Final answer:
The Europeans who first arrived in North America perceived they were seeing Indigenous rituals and customs, influenced by their own preconceptions rather than the reality of pre-Columbian Native American life. Europeans encountered diverse and sustainable pre-existing cultures, although some complex societies were in decline. Their observations were often marred by biases and misunderstanding of Native American societies.
Step-by-step explanation:
Prof. Miller suggests that the Europeans who first arrived in North America thought they were witnessing Native American life in its authentic form, but in reality, they were seeing Indigenous rituals and customs. This perception was deeply influenced by their pre-existing biases and the inability to recognize the existing civilizations outside of a European framework. The Europeans did not encounter societies with rigid structures similar to their own, nor empires like those of the Aztec or Inca. Instead, they encountered diverse cultures that practiced sustainable agriculture and had thrived through various means tailored to regional geography, such as the reliance on buffalo in the Plains.
While some Native societies, like the Puebloans or the inhabitants of Cahokia, had developed complex societies, these were already in decline by the time Europeans arrived. However, the introduction of diseases and the imposition of foreign religious beliefs, ideas about property, and commodification of resources by Europeans resulted in drastic changes to Native American ways of life. Therefore, the image that the Europeans had of Native Americans was more a reflection of their own assumptions and misunderstandings than the complex reality of pre-Columbian life in North America.