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Post by francine on Sept 30, 2010 10:46:32 GMT -5
Often times i hear people talking about how the poor natives where manipulated or tricked and how the settlers where so much smarter than the poor simple natives and abused and killed them for thier own personal greed. I think thats mostly all a lode of crap, the natives weren't ignorant, simple people, they did thier share of manipulating and killing and had choices that they made. Im not condoning the killing of any one regardless of weather they were Native or European, but i think its insulting to assume that the natives were stupid.
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Post by Mr. Delainey on Sept 30, 2010 10:58:04 GMT -5
I'd tend to agree with you Francine. The First Nations and indigenous peoples of Canada were just as politically savy as any European. The Iroquois used the English to help deal with the Huron; likewise the Huron used their French ally to help deal with the Iroquois. Europeans aren't the only ones to establish alliances.
Come see me about the waging of war against the beaver. It'll put the environmentally-friendly and conservationist image of First Nations in Canada into a whole new perspective.
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Post by francine on Sept 30, 2010 11:09:00 GMT -5
i had no idea that people were waging wars on beavers....... i gess you know ur in canada when..... that was a joke btw but whats all this about?
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Post by Mr. Delainey on Sept 30, 2010 15:27:18 GMT -5
Like I told you in person my father was one of the lead writers on the grade nine history text for Saskatchewan.
He was told by his publishers to withhold/omit the declaration of war on the beaver by the indigenous peoples of the eastern woodlands. The publishers didn't want to ruffle the feathers of a sizable segment of Canadian society un-necessarily.
i.e. The indigenous peoples lived in balance with the fur bearing creatures in the eastern woodlands. In fact, there was something of an agreement made between the beaver, otter and people, e.g. The people would not over-hunt or take too much and the beaver would in turn be plentiful and available. When the fur trade hit full stride European merchants encouraged Indians to hunt more. Overhunting decimated the populations of beaver, otter, etc. The Indians reacted to the disappearance of the fur bearing animals with a declaration of war on the beaver, i.e. Beavers didn't keep their end of the bargain and the Indians punished them. This is hardly the behavior of a conservationist people isn't it?
And that's why the publisher wanted it omitted because it conflicted with the current image of First Nations peoples as somehow always working in harmony with nature. I'd say First Nations people were, well, people. They made mistakes on occasion. They didn't always live in balance for whatever reason. You can find love of nature in European peoples like the English and Irish. I think you can love nature and destroy it at the same time. It's a contradiction but humans are not rational by nature. So they can justify all sorts of things if need or desire drives them to.
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