Sarah Haskins' Discussion Questions
To answer this question and to prepare for this week's discussion, please have read and thought about the following documents: James Axtell's "White Indians," Pierre de Charlevoix's excerpt, Rev. John Heckewelder's excerpt, and from the Calloway book pg. 49-52 (Micmac Questions French "Civilization") and pg. 71-77 (White Woman of the Genesee Mary Jemison). If you choose to include other readings in your response, you may do so.
The prompt: How was Native American culture viewed by Europeans and by the natives themselves? What were some key differences between the two cultures? Keep in mind the differences in perspective between men and women, missionary and settler, etc. Use specific examples and references to the readings.
The prompt: How was Native American culture viewed by Europeans and by the natives themselves? What were some key differences between the two cultures? Keep in mind the differences in perspective between men and women, missionary and settler, etc. Use specific examples and references to the readings.
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The Natives themselves did not view their culture as strange. They had lived the same way for many years and had been brought up learning their way of life. The Europeans on the other hand had mixed feelings about the Native’s culture. Some were astonished at the way the Native Americans lived. In White Indians of Colonial America, Axtell portrays the “Indian’s” point of view, “And they saw this People replenishing their fields, with trees and with grains, and useful animals, which until now they had been wholly strangers to; yet they did not seem touch’d in the least”. This quote explains how the Native Americans allowed the Settlers to come on to their land and change anything and everything. It also shows how the Settlers came in and decided that they had the authority to change anything they’d like. The Natives had learned to survive off of what was manageable and available to them. The Settlers on the other hand had been exposed to new “inventions” if you will, as well as products from Europe that the Natives could never even of imagined. In a way, some Settlers envied the Natives. Axtell writes, “large numbers of Englishmen had chosen to become Indians-by running away from colonial society to join Indian society, by not trying to escape after being captured, or by electing to remain with their Indian captors when treaties of peace periodically afforded them the opportunity to return home”. As we discussed in lecture today, Native families were not ruled by the “father figure” as European families were. Natives were grouped collectively by a common ancestor and lived together. The Settler families were strictly obedient to the father, who essentially governed all. Both groups had their differences, but their general way of life was more similar than most would originally imagine.
When the Europeans came over to the new world and saw the natives that had different thought about it. Some loved the way that they lived like the women and poor Europeans. If they were captured by the Indians, then some would learn to adapt to the new life style and most of them liked it better. They called them While Indians. When the women would come in to the tribe they loved the new way of living, they had a lot of control. They said when people died or lived in the tribe. The Natives had a different way of looking at society, if the women made the cloths and cooked to food then they had more power. They even got to vote for who they wanted. On the other hand women in the European culture had little or no control what so every, they had barley any control over the own lives. One way that the Natives lived is that they used every thing that was available to them “And they saw this People replenishing their fields, with trees and with grains, and useful animals, which until now they had been wholly strangers to; yet they did not seem touch’d in the least”. Then the settlers came in and took over most every thing. Then they made them migrate to different areas of the country. The Europeans at first did not do much, but with in years took over and gave the Natives nothing. Another reason that the settlers looked at the Natives is that had invented different things that they had never seen. The Europeans really envied them in a lot of ways. The settlers may have had a different way of living but when they came over to the new world they used the Natives to enhance there culture. Some of the settler after they got captured would even stay with Indians because they preferred that way of living.
