Perhaps, but I recently read something which suggested they (to be precise, Native Americans) really were happier than the European settlers of the time:

"All of the white people who joined Indian tribes loved it and refused to go back to white civilization. All the Indians who joined white civilization hated it and did everything they could to go back to their previous tribal lives."

http://squid314.livejournal.com/340809.html (There's a lot more on the subject than just the bit I quoted.)