In which way did European contact have a devastating impact on the American Indian population

European settlement had overwhelmingly negative consequences for Native Americans. Though Native American tribes did occasionally form positive relationships with European settlers, permanent European settlement in America eventually led to disease and displacement. Native Americans had no immunity to European illnesses and their population was devastated by the (sometimes deliberate) introduction of diseases like smallpox. Over time, most surviving tribes were forcibly relocated from their traditional lands to make way for expanding European settlements.