Different Europeans viewed the Native American culture differently, but this also depended on which tribe they were talking about. Some Europeans thought that the Iroquois were unusually aggressive and violent. They thought that they purposely hurt people and went out to kill people. They were very much feared by the Dutch and the Europeans because of the torture of their captives. They actually only did this to some of their captives though. They performed 'ritual tortures' believing that they were sacrificing the people. People also thought that the Iroqouis were very politically advanced compared to other Indian tribes. Many other Indian tribes were very simple and did not have many rules, manners, or religions like Europe did. The Indians were very content with their way of life though according to 'Micmac responds to French'. They also thought that their simple housing was better then the settlers very large housing as the Micmac says 'why now...do men of 5 feet to 6 feet in height need houses which are 60 to 80 feet?' Natives also thought that how they could pick up and move their houses was much better then the permanent houses the settlers had. The natives also believed they were rich among themselves instead of having to go out and fight for money and glory. The natives used everything available to them. Many europeans and other settlers ended up staying with the Indians and adopting their culture because they liked it better, especially the women. In 'White Women of the Genesee' they explained how women preferred Indian culture over 'isolation and hard work' of the colonial frontier. Women were considered much more important and had a bigger role in the Indian society then they did in other societies so therefore they liked it much more. Men did not even take care of their own children as in Europe. The wives brothers took care of them. The father was more of a good friend.
The Europeans viewed the Indian culture as a hardship. Europeans thought that living like the Indians was rough and terrible. The Europeans couldn’t understand why the Indians didn’t build more luxurious houses of stone or brick. The Indians viewed their culture much differently. They were completely content with the way they were living. Their houses were able to be carried with them and therefore everywhere was home (Calloway). One key difference between the cultures was that Indian women had much more say in what went on in the community than European women. It was up to women to decide the fates of captives (lecture). Women also were given more responsibility. They were in charge of the farming where in European culture the men did the farming. In European culture the women and children were almost looked down upon. The men felt as though if it weren’t for the men women and children would not survive. In Indian culture women were held at a much higher regard. Women were like the glue that held the community together. Another key difference was in raising children; Indian fathers were not in charge of child rearing (lecture). The wives brothers and male relatives raised the children. Therefore the Indian father, unlike European’s, was not in charge of breaking the child down. In European culture the father was in charge of children and often times used corporal punishment.
Unlike many Europeans views, Natives viewed their lives as content, they were happy with the little that they had, and believed they were better off before the Europeans came over to their land. While the Europeans saw the Natives living ways as unhappy, the Natives disagreed saying they were happier than the Europeans. You see this in Micmac’s response to the French when he says, “For if France is a little terrestrial paradise as you say, why leave and come to the country which thou considerest the poorest and least fortunate”.
When the Europeans came over to America they had mixed opinions of the Natives. Some thought that the Natives were barbaric thinking they lived without religion, manners, and social order. They also believed that the Natives would not have survived without them much longer because they did not have the advanced tools and weapons like the Europeans. While these were the opinions of some, others loved the way of life the Natives had. As shown in White Women of Genesee many captives especially women refused to go back home, “Many of the European women captives found life in an Indian community more rewarding than the isolation and hard work that was common of a wife on the colonial frontier”.
The way women were treated was a major difference between the two cultures. In the European culture women had very few in any rights. They were treated with little regard, had many laborious duties, and were subject to the men’s orders. In the Indian culture women were treated with much more respect and held power. Women were considered very important in the Indian culture.
Native American culture was much different from that of the Europeans. Europeans were often afraid of the Indians due to many of their harsh rituals and torture of victims which made the Indians look barbaric to the Europeans. The Europeans were also much different from the Indians in how they view women. In the Indian societies women had very prominent role. The husband would move in with the woman’s family and if the wife wanted him gone, all she had to do was throw his stuff out. In European society, the women had a very submissive role while the men had almost total control of them. Many European women preferred the Indians way of life. In the case of Mary Jemison, although her family was tortured and killed by the Indians, when she did have the chance to leave, Jemison chose to stay in the Indian society. The European Indians had different views on the Indians after being with them for an amount of time. James Axtell illustrates in his article how the missionaries saw the Indians as barbaric and savages. According to this article, the missionaries thought that if they could educate the Indians and convert them to Christianity, the Indians would choose the European’s “superior” way of life. However, this was not the way it was, after being educated the Indians returned to their way of life as soon as they could; Not only that, but many of the colonial people stayed in the Indian civilizations and kept the Indian way of life. Axtell wrote, “large numbers of Englishmen had chosen to become Indians-by running away from colonial society to join Indian society, by not trying to escape after being captured, or by electing to remain with their Indian captors when treaties of peace periodically afforded them the opportunity to return home”.
