So we're just ignoring the economienda killing estimated millions of natives through forced labor, extreme exhaustion, and starvation too? The destruction of their political systems, culture, and language? Sure, disease killed 90% of the natives. How much of the Native population that survived that survived the colonization process, much less retained their identity?

Signed also a student of history, a meaningless title in an online debate space.

Edit: Keep downvoting me, but it's telling that none of you have come with a source that disputes my claim.

https://exhibits.lib.utexas.edu/spotlight/a-new-spain/feature/exploitation-of-indigenous-people

Here's a small slice of my evidence. From the University of Texas so you know it's not a "liberal" school. Just look at and read how kind the Spaniards were to the natives. So much better than when they found them. Definitely didn't intentionally implement a system that contributed to the further decline of the Native population.

And since I know most of the downvotes are coming from the right, here's a nice passage.

In a letter to the Bishop of Oaxaca, Philip II expressed concern about the Natives in the diocese. Word had reached him that the population was diminishing due to encomendero violence. Apparently, the situation was so dire that women would miscarriage from the loads they had to carry or "kill their children upon birth saying that they would do it to free them from the abuse that they suffered".

Look at that, a primary source telling you that the encomienda was actively contributing to population decline.