Map of Native American Tribes
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The ancestors of today's Native Americans arrived in North America about 15,000 years ago. As a result, a great diversity of communities, societies, and cultures eventually developed on the continent over the millennia. The population of indigenous peoples in the Americas before Columbus's voyage in 1492 was 70 million or more. Approximately 562 tribes resided in the contiguous United States. The ten largest Indian tribes in North America are: Arikara, Cherokee, Iroquois, Pawnee, Sioux, Apache, Eskimo, Comanche, Choctaw, Cree, Ojibwa, Mohawk, Cheyenne, Navajo, Seminole, Hope, Shoshone, Mohican, Shawnee, Mi'kmaq, Paiute, Wampanoag, Ho-Chunk, Chumash, Haida. Below is a tribal map of pre-European North America. The ancient map below gives a Native American perspective by placing the tribes in their prime - the "glory days". This occurs before contact with other peoples across the Eastern Seaboard, or at least before that contact had any serious effect on change. Over a period of 400 years, the period of contact varied greatly between tribes. For example, the "glory days" of the Maya and Aztecs ended long before the interior tribes in other regions, with some lasting until the 20th century. At one time, the indigenous peoples, who numbered in the millions, spoke about 4,000 languages. The European conquest of the Americas, beginning in 1492, resulted in a sharp decline in the Native American population due to epidemics, hostilities, ethnic cleansing, and slavery. When the United States was founded, the established Native American tribes were considered semi-independent nations because they generally lived in communities separate from white immigrants. Map of Native American Tribes of North America