"The Native Population of the Americas in 1492"

"The Native Population of the Americas in 1492"
by William M. Denevan

"How many people inhabited the New World when Columbus landed on Hispaniola in 1492? How did the arrival of Europeans spark the population decline of aboriginal people in the New World? William M. Denevan writes that, "The discovery of America was followed by possibly the greatest demographic disaster in the history of the world." Research by some scholars provides population estimates of the pre-contact Americas to be as high as 112 million in 1492, while others estimate the population to have been as low as eight million. In any case, the native population declined to less than six million by 1650.

In this collection of essays, historians, anthropologists, and geographers discuss the discrepancies in the population estimates and the evidence for the post-European decline. Woodrow Borah, Angel Rosenblat, William T. Sanders, and others touch on such topics as the Indian slave trade, diseases, military action, and the disruption of the social systems of the native peoples. Offering varying points of view, the contributors critically analyze major hemispheric and regional data and estimates for pre- and post-European contact.

This revised edition features a new introduction by Denevan reviewing recent literature and providing a new hemispheric estimate of 54 million, a foreword by W. George Lovell of Queen's University, and a comprehensive updating of the already extensive bibliography. Research in this subject is accelerating, with contributions from many disciplines. The discussions and essays presented here can serve both as an overview of past estimates, conflicts, and methods and as indicators of new approaches and perspectives to this timely subject."

- http://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/0289.htm

William M. Denevan is the Carl O. Sauer Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

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"How Many Native Americans Were Living in 1492?"

"Answer 1: Estimates of the number of Native Americans in 1492 vary widely- from eight million to more than one hundred million."
Answer 2: There have been two estimates done, 1) by the US Government that estimates 25 Million Native Americans (this study was discounted as highly inaccurate) and 2) By independent researchers that show between 75 and 114 million Native Americans."

- http://wiki.answers.com/Q/

"How Many Native Americans Were Living in 1910?"

"Answer: 265,683"

Source: "Historical Census Statistics on Population Totals By Race, 1790 to 1990, and By Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, For The United States, Regions, Divisions, and States," by Campbell Gibson and Kay Jung. Population Division, U. S. Census Bureau,Washington, DC 20233, September 2002.

 - http://www.census.gov/

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Want some REAL truth? Read this: "Apology To The Native American Indians" By Dr. Mary Hamer, M.D. - http://www.countercurrents.org/hamer081209.htm

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So, from a population of 54,000,000 to 100,000,000 in 1492, to a total of 265,683 in 1910. Over 400 years of genocidal massacres. And you want a holiday to celebrate this?  "Oh, but we didn't know!" Of course you didn't... did you really believe they'd teach you the truth? "Columbus." Another of the many, many lies and fairy tales we Americans love so dearly...

 - CP

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