Many indigenous tribes actually had some really great innovations in warfare and turning it into a less lethal and for lack of a better term more sportsmanlike competition. The whole idea that they were just as bad as their conquerors is just more colonizer apologia.
They "lost" because the colonizers were far more inhumane than they were and once they changed tactics and fought on equal footing they kicked the shit out of them, at which point the colonizer turned even more genocidal targetting noncombatants and famously food sources like buffalo.
There were also several competing tribes in the California area that used competitive crafting as a substitute for warfare. It was a massive flex to make the best stuff during these scheduled gatherings and gift the winning pieces to rivals to resolve disputes.
Many indigenous tribes actually had some really great innovations in warfare and turning it into a less lethal and for lack of a better term more sportsmanlike competition. The whole idea that they were just as bad as their conquerors is just more colonizer apologia.
They "lost" because the colonizers were far more inhumane than they were and once they changed tactics and fought on equal footing they kicked the shit out of them, at which point the colonizer turned even more genocidal targetting noncombatants and famously food sources like buffalo.
There were also several competing tribes in the California area that used competitive crafting as a substitute for warfare. It was a massive flex to make the best stuff during these scheduled gatherings and gift the winning pieces to rivals to resolve disputes.