Points of Entry:
Yamasee War website:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=29505
Creek Confederacy History:
http://www.fourdir.com/creek.htm
Indian Slave Trade:
http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/history/hs_es_indians_slavery.htm
Thoughts/Questions for blog discussion:
List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading. What are some of the arguments?
How are they related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?
"Beavers, according to Jesuit Pierre de Charlevoix, were 'one of the greatest wonders in nature.' But to Frenchmen they were more valueable dead than alive: their pelts constituted 'the principle article in the commerce of New France.'"(215)
ReplyDelete"Nevertheless, the Jesuits were out to save the world. When they built small bark chapels and erected wooden crosses in Indian villagesthey not only proclaimed God's presence but also symbolically opened Indian country to the gospel and reinscribed the spiritual landscape."(222)
Two main themes in this reading are trade and religion. Beaver pelt was a commodity from the Americas that was in high demand in Europe. The French needed the Native Americans to hunt the beaver for their pelt they established a more professional relationship with the Native communities, unlike the Spanish. But, they were not that different from the Spanish conquest. The Jesuits brought over their religion and, even though they did not physically force the Native Americans to convert, the presence of their religion and their God was undeniable.
A major theme in the book is captivity. For the Iroquois Indians taking captives was a part of warfare.
ReplyDelete-”Iroquois warriors traditionally went to war to quicken the dead, often by taking captives for torture or adoption. Now, with hundreds of deaths to avenge, the mourning war complex obligated war parties to range far and wide in search of captives.”pg 226.
-There was so much death from European weapons and diseases that the Iroquois could not keep up. “Recurrent warfare and epidemic disease produced losses of such magnitude that traditional practices of adopting war captives could no longer offset them.” pg 239. Natives were almost forced to change traditional practices because they could not practice them.
"The birchbark canoe was the French key to the heart of the continent."( 216) The canoe was an essential part of Indian life an trade, and the French used it to penetrate Indian country. The canoe could go almost anywhere and vast quantities of beaver pelts were delivered by canoe. The Canoe was the fastest most effective way to travel in the North.
ReplyDelete"Horses changed how many people lived their lives, saw their world and organized their society."( 267) In the Southern Plains the introduction of the Horse changed their way of mobility, hunting, expansion and war. Just like the canoe in the North impacted the daily life of Indians so did the horse in the South
“Indians not missionaries decided what role and shape Christianity would assume in their culture” p. 223. Just as Indians controlled the amount of involvement the French played in the beaver trade they did the same with the amount of religious conversion they would tolerate among their people. They allowed French priests to do a limited amount of preaching but mostly because they desired to keep trade open with the French.
ReplyDelete“The Cheyennes made their choice. In the words of trader Pierre Tabeau they abandoned agriculture and their hearths and became nomadic people” p. 307. With the introduction of the horse into North America hunting buffalo became far more efficient. The draw to hunt a plentiful food supply on horseback caused some agricultural tribes to make a shift to become nomadic.
"Fearing the loss of the beaver trade with the Ottawas and the more distant tribes, the French realized they had to stop the Iroquois." Calloway 235
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting point in the way that the French and the Iroquois were expanding at the same exact point the French realized this fact and attempted to do nearly everything in their power to stop this. Means of how they would accomplish was mainly in the establishment of friendship and alliances with tribes that opposed the Iroquois in what was later known as an anti-Iroquois alliance.
"Though "everyone" in New France believed that it would be impossibe to open trade with the Sioux because they lived eight hundred leagues from the French settlements and were "at war generally with all sorts of tribes,." Calloway 241.
Interestingly trade was opened up with Sioux and the impossible was accomplished and also the Sioux were one of the few Indian tribes to expand there territory while many other tribes were in steep decline. A few reasons that Sioux expansion occurred was because of the supplies they obtained from French trappers.
"When he reached Green Bay, he dressed in a Chinese robe of damask embroidered with flowers and birds and fired pistols in salute to the People of the Sea, whom he supposed to be Chinese but who turned out to be Ho-Chunk, or Winnebagos" (221). This shows French ignorance and how the French depended on Indians much more than Indians depended on the French.
