One of the first groups to face prejudice and discrimination in the United States and possibly the world are American Indians. The first acts of violence against them date back to the 15th century (source) with the Spanish colonization of the Americas. This was just the beginning of the plethora of discrimination experienced by Native Americans, including the Trail of Tears, the Urban Relocation program, not to mention current issues Native Americans face such as poverty, alcoholism, and depression. Native Americans have historically been subject to discrimination and prejudice since the colonization of the Americas in the 15th century, when the Spanish colonized the Americas. Native Americans were in fact the first to live in the Americas and also in North America. The Europeans brought with them a multitude of things that were harmful to the Native Americans. The first was inadvertent but extremely deadly. Native Americans did not have the same immunities against some diseases as Europeans. Many Native Americans died from smallpox, measles, influenza, sexually transmitted diseases, and more. Some of the most harmful diseases (smallpox, measles, influenza) killed about 90% of the Native American population. (source) In addition to spreading disease, the Spanish tried to spread the holy spirit. With the arrival of Spanish missionaries on the West Coast in the late 1700s came slavery and the mass killing of Native Americans. The combination of abuse and disease took its toll on the population, from 300,000 before Spanish involvement, Indians in California reached a low of 16,000 in 1900. One of the most notable atrocities committed by Native Americans......half of paper ...work in extreme conditions, beatings and exposure to disease have significantly reduced India's population in a short space of time. The Trail of Tears is also an example of the last link of prejudice because it was ethnic cleansing. History has put the Native American people to the test. Native Americans were subjected to physical, psychological, and spiritual abuse. Today, many Native Americans face problems with drug and alcohol addiction, as well as poverty and violence. An explanation is offered through historical or intergenerational trauma (source): It might be understandable that a race of people who were massacred, enslaved, forced to move from their homes and forced to renounce their religious beliefs and who retain only the 4% of their land, would have lasting psychological damage on the Native American people.