American Indians have been important to American history, but they are not a founding group. They do add a unique flavor to the mix, however.

For starters it is difficult to lump all of the different First Nations into one group. Second of all there are very few American Indians left east of the Great Plains. Most of them died from disease and war hundreds of years ago. The rest usually intermarried with the new settlers. Nonetheless, I am convinced that they had a foundational impact on American society. While the majority of Americans are of European descent, America is simply not just another European society. America’s development patterns and political ideals come from some place else. After reading Charles Mann’s "1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus" I now know where American exceptionalism comes from. I advise anyone with an interest in American history to read this book. Influence grade of 3 stars.

To say that American Indians have "chosen to withdraw" from our culture is like saying that the Jews in Nazi Germany chose to withdraw from Nazi Germany.Let's not mince words:they were the victims of Genocide.I do not blame them for not wishing to participate in a toxic,soulless culture that rapes their sacred Earth and treats human beings as pawns in a chess game for the elite.

. . .got the rawest of deals but refuse to assimilate to any culture outside of their own. . .put down the bottle, get off the reservation, and go to college. . .all cultures (including the European-white ones) have had to commit to a form of assimiliation. . .the American Indians have gone far too long with this attitude of separation and defeatism. . .

A largely dysfunctional group characterized by overrepresentation in successful suicides, substance abuse, unemployment, and high school dropout rates. Interesting culture(s) that have, sadly, not proven entirely adaptable to Western concerns and economic structure.

These people are so polite once you get to know them. They went through so much garbage in the old days now they are tending to just disapear.