

They published newspapers, had a

constitution, and operated schools.

The US government called them one of the

five civilized tribes, which is

condescending, but shows they adapted to

survive. Didn't matter. In 1838,

President Andrew Jackson forced 16,000

Cherokee to walk 1,000 miles to Oklahoma

in winter, the Trail of Tears. 4,000

died on the march.

Today, the Cherokee Nation has 400,000

enrolled members, making it the largest

tribe in America, headquartered in

Tahlequah, Oklahoma. They run

businesses, hospitals, and universities.

They survived genocide and became the

biggest native nation in the country.

The Navajo Nation, Diné, southwest,

Arizona, New Mexico, Utah. The Navajo

call themselves Diné, meaning the

people. Current population, 400,000.

The second largest tribe. They're also

the largest reservation in America,

27,000 square miles, bigger than 10 US

states. The Navajo were shepherds,

weavers, and silversmiths. In 1864, the

US Army forced 9,000 Navajo on the long

walk, 450 miles to a camp in New Mexico

where they were imprisoned for 4 years.

Thousands died.

They were eventually allowed to return

to a fraction of their original land.

During World War II, Navajo code talkers

used their language to create an

unbreakable military code. The Japanese

never cracked it.

The Navajo helped win the Pacific War

using the same language the government

tried to erase. Today, the Navajo Nation

is semi-sovereign with its own

government, laws, and police force.

Tourism, mining, and energy production

fund the nation, though poverty remains

high.

The Sioux Nation, Lakota, Dakota,

Nakota, the Great Plains. Dakotas,

Nebraska, Montana, Minnesota.

The Sioux aren't one tribe. They're

three divisions speaking related

languages. Population before contact,

40,000. The Sioux were buffalo hunters,

warriors, and horse masters.

They fought the longest war against US

expansion. Red Cloud's War in the 1860s.

The Sioux won. The US signed a treaty

giving the Black Hills to the Sioux

forever.

Then, gold was discovered in the Black

Hills. The US broke the treaty

immediately.

Custer's Last Stand, 1876.

Lakota and Cheyenne warriors led by

Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse wiped out

Custer's 7th Cavalry. The US responded

with total war.

Sitting Bull was killed by reservation

police in 1890. Two weeks later, the US

Army massacred 300 Lakota at Wounded

Knee, mostly women and children. That

ended the Indian Wars.

Today, Sioux tribes live on several

reservations in South Dakota and North

Dakota. They've been fighting for the

Black Hills in court since 1980.

The Supreme Court said the land was

stolen and awarded $102 million. The

Sioux refused the money. They want the

land back. The fund has grown to over $1

billion

with interest.

They still haven't taken it. The land

isn't for sale.

The Apache, Southwest Arizona, New

Mexico, Texas. Multiple Apache groups,

Western Apache, Chiricahua, Mescalero,

Jicarilla, Lipan.

Population before contact, 15,000. The

Apache were master guerrilla fighters

who resisted Spanish, Mexican, and

American control for 300 years.

Geronimo, the most famous Apache

warrior, surrendered in 1886 after

evading 5,000 US troops for years. He

was imprisoned in Florida, then Alabama,

then Oklahoma.

He never returned to Arizona. He died in

1909 as a prisoner of war, still

technically an enemy of the United

States.

Today, Apache tribes live on

reservations in Arizona, New Mexico, and

Oklahoma. The Mescalero Apache run the

Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort. Fort

Apache became a National Historic Park.

Tourism keeps some communities alive,

but poverty rates remain brutal.

The Iroquois Confederacy, Haudenosaunee,

Northeast New York, Pennsylvania,

Ontario, Quebec. Six Nations. Mohawk,

Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca,

Tuscarora.

Population before contact, 20,000. The

Iroquois formed a democratic confederacy

around 1450, possibly earlier. They had

a constitution called the Great Law of

Peace. Representatives from each nation

met to make decisions affecting all.

Benjamin Franklin studied the Iroquois

Confederacy when designing American

democracy.

The US Constitution borrowed ideas from

it. Federalism, checks and balances, and

women's influence on leadership. During

the Revolutionary War, most Iroquois

sided with the British. They lost.