ReplyDelete"The Comanches were lords of the southern plains, and they owed it all to horses...They had built a way of life around horses and buffalo... But the world they had built on horseback was coming under increasing pressure, some of it self-inflicted" (291). This shows that Europeans were changing the lives of Indians drastically and Indians were forced to adapt. Comanches adapted well but eventually their raiding would make them prime targets and fall because of their terrific success.
"they followed Indian guides, paddled Indian canoes, and traveled Indian routes." P. 216
ReplyDeleteFrench were very reliant of Native help. They had to adapt to the Native ways and they were required to respect them as well.
"Using horses instead of dogs for transportation allowed people to move heavier loads, go farther, and travel faster." p. 273
Horses brought a new dimension to Native American customs. they utilized horses in many ways and changed and improved many of their ways of living.
In a world where kinship ties mattered more than nationality and where trading followed Indian practices more French proclamations, many of them stayed and carried on their trade, illegally and out of official view, in the villages of their Indian wives. (243)
ReplyDeletethe relation with trade of good and marriage was stronger than European rule. Fur traders did what was necessary to obtain the furs for trade. Laws do not apply in a land that is uncontrolled by those claim it.
When the French followed the tide of Indian population movement west, they entered a new world of chaos and conflict, but they also entered a world where the metaphors and mechanism were available to bring cooperation and coexistence. (237)
The French followed their suppliers of goods into hostel grounds because of the demand for resources. The west was no mans land as far as the French were concerned. the willingness to follow and adopt to the needs allowed for a bond to form between the French and Indians.
"Wendat people had obtained European trade goods via Indian middlemen before they came into contact with Europeans, but they were receptive to French efforts to open direct trade" pg 219.
ReplyDeleteIt is quite clear that the French took a much different approach than the English when it came to settling in America. Their willingness to deal with the natives instead of expelling them would prove to be extremely prosperous.
"They carried captive women and children to the New Mexican trade fairs and bartered them for more horses, weapons and food. Spanish ears caught little distinction between related languages, and Spanish records often identified Paiute captives as "Utes" adding to the impression that the Utes were selling their own children" pg 283.
It is quite clear that natives readily supplied Europeans with native slaves instead of feeding into the wide belief that Europeans would raid native communities. While this was certainly true, natives played a crucial role in the expansion of the slave trade.
While reading One vast Winter count a quote really got my attention was "The calumet ceremony,in which indians danced and smoked the pipe when strangers arrived, was a prerequisite for negotiation and an essential foundation for goos relations.(Calloway 237)" The reason why I found this quote really interesting was that it displays the cultural ties that were established between various Native American tribes. It shows that courtesy and hospitality was an important aspect of setting relation which could be compared to westerner inviting someone for tea or taking them out for dinner.Also the calumet served as a cultural niche to transform strangers into kin, enimies into friends.
ReplyDelete"When corn came, some indian peoples gave up mobile hunting life and adopted a sedentary farming existence; when horses came, some people gave u[ sedentary farming existence and adopted a mobile hunting life (Calloway 267)." I find this quote really interesting because a lot of assumption and context is drawn from it. After reading this quote one could automatically assumed that horses changed the life styles and brought prosperity to many Native American groups. Also another assumption could made that prior to horses Native american struggle and could used this as a justification for criticizing pre-contact Native american life styles. Overall this quote suggests what the domestication of an invasive crop or animal could have for the life style of certain groups of people.
"they paddled from the Gulf of St Lawrence River, ip the Ottawa River, across the Great Lakes"
ReplyDeleteThe French were trying to discover ways to travel west through river and lakes. The part that i found interesting about there travels along these lakes and rivers was the fact that this is how Indian histoory began to be written. The French, as they traveled recored and wrote about there encounters with these native tribees and peoples. This was another sign of the willingness of the French to learn about the Natives and their livelyhood.
"One of the greatest wonders in the nature"
The Beavers were looked at in this manner, however as the French saw it the beavers were better dead then alive. The beaver skin was the new wave of trade for French and was becoming an economic boost on their home front. There ability to trade with natives would lead to the over hunting of beavers. Natives were so in tune with the trade of beaver skin, that when they saw a ship in the distance they would hold up a beaver skin on a stick and let them know they were ready to trade.