Nyk: Touche! Well said.

And a needed splash of cold water on my increasing heated ire over the absolutist vilification of non-Indigenous people, all they ever did was take, and the beatification of those who supposedly lived in idyllic peace.

And you'd be right about trade and the welcoming of strangers.

Tiny shells from ocean snails only found off the West Coast of Vancouver Island, in some 30+ metres of depth no less, were treasured items among the Indigenous peoples of what is now Florida.

See: https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/knowinghome/chapter/chapter-11/

There were pre-contact trade routes all across North America and therefore those trading must have had some level of protection.

I should have reread what you said before I launched. Hope Putin and Biden et al do the same.

Thanks for allowing the mea culpa.