the very earliest colonists (at Jamestown) were under instructions not to hassle them, and to treat them as possible trading partners. In order to stay out of their way the colonists deliberately built their colony on a site where there were no natives. It urned out this was because it was malarial and the natives had enough sense not to live there. But the natives were generally helpful to the colonists and the colonists were respectful back. Not always, alas. And within 50 years there was a body of new colonists insisting the only good Injun was a dead Injun. It went pretty much downhill from there.