For instance tribes have increased their control over their natural resources and food systems they have become players in the countrys energy sector and they have begun trading with asia national congress of american indians 2013b. I n recent years native americans have increased their income and wealth through new and innovative economic development activities. The history of native americans in the united states began in ancient times tens of thousands of years ago with the settlement of the americas by the paleo indiansanthropologists and archeologists have identified and studied a wide variety of cultures that existed during this era.