The views on Native American culture were vastly different between the Europeans and the Natives. Some of the Europeans did not think very highly of the Natives, while others grew to like the culture. Nevertheless, both sides of European opinion differed from the Native's opinion of themselves. Upon first arrival, Europeans wanted to convert Indians to their own culture and assumed the Indians would welcome conversion with open arms. Europeans thought, "It is not the nature of men, but the education of men, which make them barbarous and uncivil." As time went on, some Europeans accepted the Indian culture. As a matter of fact, a large number of Englishmen had chosen to become Indians. Other Europeans grew to respect Indian culture, some never even considered giving Indian culture a chance. Indians, on the other hand, thought very poorly of the Europeans. The Indians were happy with their culture which consisted of chiefs, family counselors, equality among men and women, respectful relations between politicians, and loosely contracted marriage. Indians thought the Europeans to have "so little cleverness." Indians thought the Europeans to want too much and to not be as happy or as content as themselves. The Micmac Responds to the French states, "there is no Indian who does not consider himself more infinately more happy and more powerful than the French." In conclusion, culture was viewed in different ways by the Europeans and the Indians. Each had unique opinions, ideas, and beliefs that shaped the way Native American Culture was viewed.
By the close of the colonial period, very few Indians had been transformed into civilized Englishmen. The Indians were still looked down upon and the English considered their ways of life superior. The English saw the Indians clothes as being more comfortable than fancy and did not believe their clothes covered enough of their bodies. The Englishmen referred to them as "savages." They also did not understand the fact that the Indians were Protestants. The Englishmen believed that studying Christianity was the only religion that would improve ones life. However, they were very interested in their ways of replenishing fields and their accurate ways of hunting. While the Englishmen believed the Indians way of life was terrible, it actually was not. Marriages between two Indians are very strong. In the beginning of the marriage, the man pleases the woman so she stays with him. But, at the same time the woman pleases the man so that he keeps her as his wife. By doing this, households were very efficent. Woman enjoyed their chores they had to do. She knew that her hard work served for her family's own comfort and support. The woman acts as her husbands help mate and takes upon herself the labours of the field. The man is the master of the family and takes care of the hunting and trapping business. Not competing with one another allowed them to have a happy marriage and a successful lifestyle. Mothers taught their daughters their duties and the daughters know that this is a part of growing up. In the end, the labor done by the woman should by no means be compared to that of the men. Their hard and difficult tasks are periodical and do not last long while their husband's labors are constant and very dangerous.
The culture of the Native Americans was viewed by the Europeans as a taboo culture. A culture were the women did strenuous physical work out in the public. Such as Native American women being in charge of crops and cooking for the family. Europeans who observed these practices oftentimes viewed this as a kind of slave labor where the women were forced to do this. However, the cultures of these two were so far apart that it was difficult for each of them to understand the others way of life and work. This in turn leads Europeans to think of the Native American culture as being taboo or not accepted.
Oftentimes Native American culture was viewed as savage by the Europeans. This is evident in Micmac’s Response to the French in the Calloway book when he says, “Thou sayest of us also that we are the most miserable and most unhappy of all men, living without religion, without manners, without honour, without social order, and, in a word, without any rules”. This was a common view of the Native Americans culture by the Europeans; however the natives themselves viewed their culture much differently.
On the other hand the natives viewed their culture as normal and organized a simpler culture without the troubles that the Europeans were experiencing such as poverty and food shortages. This is shown in Micmac’s Response to the French by “we consider ourselves nevertheless much happier than thou in this, that we are very content with the little that we have”. A view shared by the majority of natives. They were often happy to be alive and have something to eat. The natives did not worry about property and belongings as much as Europeans. A simpler way of life that was easier to deal with.
In most cases there were not that many drastic differences in the two cultures. For example, men in both cultures were the main support of the family and provided most of the food for the family. In the case of women there were some differences. In both cultures the women did strenuous work, but in different locations. In Europe it was mostly house work while the natives work was mostly outdoors taking care of crops and cooking.
