▁their ▁mis use ▁of ▁sources . ▁Many ▁population ▁studies ▁acknow ledge ▁the ▁inher ent ▁difficulties ▁in ▁producing ▁reliable ▁statistics , ▁given ▁the ▁scarc ity ▁of ▁hard ▁data . ▁ ▁The ▁population ▁debate ▁has ▁often ▁had ▁ide ological ▁under p inn ings . ▁Low ▁estimates ▁were ▁sometimes ▁reflect ive ▁of ▁European ▁not ions ▁of ▁cultural ▁and ▁ra cial ▁superior ity . ▁Histor ian ▁Francis ▁Jenn ings ▁argued , ▁" Sch olar ly ▁wisdom ▁long ▁held ▁that ▁Indians ▁were ▁so ▁inferior ▁in ▁mind ▁and ▁works ▁that ▁they ▁could ▁not ▁possibly ▁have ▁created ▁or ▁sust ained ▁large ▁populations ." ▁ ▁The ▁ind igen ous ▁population ▁of ▁the ▁Amer icas ▁in ▁ 1 4 9 2 ▁was ▁not ▁necessarily ▁at ▁a ▁high ▁point ▁and ▁may ▁actually ▁have ▁been ▁in ▁decl ine ▁in ▁some ▁areas . ▁Ind igen ous ▁populations ▁in ▁most ▁areas ▁of ▁the ▁Amer icas ▁reached ▁a ▁low ▁point ▁by ▁the ▁early ▁ 2 0 th ▁century . ▁In ▁most ▁cases , ▁populations ▁have ▁since ▁begun ▁to ▁clim b . ▁ ▁Over ▁ 6 0 ▁million ▁Bra z ili ans ▁possess ▁at ▁least ▁one ▁Native ▁South ▁American ▁ancest or , ▁according ▁to ▁a ▁mit och ond rial ▁DNA ▁study . ▁ ▁Pre - Col umb ian ▁Amer icas ▁▁ ▁Gen etic ▁divers ity ▁and ▁population ▁structure ▁in ▁the ▁American ▁land ▁mass ▁using ▁DNA ▁micro - s at ellite ▁markers ▁( gen ot ype ) ▁sample d ▁from ▁North , ▁Central , ▁and ▁South ▁America ▁have ▁been ▁analyz ed ▁against ▁similar ▁data ▁available ▁from ▁other ▁ind igen