Population history of indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas were the first people to live in North and South America (the two continents that make up the Americas) a long, long time ago. They lived on the land before settlers from Europe arrived and took over. Over hundreds of years, the population of indigenous peoples has grown, changed, and sometimes decreased when people had to move away from their lands. Today, there are still people who belong to the original tribes, but their population is a lot smaller than it used to be.