In addition to the deadly impact of diseases wars and genocide. Thornton has...!

In addition to the deadly impact of diseases wars and genocide. Thornton has...!

Thornton estimated that the Indigenous population of the present-day coterminous United States was more than 5 million in 1492 and only about 250,000 in 1900. These numbers would appear to indicate that the loss of life was around 5 million here. However, it is at this point in the computation of Indigenous deaths in the present-day coterminous United States that Thornton has raised a vital issue. He has explained: Such a population decline implies not only that some 5 million American Indians died during the 400 years but also that, in fact, many times the approximate figure of 5 million died, as new but ever numerically small generations of American Indians were born, lived, and died.59 This important demographic insight is essential for developing a more comprehensive and reliable quantitative assessment of the lives lost in the Indigenous Holocaust. However, Thornton’s books and articles have not estimated the total number of Indigenous deaths in this country or in the hemisphere. In 2015, this researcher contacted Thornton to ask about these demographic issues. In the ensuing email exchange, Thornton indicated that his own rough estimate is that about 12 million Indigenous people died in what is today the coterminous United States between 1492 and 1900.60 This number of deaths is almost 2.5 times the estimated decline in the Indigenous population during this time. Of course, an estimate of the total number of Indigenous people who died in the entire present-day U.S. must also include the loss of life in Hawaii, Alaska, and in Puerto Rico. The work of David A. Swanson has indicated that the Native population of Hawaii declined from about 683,000 Indigenous people after British explorer James Cook’s arrival in 1778 to about 24,000 in 1920, a loss of approximately 659,000 lives.