Transcript Main title - hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca

First Contact
Meeting of Cultures
European Contact with Native
Peoples of North America
When was the First Contact?

When was the earliest known contact
between the Amerindians and the Europeans?
 Some people consider the Vikings (Norse people)
as “Europeans”. If we do, then the first contact was
in the 11th Century.
http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10121
 If we are not classifying the Norse as Europeans,
then first contact occurred in the 1500s (16th
Century).
Natives of Canada
• There were many similarities between the
Mi’kmaq of the Atlantic coast and other
Native Groups in Canada.
– They had similar relationships and beliefs with
nature.
– Common social organization
European Countries
• Portugal, Spain, England and France were all
sending people to explore the New World –
North America – by the 1500s (16th Century).
The “Age of Discovery”
• Also known as the ‘Age of Exploration.’
• Between the 15th and 17th Century
• Europeans engaged in intensive exploration of the
world.
• Established direct contacts with Africa, North and
South America, Asia and Oceania.
• Mapping of world.
• Europeans were on the search for rich resources such
as gold, spices and silver.
• Explorers had the responsibility of finding new lands
with the hopes of claiming new territory for their King.
More land = more power.
THE “Big Race”
• The race was on between these key European
countries.
• By the end of the 1400s (15th Century)
Portugal had explored and set up permanent
settlements in many coastal areas of Africa.
• By 1492, these countries were racing to find
the route to Asia! Spain funded Christopher
Columbus’ sail across the Atlantic Ocean to
find Asia…he found the Americas instead!
The Age of Discovery…
• By 1495, France and England entered the race
for the Americas after learning about
discoveries and possible wealth!
– England sent John Cabot on his way to North
America in 1497.
– WHAT DID HE FIND???
Crazy for Cod
• In 1497, John Cabot sends word to King Henry
VII of England about the wealth of cod off the
Atlantic Coast of North America.
• Early 1500s, Europeans were very interested
in cod and whales.
http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10122
And then there was France…
– France sent an Italian named Giovanni da
Verrazano to explore the Atlantic Coast of North
America. He mapped from South Caroline to
Newfoundland.
– From 1534- 1536, Jacque Cartier of France
accompanied Verrazano to Nova Scotia. Cartier
was the first European to travel inland in North
America and first to meet members of the
Mikmaq and Maliseet tribes.
So…
• Christopher Columbus of Spain may have been the
first to discover the Americas in 1492, but it was
Jacque Cartier of France who made the first trek
inland and make contact with the aboriginals.
• Jacque Cartier named the area “Canada” from a
word used by the First Nations – “Kanata” meaning
‘settlement’, ‘village’ or ‘land’ in 1535.
• http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=101
23
The Desire for Fur…
• Jacque Cartier settled in Stadacona Village for
the winter of 1535 and learned from the First
Nations how to survive such cold winters. He
saw the versatility in the animal furs used for
clothing. He saw the wealth that his country
could gain from such items too!
Cartier-Brébeuf National Historic
Site of Canada
• The place where Jacques
Cartier and his shipmates
wintered in 1535-1536.
• The Cartier-Brébeuf National
Historic Site recalls the
meeting of Iroquoian and
European cultures. It links two
important events in our
history: Jacques Cartier's first
winter in Canada and the
establishment of the Jesuits.
•
http://www.pc.gc.ca/apprendre-learn/prof/itm2-crp-trc/htm/nbrebeuf_e.asp
Cartier wintered in Stadacona Village,
now known as Quebec City.
Cartier’s Exploration
Cartier left his imprint…
• During the winter at Stadacona Village, many
of his mates became sick with scurvy. Many
died, and it also led to many Stadaconans
becoming ill.
• When Cartier left to return to England he took
the Chief of Stadacona, Donnacana, his two
sons, and seven others back with him to
France. The Stadacona’s were very angry and
hostile with him.
1570 – A man named Ortelius created 53 maps of the world from many of the Explorers
findings. This is one of his maps . What continent has yet to be discovered? What else can
we learn from this map?
