Communism always implies death and destruction, capitalism does not. I am not saying that capitalism and its associated governments always result in perfect or even good outcomes, but that communism always results in bad ones. And either way, the natives were wiped out by governments under mercantilism, not capitalism.

what part of the communist ethos implies death and destruction? really it seems more baked in to capitalism and democracy is the more important piece rather than the economic system... a socialist system can be democratic too

Communism requires an authoritarian government. Authoritarian governments bring death and destruction. Therefore, any communist society will inevitably have death and destruction.