Great piece of Writing Stephen Geist! I am with you. Also re the Fermi Paradox: "Where Are They?" ...Where were those Natives (firmly located in North America during an era); who reportedly were here since around 15,000BCE? This could have been a question leveled to inquisitive Europeans who only relatively recently constructed large ships efficient enough to navigate the Atlantic Ocean?

In that same moment a genius Native American Hunter-Gatherer could well have looked across the Continental Span [Pacific to Atlantic], and declared: their Peoples are the only Beings roaming the planet or in the WholeWideWorld! :~ }