I think the pertinent point in his statements is that people whose ancestors built one of the greatest nations in history can and should call themselves native Americans today. The building of this nation marked a new chapter in human history.

The history of the stone age tribes that were living here when European settlers arrived is not very important. They were living on the land like children, accepting whatever nature provided with no notion of how to maximize what the land could provide. Europeans came along and started working the land, and built the greatest civilization on earth. That is the history that we should celebrate today.