The Americans burned 40 Iroquois towns

in retaliation. The Confederacy split.

Some moved to Canada, some stayed in New

York on small reservations. Today, the

Hodinoshoni Confederacy still exists.

They issue their own passports. The US

doesn't always recognize them, causing

international incidents. Iroquois

lacrosse teams travel on Hodinoshoni

passports anyway.

Lacrosse, by the way, is an Iroquois

invention. They've been playing it for

over 1,000 years.

The Choctaw Nation, Southeast

Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana.

Population before contact, 30,000. The

Choctaw were farmers growing corn,

beans, and squash. They were the first

tribe removed on the Trail of Tears in

1831, 3 years before the Cherokee. They

walked to Oklahoma in winter. Thousands

died. But here's a wild fact. In 1847,

the Choctaw Nation, still recovering

from their own genocide, heard about the

Irish potato famine. They donated $170

to Irish famine relief.

That's roughly $5,000 in today's money.

People who had just been ethnically

cleansed sent money to help starving

Irish families. In 2020, the Irish

donated millions to Navajo and Hopi

COVID relief. They remembered. Today,

the Choctaw Nation has 200,000 members.

Headquarters in Durant, Oklahoma. They

run casinos, manufacturing, and retail.

They're one of the largest employers in

Oklahoma. The Creek Nation, Muscogee,

Southeast, Georgia, Alabama, Florida.

Population before contact, 30,000. The

Creek Confederacy was a union of

multiple towns and tribes. They fought

two wars against the United States, the

Creek War of 1813 to 1814 and the First

Seminole War. They lost both.

In 1836, the Creek were forced to walk

the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma. About

3,500

of 15,000 died on the march.

Today, the Muscogee Creek Nation has

87,000 members in Oklahoma.

In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that

much of Eastern Oklahoma is still

legally Creek territory because Congress

never formally dissolved the

reservation.

This affected the criminal jurisdiction

for millions of people. One Supreme

Court case and half of Oklahoma

technically became native land again.

The Seminole, Florida, the only tribe

never defeated by the US military. The

Seminole formed from Creek refugees,

escaped enslaved people, and other

tribes fleeing US expansion. They hid in

the Florida Everglades. The US fought

three wars trying to remove them. The

Seminole Wars from 1817 to 1858. The

Seminole used guerrilla tactics, knew

the swamp terrain, and refused to

surrender. The wars cost the US $40 and

1,500

soldiers. Most Seminole were eventually

forced to Oklahoma, but a few hundred

stayed hidden in the Everglades. The US

gave up. Those families never signed a

peace treaty. Technically, they're still

at war with the United States. Today,

the Seminole Tribe of Florida has 4,000

members and runs hugely successful

casinos and the Hard Rock Hotel and

Casino brand. They bought Hard Rock

International for $965

million in 2007. A tribe that the US

couldn't defeat now owns a global

hospitality empire.

The Pueblo peoples,

Southwest, New Mexico, Arizona. Not one

tribe, but multiple nations. Hopi, Zuni,

Acoma, Taos, and 15 plus others.

Population before Spanish contact,

40,000. The Pueblo built multi-story

adobe apartment complexes in the desert.

Some continuously occupied for over

1,000 years.

The Taos Pueblo has been inhabited since

1,000 AD. The Spanish conquered them in

1598 and forced Christianity on them.

In 1680, the Pueblo launched the only

successful native revolt against

Europeans, the Pueblo Revolt. They drove

the Spanish out of New Mexico for 12

years.

The Spanish came back, but the Pueblo

kept their religion and customs by

hiding them. Today, 35,000 Pueblo people

live in New Mexico and Arizona on 19

Pueblos. Each Pueblo is sovereign. Acoma

Pueblo sits on a mesa 365

ft high, Sky City. Tourism, art, and

agriculture sustain the communities.

The Comanche, Great Plains, Texas,

Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas. Population

before contact, 20,000.

The Comanche were the most powerful

native nation in the 18th and 19th

centuries. They controlled Comancheria,

a territory the size of France covering

most of Texas and parts of five other

states.