Official Trading Begins…
• By the beginning of the 17th Century (1600s)
between 12,000 -20,000 beaver pelts were
traded each year along the St. Lawrence River
between the French and the Mi’kmaq and
Maliseet (question 9 answer) and Iroquoian
groups.
• Samuel Champlain played a key role in
establishing professional trading.
Samuel Champlain
• In 1608, Samuel Champlain of France set up the first official
Trading Post on the site of present-day Quebec City.
• It became the Trading Post Center and the French
expanded their trading activities along the St. Lawrence
River and around the Great Lakes.
• In summer 1609, Champlain worked hard to establish a
more positive relationship with local native tribes.
• By 1610, Jesse Fleche – Roman Catholic Priest of France
baptized Chief Membertou of the Mi’kmaq tribe. (This
occurred at Port Royal a new settlement of Champlain’s.)
The baptism was one of many gestures made between local
native tribes and the French to help solidify relationships.
At the time of Champlain…
Champlain’s trading post
was in Algonquin territory.
The St. Lawrence River
made it easy to transport
goods in and out of “New
France.”
Champlain (the French)
not only interacted with
the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet but
also the Iroquois to the
south of the river and
Montagnais to the west of
the river.
The Barter System
• The Barter System is a way of trading goods where one
item is traded for another. This was the method used
between the Europeans and Native Groups.
• WHY? The Native groups did not used currency,
therefore a barter system had to be used to exchange
goods. This benefited both sides, as they both got
items they wanted!
• For example, the Native people traded furs for guns.
Guns made the hunting of animals more efficient:
they didn’t have to spend so much time tracking the
animals, and could hunt and kill animals quickly.
Beaver Furs
• Europeans were very
interested in Beaver Pelts
(beaver furs/skins by the
late 1500s/late 16th
Century.
• Beaver hats were quite
fashionable from the late
1500s to 1800s in Europe
as they could be made in
to many hat shapes.
• So much hunting of these
animals led to them almost
becoming extinct!
The Impacts of the Fur Trade on Native Groups
Negative
Positive
-Europeans’ demand for furs caused
competition and conflict to grow
between native groups as they were
fighting to claim hunting territories.
Natives began to become hostile with
each other, wars broke out.
-The Europeans brought many
diseases with them to the New
World. Epidemics, widespread
outbreak of diseases, killed 100,000s
First Nations people because they
did not have natural immunity!
-40 to 80% decrease in native
populations was seen post-contact.
-The First Nations traded furs for
technologies that they did not have –
iron tools and weaponry.
-Trading solidified the relationship
with the French.
-Both the natives and the French
learned adopted things from each
others culture to make life easier.
The Impacts of the Fur Trade on Europeans
Negative
Positive
- The fur trade was successful until the
1800s when fur-bearing animals became
scarce and the desire for silk hats instead
of fur hats became a greater demand in
Europe.
-Europeans collected clothing that was
more adapted to the North American
climate including: moccasins and other
fur clothing.
-They used the birch bark canoe to travel
the rivers, as well as snowshoes for winter
travel.
-Native groups taught them how to trap
animals, fish and survive in the new
environment.
-Native groups showed them the land.
-Introduced to new foods and medicines.
Comparing Way of Life
Native
-Semi nomadic lifestyle (people travelled
between two camps – a summer and a
winter camp. Summer camps were by the
coast, and winter camps were inland).
-Native tribes lived WITH nature, easily
adapted to change.
-Native tribes had an organized
government with chief(s). There was a
hierarchy of leadership based on heredity.
-Matriarchal society (female dominant)
-Native groups hunted and gathered their
food.
-Land was shared among each other.
-Resourceful and only hunted/gathered
what they needed.
European
-Permanent settlers (Europeans picked a
piece of land, built a home and lived
there all year round).
-Europeans were farmers, tradesman,
stonemasons, locksmiths.
-They grew their own food on the land.
-Land was owned by the individual not
shared.
-Hierarchical society based on power,
money, and heredity.
-Patriarchal society (male dominant).
-Strong Roman Catholic (French) or
Protestant (British) faiths.