The most drastic difference in the two cultures is the difference in the way women were often viewed as property and belonging to their men. In some relationships the wives were abused by the husbands and not treated with much respect. On the other hand Native American women were treated with more respect and rights. This is evident in Rev. John Heckewelder’s book when he says, “It very seldom happens that a man condescends to quarrel with his wife, or abuse her, though she has given him just cause. “ This shows the nature of the natives’ culture. This is why captives that became members of the “clan” often did not want to return to European culture. Native American culture was much nicer towards the women and gave them more rights. Though drastic differences existed both cultures had aspects of each other included in them.
Europeans viewed the Native Americans as “savages” and “uncivilized beings.” The Europeans saw especially the Iroquois as aggressive as and more violent than the other tribes as they preformed human sacrifices and sometime tortured their captured. Europeans thought the Native Americans were in much hardship as they had to do so much physical labor, especially the women. The Native Americans thought otherwise as they were content with their live and thought it was much better before the Europeans. Europeans did notice thought that some of the tribes such as the Iroquois with very advanced political structure but thought that they lacked in manners, religion, and rules. In the Native American culture though they did have some thought of religion such mentioned in the notes that is was an open-rearing practice and non-exclusive, spiritualized nature, lacking concept of original sin. Even though it was not Christianity it was what the Native Americans believed in and soon even some Europeans preferred the Native American culture as a better way of life. When James Axtell wrote in The White Indians of Colonial America, “…large numbers of Englishmen had chosen to become Indians-by running away from colonial society to join Indian society, by not trying to escape after being captured, or by electing to remain with their Indian captors when treaties of peace periodically afforded them the opportunity to return home.” One of the main reasons on why women rather live in the Native American culture is that women hold such a important role in the tribe, the rest of the people are very dependent on the women of the tribe for food, raising of children, and all crops grown. European women were treated as if they were children and at times were beaten if they did not obey the husband, so they considered and flew the European culture to go live with the Native Americans.
With such a stark contrast in living styles, the Europeans and the Native Americans were sure to conflict somehow. The Europeans were freaked out by the stories of Indian sacrafices and torture of their victims, for that was not a European way of dealing with people. They also had to be shocked at the way that they treated their women. The women played a significant role in the tribe; harvesting crops and running the tribe while the men were gone. Even when the men were there, they would sit on the tribal councils and make the decisions with the men. Such equality on this level was unheard of to the Europeans. It is interesting to note that with the Indian marriage customs, the couples were not bound to each other for life. The writings by Rev. Heckewelder state it clearly that, "Parties are not to live with each other if they are not pleased." The man could go live with his wife's family and the wife would keep the kids and the house if things did not work out. Coming from Europre, where you needed a council vote to approve of the divorce, this had to seem an odd custom. Plus the difference in appearance, language/dialect and many other things would be like the human race encountering aliens from another galaxy. The Europeans saw the Natives as undisciplined savages and thugs for the most part, and the Natives viewed the colonists as greedy white people who dressed and talked funny.
Europeans viewed Native American culture differently. The majority of Europeans viewed Native Americans as savages who needed to be civilized. James Axtells said, “No civilized person would choose to become an Indian.” Many European missionaries tried to break the indigenous religions of the Native Americans and convert them to Christianity. Contrarily, Europeans who were captives of the Native Americans and experienced real Native American culture often began to love their way of life. These captives often came to respect the Native Americans and did not want to leave them. Native Americans viewed themselves as superior in a way to the Europeans because they had figured out what was really important in life. The European way of life seemed silly to them. Native American cultures and European cultures differ in many ways. Europeans wear hard heel shoes, nice clothes, and have fancy houses with fancy things. Europeans have a much more civilized way of life but at the same time it is tainted with social classes and many other unjust aspects of society. Native Americans wear, moccasins, skin outfits, and live in simple wigwams. Native Americans lead a much simpler way of life and they seem to be happier in general. Reverend John Heckeweidwer said, “Indian politicians work and manage matters against each other without newspaper wrangles, abuse of character, personal quarrels, or open insults.” Another major difference in society is marriage. Indian marriage ends whenever the husband and wife are no longer pleased with each other. Husbands also seldom abuse or quarrel with their wives. Native American life favored women more so than European life because they are treated with more respect. Men have more power in the European society.
