Vision of the first Inheritor, receiving the gift of the Sky Spirits.
The Inheritors were a group of primitive Humans who gave rise to many Native American tribes, such as the Rubber Tree People. They were originally a band of nomadic Arctic hunters, who encountered the Sky Spirits from the Delta Quadrant 45,000 years ago.
Though the humans had no language or culture beyond fire and stone tools, the Spirits were impressed by their affinity to nature and gave them a genetic bonding, so that they would thrive and protect their planet. This "inheritance" drove the Inheritors to migrate south, spreading across the North and South American continents, until they numbered in the hundreds of thousands.
However, the Inheritors were eventually decimated by war and disease, brought by new groups of people. Though the Sky Spirits thought them extinct, many survived into the 24th century. Some small tribes still maintained the traditional culture of the Inheritors, while others integrated into different societies. (VOY: "Tattoo")