The Comanche were elite horse warriors

who stopped Spanish expansion for 100

years and fought Mexico and the US to a

standstill for decades.

They raided settlements across the

Southwest and Mexico, controlling trade

routes and terrorizing enemies. The

Texas Rangers were created specifically

to fight the Comanche.

It took the US Army 40 years to defeat

them. The last free Comanche band

surrendered in 1875.

Today, the Comanche Nation has 17,000

members headquartered in Lawton,

Oklahoma.

They've gone from controlling an empire

to a single reservation, but the nation

survives.

The Shoshone, Great Basin and Rocky

Mountains, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming.

Population before contact, 10,000.

The Shoshone lived in one of the

harshest environments in North America,

deserts and mountains with extreme

temperatures.

Sacagawea, the Shoshone woman who guided

Lewis and Clark, is one of the most

famous Native Americans in history.

Without her, the expedition would

probably fail. The Shoshone were divided

into multiple bands.

The Western Shoshone had a treaty

guaranteeing them 60 million acres. The

US took the land for mining and nuclear

testing. The government detonated over

1,000 nuclear bombs on Western Shoshone

land without permission. The US offered

compensation. The Shoshone refused. They

want the land back.

Today, Shoshone tribes live on small

reservations in Idaho, Nevada, and

Wyoming. They're still fighting for

their treaty lands in court. The Nez

Perce, Pacific Northwest, Idaho, Oregon,

Washington. Population before contact,

6,000. The Nez Perce were expert horse

breeders who developed the Appaloosa

horse breed.

In 1877,

the US tried to force the Nez Perce onto

a reservation 1/10 the size of their

treaty lands.

Chief Joseph led 750 Nez Perce,

including 500 women, children, and

elderly on a 1,170

mile fighting retreat toward Canada.

They outmaneuvered and defeated US

forces in multiple battles over 3

months. They got within 40 miles of the

Canadian border before being surrounded.

Chief Joseph surrendered with the famous

words, "From where the sun now stands, I

will fight no more forever." He spent

the rest of his life trying to return to

his homeland.

He died on the Colville Reservation in

Washington in 1904, never allowed to go

home. Today, the Nez Perce tribe has

3,500 members in Idaho.

They've reintroduced salmon to their

rivers and are reviving their language.

The Blackfoot Confederacy, Northern

Great Plains, Montana, Alberta,

Saskatchewan. Four nations, Siksika,

Kainai, Piegan, Northern Piegan.

Population before contact, 20,000. The

Blackfoot controlled the Northern Great

Plains and were fierce warriors who

fought the Crow, Shoshone, and white

settlers.

Smallpox devastated them in the 1830s. A

single epidemic killed 6,000, 2/3 of the

population. The US and Canada split

Blackfoot territory at the border,

dividing the Confederacy.

Today, about 25,000 Blackfoot live on

reservations in Montana and Alberta.

They're working to restore buffalo herds

to their land after the animals were

hunted to near extinction in the 1880s.

The Cheyenne, Great Plains, Montana,

Oklahoma. Population before contact,

10,000. The Cheyenne were nomadic

buffalo hunters allied with the Lakota

Sioux.

In 1864, US Colonel John Chivington led

a militia attack on a peaceful Cheyenne

camp at Sand Creek, Colorado. They'd

been promised protection by the US Army.

Chivington's men killed and mutilated

150 Cheyenne, mostly women and children.

It's called the Sand Creek Massacre.

Even by 19th century standards, it was

considered an atrocity.

A congressional investigation condemned

it. Nothing happened to Chivington. The

Cheyenne fought back, joining the Sioux

to defeat Custer in 1876.

After the wars, the Cheyenne were split

into two tribes, Northern Cheyenne in

Montana and Southern Cheyenne in

Oklahoma. Today, about 20,000 Cheyenne

live on reservations in both states.

The Chickasaw Nation, Southeast,

Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee,

Kentucky. Population before contact,

10,000.

The Chickasaw were known as unconquered

warriors. They never lost a battle to

Europeans. They allied with the British,

then the Americans. Didn't matter.

They still got removed on the Trail of

Tears in 1837. About 4,000 Chickasaw

walked to Oklahoma.

