To be fair, the best braves were killed in a generational guerilla war.
Yes but that wasn't the problem. The 'best braves' were generally just warriors. Not necessarily intelligent outside of killing people. Just look at the tribes today. Some managed to adapt and used the privileges they've gotten from the US government to become incredibly wealthy and prosperous. And then you have the rest who decided to use the handout money to be drunk 24/7. The Indian tribes are as diverse as the European people. You can't throw them all in the same basket.
Being able to adapt and being able to adapt quickly is not a standard skill for humans. The majority of settlers didn't manage to adapt (quickly) either but unlike Native Americans they had the technological and numerical advantage. The history of the Comanche is the best example of that. They were absolutely dominant and if they would have understood what was at stake and actually build a nation instead of only being nomadic raiders who knows what could have happened. But they didn't and the second the settlers started to adapt to their fighting tactics it was over for them.
The last chief of the Comanche actually adapted to the new reality of life after the defeat of the Comanche and was very successful because of it. Empire of the Summer Moon is a great book that goes into detail about that.
Yes but that wasn't the problem. The 'best braves' were generally just warriors. Not necessarily intelligent outside of killing people. Just look at the tribes today. Some managed to adapt and used the privileges they've gotten from the US government to become incredibly wealthy and prosperous. And then you have the rest who decided to use the handout money to be drunk 24/7. The Indian tribes are as diverse as the European people. You can't throw them all in the same basket.
Being able to adapt and being able to adapt quickly is not a standard skill for humans. The majority of settlers didn't manage to adapt (quickly) either but unlike Native Americans they had the technological and numerical advantage. The history of the Comanche is the best example of that. They were absolutely dominant and if they would have understood what was at stake and actually build a nation instead of only being nomadic raiders who knows what could have happened. But they didn't and the second the settlers started to adapt to their fighting tactics it was over for them.
The last chief of the Comanche actually adapted to the new reality of life after the defeat of the Comanche and was very successful because of it. Empire of the Summer Moon is a great book that goes into detail about that.