Why do people think Native Americans are few in numbers?

People primarily ociate "Native Americans" as being the indigenous societies in the U.S. While you are correct about the populations of natives in South America, you have not realized how many tribes and societies that have been macred and lost forever. And even though native americans make up significant percentages of populations in Latin american countries, these native peoples have been forced over the years to drop their culture and adopt to "european ways" mostly by the Spaniards. imilation of these cultures is the most important thing to look at here - losing one's culture is the same as having a culture destroyed and lost forever.