Māori people peaceful tribes from their productive turangawaewae, such as the Moriori in the Chatham Islands by invading forces from North Taranaki, had a catastrophic effect on these conquered tribes. At the same time, the Māori suffered high mortality rates for new Eurasian infectious diseases, such as influenza, smallpox and measles, which killed an unknown number of Māori: estimates vary between ten and fifty percent. The spread of epidemics resulted largely from the Māori lacking acquired immunity to the new diseases. A huge influx of European settlers in the 1870s increased contact among many of the indigenous people with the newcomers. Te
A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies been accused by many scholars about making exaggerated claims in terms of the death toll and mistreatment of the indigenous people. Today, it is known that Old World diseases and the lack of immunity caused a large number of indigenous deaths. The reason why De Las Casas did not mention the number of indigenous deaths caused by old world diseases is not a political one. During the 1400s, people did not know what caused disease or how it spread. The discovery of germs wasn't until the 1500s, and their association with diseases was not even accepted by the medical profession