But it is a distinct group with territory and a culture which English settlers invaded "their" lands and actively tried out to wipe out.
By contrast, immigrants today are downright eager to become Americans.
As usual you are only half right as t.he Indians did a pretty good job of trying to destroy themselves. When in the early 1800's
Tecumseh tried his best to organize intertribal resistance to the encroachment of white settlers on Indian land. From the Indiana
territory to the gulf coast he traveled in an attempt to unify the natives to unite with the British during the war of 1812 to stop
the Colonists from their westward movement. The 5 civilized Tribes in the south had one remarkable leader William Weatherford
who followed the path of Tecumseh.
Weatherford (Red Eagle) the Creek Indian warrior who had the wear with all and the girth of being to battle
the US army and Andrew jackson toe to toe until his quest for power & glory was ended at Horseshoe Bend.
Weatherford had sought to bring about a war in which the entire Creek Nation & the British would be united
against the whites but as usual in Indian confrontations with the settlers it became a war between part of the Creeks
(the Red Sticks) on one hand & the rest of the Creeks with the whites on the other in which he had to fight some
of his nearest friends it became a very different and much less attractive affair.
Weatherford renounced his fathers wealth to seek his future with his mother's
people, and as Creek warchief lead them to astonishing victories against the government
of the United States; The most stunning indian success after Washington became the 1st
president was the Weatherford led Creek victory at Fort Mims. Even Andrew Jackson showered him with praise.
However it all ended at the Horseshoe, which ended the power of the Creeks & the other civilized tribes
some of which fought with the whites, eventually leading to the Trail of Tears a few decades later.
Red Eagle whose genius for command alone made the War in the south worth writing about in the end
couldn't overcome the odds. I imagine similar events were prevalent, always a cadre of tribes sided against
the waring factions & that element of the native psyche was just as responsible for their demise than the
settlers insistance to wipe them out.