Who does it belong to?

Besides this class, I am also taking "History of the Peoples of Kansas." While we are covering somewhat different issues, some have crossed eachother so far this summer. We also talked briefly about the explorations of the europeans and then went into the Louisiana Purchase and indian removal. We had the issue of whether or not the environment can be possessed this week. I think that this kind of goes along with what we have been studying for this class, with europeans coming in and settling in different parts of American, driving the natives out of their lands and homes. I don't think it is possible to actually own the land. While we have settled and built on much of the land in America, no matter what we do, we cannot control nature and its affects on the environment. For instance, a major climate change caused even successful tribes with extensive irrigation systems to disperse elsewhere. So, while we can buy pieces of land and built what we want on that land, we can never control the changes that can and will come along with the land its environment. I think that this is an interesting and complicated issue because there are so many different ways to look at it. Was it right for the europeans to just come and settle wherever they please and push the native out of their lands? Or were the europeans gaining land that they felt was theirs, just as the natives had centuries earlier?