American cuisine is primarily Western in origin, but has been significantly influenced by indigenous American Indians, African Americans, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and many other cultures and ethnicities, reflecting the history of the United States. Early Native Americans utilized a number of cooking methods in early American cuisine that have been blended with early European cooking methods to form the basis of what is now American cuisine. The European settlement of the Americas introduced a number of ingredients, spices, herbs, and cooking styles to the continent.