when the first white settlers arrived, the native americans were living in their traditional houses across north america. at first, they were friendly to their new neighbors, but the european settiers wanted their land. the "indians" fought many wars and their leaders - crazy horse, geronimo, and sitting bull - became famous. thousands of them died, and they also died from illnesses that the europeans brought with them. finally, the us gobernment forced the native americans lime in special "reservations". today, about 1.5 million native amrican live on reservations. many of them try to keep their ancient traditions and now native american culture is growing again. did you know that hot chocolate, popcorn and chewing gum come from the native americans?