Indians
believed that the mainland and islands of America were part of the Indies, in Asia.
So, when the Europeans started to arrive in the 16th- and 17th-century they were met by
Native Americans. The Natives regarded their white-complexioned visitors as something
of a marvel, not only for their outlandish dress and beards and winged ships but even
more for their wonderful technology - steel knives and swords, fire-belching arquebus
and cannon, mirrors, hawkbells and earrings, copper and brass kettles, and so on.
However, conflicts eventually arose. As a starter, the arriving Europeans seemed attuned
to another world, they appeared to be oblivious to the rhythms and spirit of nature. Nature
to the Europeans - and the Indians detected this - was something of an obstacle, even an
enemy. It was also a commodity: A forest was so many board feet of timber, a beaver
colony so many pelts, a herd of buffalo so many robes and tongues. Even the Indians
annaabi.ee 
