What Factors made relations between the Natives and the Colonists so difficult?

Poor relations between Natives and settlers began with Christopher Columbus.  He exhibited greed and disrespect for the native people who had called the New World home for centuries, setting a poor precedence for future interactions.  A few hundred years after his exploitation of natives, the English came to settle North America.  These settler- native interactions were often apprehensive, one reason being the language barrier.  There were some instances were natives and settlers lived peacefully.  The natives gave the settlers advice on farming techniques and showed the Europeans the land of America.  But so many other instances, such as the Massacre of 1622 indicated that many natives did not want to live alongside the settlers who came here with the notion that they were entitled to free land- land that belonged to the natives for centuries.  This violent display on the part of the natives was used by settlers as an excuse to push the natives off of their land and act violently as a means of protection.  The fur trade was a lucrative industry, and again some natives and settlers tried to work together to facilitate this trade.   Part of this effort was the formation of treaties.  On paper, these treaties called for peace and coexistence, however in action, few of the provisions were followed.  This distinction between ideas and actual action continued.  When William Penn founded the Pennsylvania colony, he was one of few leaders who wished to exhibit tolerance and respect to the natives in his colony.  However despite this doctrine, settlers came with a disregard for the natives and pushed them off of their land.  Many of the conflicts between natives and settlers came from notions of entitlement.  The settlers felt that it was their right to take the land that they wanted, and the natives tried to fight this.  However, violence always seemed to be the only way either side got their way.  It was said in the article, “American Indian Wars” that, with all that the natives did to help the early settlers, all they were repaid with was, “disease, weaponry with which to kill one another, and exploitation of their land and produce”.  This shows how, despite any efforts to coexist, mutual respect was not present.  Without this, two groups cannot effectively coexist.  As a result, centuries of fighting and defense caused the loss of a large portion of the Native American culture who founded America in the first place.