A comprehensive survey traces indigenous origins, categorizes tribal groups, and profiles regional peoples from the West Indies and Mexico through the Andean empires to North American nations. It describes customs, social organization, and surviving monuments, and reflects on the loss of native records and the difficulties of reconstructing their past from European accounts. The narrative examines the demographic and cultural decline brought by disease, conflict, and dispossession, and concludes with discussion of the contemporary conditions of western tribes and prospects for their future.