Everybody knows that before Europeans arrived on the shores of North America, it was the American Indians that dominated the continent. They lived in tipis (or wigwams) and hunted for their food with bows and arrows. Then the Europeans showed up. The Indians shared their food and that's why we have Thanksgiving. Then the tribes just went away. The Europeans colonized the New World and everything was great.That's about the extent of knowledge that the average North American has, regarding the American Indians. Of course, as with most of the things we think we know, it is nowhere near that simple. The history of American Indians is much more complicated than that.Many of the things you were told in school, don't even come near the truth. Entire empires and nations rose and fell within North America before the coming of the Europeans. Some cities in Central America (Mesoamerica) rivaled the greatest civilizations of Europe.Then the Europeans came. The relationship between them and the natives became -- complicated.This is the second Edition. It has been re-edited and reformatted and a number of pictures have been added.