How did red Indians reach America before it was being discovered by Columbus in

Question: How did red Indians reach America before it was being discovered by Columbus in 1492!.!?

What was the religion of the people before it was being discovered!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Theories abound and new found evidence suggest multiple points of orgin!. Long ago scientist clung to the notion that the earliest arrivals straggled over a land bridge in the Berring Straits up where Alaska is!. Then it slowly dawned upon a few brainiacs, a very few, that the Polynesians were terrific boat voyagers and that most likely many sailed from Polynesia to South America and spread out from there!. This theory was disputed for years by Racist ^holes but finally begrudingly accepted!.
THEN A NEW WRINKLE!. Climatologists and the new science of DNA got together and discovered that indeed many American Natives had strands of DNA originating in Europe and working with Climatologist discovered that the same conditions that made it possible for primitive people to cross over into Alaska from the region now known as Russia, those same conditions made it possible for people to travel from Ireland to Greenland/Iceland to North America!.
History Channel has a fascinating show about it check their archives!.
As for Religion - - - Natives developed a variety of religions but most sqirled around the notion that spirits/Gods are everywhere!. In the Wind, the power of the Sun, the animals of forest & jungle!. Many North American Natives spoke of 'The Great Spirit,' while paying homage to a variety of forces on their lives!.
See link and snippet below!.
http://www!.themystica!.com/mystica/articl!.!.!.
""The term animism is derived from the Latin word anima meaning breath or soul!. The belief of animism is probably one of man's oldest beliefs, with its origin most likely dating to the Paleolithic age!. From its earliest beginnings it was a belief that a soul or spirit existed in every object, even if it was inanimate!. In a future state this soul or spirit would exist as part of an immaterial soul!. The spirit, therefore, was thought to be universal!.

There has been sharp divisions of thought as to the original concept of animism held by primitive peoples!. An British anthropologist Sir Edward Burnett Tylor in his "Primitive Culture" (1871) defined animism "as a general belief in spiritual beings and considered it 'a minimum definition of religion!.'" He stated all religions from the simplest to the most complexed shared some sort of animistic belief!. According to him primitive peoples, defined as those without a written tradition, believed the spirits or souls caused life in human beings!. They pictured these souls as vapors or shadows going from one body to another!. The souls not only passed between human beings but into, plants, animals and inanimate objects as well!.-----------------------------------!.!.!. is insignificant how men and women gained the belief that a spirit or soul resides in all objects it is historically evident that they did!. Trees and plants were worshiped as totems or because of their usefulness and beauty!. In many cultures certain trees and plants have been feared!. In some ancient cultures "trees were generally regarded as maternal deities or forest spirits, to be respected even when their lives were sacrificed for human use (pagan woodcutters never felled a tree without first begging its forgiveness)!. Female tree spirits live on in myth and folklore as dryads, the Greek version of the tree-worshiping druid priestesses!."

Plants and trees have been considered sacred by themselves because, as some have thought, they are home to certain spirits!. Both the soma plant of India and the coca shrub of Peru are worshiped for the intoxicating properties of the products made from them!. Field crops, thought to harbor spirits of infertility, has been honored by ancient tribesmen and peasants throughout Europe!. Traces of these cults can still be found!.

The above describes nature worshipers among which many occultists are numbered!. They view life as being in everything, and everything, even man, supporting life!. Life is sacred -- all life!. "One of the foremost characteristics of Neo-Paganism (or occultism) is the return to the ancient idea that there is no distinction between the spiritual and material, sacred and secular!." Everything is still one as it was to primitive man!.

Animism may also be the unconscious fabrication of a spirit manifestation by the medium!. It is not a fraud as the medium actually believes that he is channeling a spirit!. It usually happens when the medium is put under pressure to attend a request or works in a spiritualistic circle where spirit phenomena are expected to occur!. The spirit of the medium then fabricates a manifestation and it is interesting to notice that the medium′s body undergoes all the usual changes that happen in an actual spirit communication, such as altered breathing, contortions, and such procedures""
http://www!.hpwsys!.com/dave/
"""The aboriginal Americans who lived on the northern plains developed a mature and coherent system of practical animism!. The world view of these early Americans was inextricably entwined with their animist beliefs and methods!. They sought to live in harmony with the world, in both the practical and the spiritual sense!. Their body of animist knowledge was the treasured thread that bound their lives together and gave each one meaning!. This knowledge was passed from generation to generation, its practitioners valued members of society, and its tools revered as the very soul of the group!.
Long term relationships between a group of real people and various useful spiritual beings were cultivated and maintained unto hoary tradition!. For a people to lose their core of animist knowledge meant the end of their group viability!. Similarly, if a people were destroyed, their animist knowledge could be lost forever; the methods and relationships forgotten and neglected, the tools decaying in some dusty museum!.
HIDDEN KNOWLEDGE
There came a time when the aboriginal practitioners of northern plains animism foresaw a wrenching change that would threaten the very treasure that made them whole!. The aboriginal seers knew the coming of the Europeans threatened to destroy their people along with the ancient knowledge they had preserved for so long!.""

Peace\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

For a long time, the indigenous peoples of the Americas !.!.!. referred to as Native Americans, First Nations and, stemming from Christopher Columbus' historical mistake, Indians, American Indians, Amerindians and Amerinds !.!.!. were thought to have migrated at least 12,000 years ago from Eurasia via a land bridge that connected what is now Siberia and Alaska across what is now the Bering Strait!. These early Paleoamericans soon spread throughout the Americas, diversifying into hundreds of culturally distinct nations and tribes!.
This theory was widely accepted, with the migratory period varying between 9,000 and 50,000 years ago, but increasingly it faces many challenges, especially from DNA-based research!. It is beginning to look as if some of the early peoples may have migrated via other routes!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

During the ice ages, a lot of water was stored in the ice meaning sea levels were down!. A number of historians believe that a land bridge existed at the Bering Straits, allowing Native Americans to cross about 10,000 to 20,000 BCE (they were here a little earlier than Christopher)!. Other theories say the people crossed the Bering Sea by boat or that the Bering Sea froze over -- which it still does today!. Some hold that Native Americans came from seafaring Polynesian tribes!.

The religion of the tribes varied!. Some Native Americans were pantheistic and some, like the Maya and Aztec, had a well defined polytheistic system that included elaborate sacrificial rituals, including large-scale human sacrifice!. There was no one single religion practiced by Native Americans prior to the arrival of Europeans!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Apparently, according to a knowledgeable friend who's studied a lot of history, the Chinese discovered America 500 years earlier, but left it alone!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Theory is from South America and the Baring Strait!.Www@QuestionHome@Com