The Edgar Cayce readings document a complex process for the peopling of the Western Hemisphere. According to the readings, the “red race” appeared in the American Southwest and the “brown race” appeared in the Andes. Lemurians settled parts of the American Southwest. Then, Atlanteans arrived in multiple waves, settling eastern North America and parts of South America. At a later date, natives from the Yucatan and from South America settled parts of the American Southeast.

Also identified are several other groups that influenced the Americas, including what the readings call “The Lost Tribes” or “The Children of Promise.” These epithets refer to the Children of Israel who were dispersed to the nations when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and razed King Solomon’s temple. The readings refer to another group as “those who crossed Beringia.” These were the people from East Asia who crossed the land bridge between Siberia and Alaska some time during the most recent Great Ice Age. The third group, the “Norsemen,” or Vikings, came from the Norse land, or what is now known as Norway.

At least six life readings indicate that the Lost Tribes (or Children of Promise) settled areas of the Aleutians and parts of the American Southwest.

…the entity was among those when the strangers from the East…the remnants of those people who were of the tribes that were lost…that had settled in the Aleutian Islands…

--Edgar Cayce reading 620-1

…the entity was in the…land of nativity…when there were the activities of those peoples that were dispersed by the carrying away of the children of promise into captivity…who escaped across the waters into what is now the southwestern portion of…(America).

--Edgar Cayce reading 2540-1

Only one reading refers to trans-Beringia migrants:

Before this we find the entity was during those periods when there were the settlings in the land that is now known as the Northwest, when there were the entering into this land of those peoples from across what is now known as Alaska or Bering Straits, those individuals that journeyed into the lands now known as the Columbia River section.

--Edgar Cayce reading 620-1

And some 18 readings reveal that America was populated by peoples from the Norse land. Their activities extended from as far south as New York State, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, and as far west as Minnesota.

…we find the entity, from the Norse land, came with those groups who remained in that known as Vinland, or a portion of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts…

--Edgar Cayce reading 1650-1

…the entity was in the Norse land…and made many of the excursions into the various parts and lands. And that which eventually came to be the short way across New York State…

--Edgar Cayce reading 3042-1

Before that the entity was in the Norse land, among those who journeyed into the greater western portion or near to the central portion of Minnesota…

--Edgar Cayce reading 3651-1

The evidence for the presence of these groups in the Americas varies in quality. An abundance of anecdotal stories of the Lost Tribes in the Americas has circulated since the 16th century, but to date no incontrovertible evidence has surfaced.i In regard to those who crossed Beringia and the Norsemen, we stand on much firmer ground. Genetic and linguistic evidence affirms that the former refers to the ancestors of the Athabascan Indians, whose languages are closely related to Chinese and Tibetan.ii And the first confirmation of Norsemen in North America outside Greenland came to light in the 1960s, when archaeologists discovered unequivocal evidence at L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland. Since then several Norse sites have been confirmed on Baffin Island, Canada, as well as on Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland.iii

The readings provide information about two other possible influences on the Americas: Aliens and Phoenicians.

The entity was among the priestesses of the Mayan experience. It was just before that period when…there were the beginnings of the unfoldments of the understanding that there were…those that were visiting from other worlds or planets.

--Edgar Cayce reading 1616-1

…the entity’s own peoples then were the first of the Syro-Phoenician groups extended off the borders of the Mediterranean; yea…even into the Sargasso Sea…

--Edgar Cayce reading 1159-1

Although a modicum of evidence for the presence of the Phoenicians in America existsiv, the readings provide no information about that. Repeatedly various disciplines have confirmed the veracity of certain details provided by the readings. Many other details await corroboration. And so the stage was set for the great influx of Europeans that began in the 16th and 17th centuries that changed forever the cultures and civilizations they found.

i Nova has an interesting article covering this topic at their website: pbs.org/wgbh/nova/israel/losttribes2.html
ii Ruhlen, Merritt. 1991. A Guide to the World’s Languages. Vol. 1: Classification. Stanford University Press: Stanford. 388-9.
iii news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/10/121019-viking-outpost-second-new-canada-science-sutherland/; lanseauxmeadowsnewfoundland.com and livescience.com/37189-new-viking-voyage-discovered.html
iv Fell, Barry. America B.C.: Ancient Settlers in the New World. (Revised ed.)