Today, the Chickasaw Nation has 70,000

members and runs one of the most

economically successful tribal

governments in America.

They operate banks, medical centers, and

businesses, generating billions. The

governor of the Chickasaw Nation has

more power in parts of Oklahoma than the

state government. The Hopi, Arizona. The

oldest continuously inhabited settlement

in North America. Oraibi village was

founded around 1,100 AD and has been

occupied for over 900 years.

Population today, 18,000.

The Hopi are farmers in the desert,

growing corn through dry farming

techniques passed down for centuries.

They're surrounded by the Navajo Nation,

which creates legal and land disputes.

The Hopi have no casinos, no major

industries, and some of the highest

poverty rates in America.

But their culture survives. Hopi

religion, dances, and language remain

strong. They've outlasted empires by

staying exactly where they are.

The Chippewa, Ojibwe, Great Lakes and

Northern Plains Michigan, Wisconsin,

Minnesota, North Dakota, Ontario,

Manitoba. Population before contact,

35,000.

The Ojibwe are one of the largest tribes

in North America. They controlled the

Great Lakes wild rice harvest and fur

trade.

They fought the Sioux for control of

Minnesota in the 18th century and pushed

them onto the Great Plains. Today, about

170,000

Ojibwe live in the US and Canada on

multiple reservations.

Some Ojibwe bands run successful casinos

in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

The Pawnee, Great Plains, Nebraska,

Kansas. Population before contact,

12,000. The Pawnee were semi-nomadic

farmers and buffalo hunters.

They scouted for the US Army against

other tribes, especially the Sioux and

Cheyenne. This made them enemies of most

Plains tribes. Diseases and warfare

reduced their population to 600 by 1900.

They were forced to Oklahoma. Today, the

Pawnee Nation has 3,200

members. They've revived traditional

Pawnee songs, dances, and the Pawnee

language through cultural programs.

The Lumbee, North Carolina. Population,

55,000, making them one of the largest

tribes east of the Mississippi. Here's

the strange part. The Lumbee aren't

federally recognized as a tribe. They've

been trying since 1888.

Congress has acknowledged them, but

won't grant full recognition, which

means no federal benefits, no

reservation, no tribal sovereignty.

The Lumbee descend from multiple tribes

who intermarried with freed black people

and white settlers in the 1700s.

In 1958, the Ku Klux Klan tried to hold

a rally in Lumbee territory.

The Lumbee shot up the rally and chased

the Klan out of the county. The FBI

called it the Battle of Hayes Pond. The

Klan never came back. Today, the Lumbee

are still fighting for federal

recognition. They've survived 400 years

without it, but they want what they're

owed.

Here's the reality. There are 574

federally recognized tribes in the

United States. We covered about 20.

There are hundreds more. The Pequot,

Mohegan, Potawatomi, Osage, Shawnee,

Arapaho, Ute, Paiute, Chinook, Yakama,

Spokane, Coeur d'Alene, Tlingit, Haida,

and on and on. Each has its own history,

language, and culture. Each faced

genocide. Each survived.

Before 1492,

there were 100 million indigenous people

in the Americas. By 1600, 90% were dead,

killed by disease, war, and starvation.

It's the largest loss of human life in

history.

The survivors were forced onto

reservations, had their children stolen

and sent to boarding schools where they

were beaten for speaking their

languages, and had their religions

banned. The last Native American

boarding school closed in 1978.

This isn't ancient history.

Today, 9.7 million Native Americans live

in the United States. Some tribes run

billion-dollar casino empires. Others

have unemployment rates over 80%. Some

have revived their languages.

Others have three native speakers left.

Tribes are sovereign nations with their

own governments, but they're still

subject to federal law in confusing,

contradictory ways that even lawyers

don't fully understand.

They survived 500 years of apocalypse.

They're still here.

The languages, the cultures, the

governments, the people still alive,

still fighting, still existing on land

they've lived on for 15,000 years.

Which tribe's story surprised you most?

Comment below. Next video, every US

president ranked. Some expanded native

rights. Most destroyed them. Subscribe

to find out who's who.

The first Americans are still here.

That's the most important fact of all.