I just was watching end of "Dances With Wolves" andthere was a closing note before the credits rolled that said something like this : Thirteen years passed. Their buffalo all gone the last Indians gave up and some fort. Their culture passed into history" or something very nice like that. It made it sound like it was just some natural event. But I never hear academics on with neutral politics mention that US government committed genocide. Would the word "genocide" be used correctly to describe what happened to the Indians?
EDIT: I got an answer. It WAS GENOCIDE but USA wants to retain moral high ground so prefers to use euphemism in official government office statements. It makes sense. Thanks to all!
There's been several past conversations about this, so, not to discourage any new comments, I've put together a FAQ section you may find helpful.
I know you said you already got your answer, but just for some further thought/discussion, here is a link to an FAQ page that answers this question in detail from a Native American perspective.
Whilst I'm not saying that some form of genocide didn't take place, it's important to note that disease killed most of the Native Americans before European settlers arrived to colonise it. That was the fault of the Conquistadors.
EDIT: Not trying to downplay genocide, please refer to my post below for clarification.