Europeans and natives themselves viewed Native American culture differently. Europeans of course thought theirs to be better and the Native American’s to be inferior. Europeans thought they were better in several ways. Europeans thought Native American women worked way too hard in the fields instead of in the house which was where they thought they belonged. Europeans saw them as savage since their “governments” were not all powerful and did not command every law. Europeans also thought them inferior because they were not Christian, they worshipped nature instead.
However, Native American governments obviously did not need to have absolute power. Their culture thrived without that aspect in the government. Rather than laws, the morals of the Native Americans (which the Europeans said they had none) were what really governed their villages and tribes. As Charlevoix stated, “…so true it is, that amongst a people who are guided by reason, and inspired with sentiments of honour and love for their country, independence is not destructive of subordination.” They thought their culture was just fine the way it was but it could always use improving as can be seen from the way the natives openly welcomed Europeans and their cultures. They welcomed them into their lives, and they welcomed the Christian God into their religion. Another difference in the two cultures is that Native American women actually somewhat had power in politics and other aspects of life. In European cultures, women had very little if any rights or powers.
Europeans thought them to be inferior, yet after the natives had taken into custody Europeans, rarely did those captives want to return to their old ways of life. They preferred the Native American culture to their old life. Europeans of course blamed this on the fact that most of the captives were women and children, and by nature they were weak and subject to be influenced. Perhaps then, women did not think the same about Native American culture as men did. Perhaps they almost liked its ideas better as women had more power than in the European societies.
Religion was something that was a major cause for the division of the two societies. Native Americans didn’t worship God and God alone therefore they must either convert or be condemned to eternal damnation, there was no in between to Europeans. Native Americans didn’t repel the missionaries and their messages of God, in fact, as we learned in lecture, they added him to their religions. This was not enough for the Europeans though as God was not the only god they worshipped. Those who did convert completely and partially to Christianity did receive some kind of equal status to missionaries as we can see from Rev. John Heckewelder’s excerpt in which he actually defended Indian practices and gender roles , but to ordinary settlers, it seems as though they were still the same inferior Native Americans.
The Native American culture was viewed by Europeans in a few different ways. The first was thought of as not being �civilized� or they were savages. Many European missionaries wanted to convert the Indians. John Elliot, who came to America in 1631, devoted his life to converting Indians. He did everything possible to convert them. � He learned their language, complied a dictionary, and even translated the Bible in into the language of his Massachusetts converts.� Indians however did not accept this new culture. They did not agree with the teachings. They believed it harmed their way of life. � not only threatened their traditional ways of life but also introduced alien concepts such as the existence of hell as a punishment for wrongdoers.� This goes to show that the Europeans did not like their culture, but on the other hand the Indians did not agree with their teachings. The Europeans also grew to understand that the Indians were smart and nice. One woman became a �white Indian.� Mary Jemison was this women. When she had the chance to return to the white society she did not. Mary Jemison stated about the Indians, �it is a fact that they are naturally kind, tender, and peaceable towards their friends, and strictly honest; and that those cruelties have been practiced, only upon their enemies, according to their idea of justice.� Men a women were also viewed very differently. In the Indian culture women held a a much higher role. Women had roles. Unlike the European women, they did just the same as men. In labor efforts, men did the hunting, and women did the farming. In the family life of the Indians, there were no father figures, no �breaking the will.� In the European society the men ruled the household. That was completely different in the Indian societies because men did not have a father role at all.
The Native American culture was viewed as different. Both societies had slaves. The European people would take the Africans as slaves and the Native Americans would take Europeans or whoever else for slaves. However, a big difference there was amongst the treating of the slaves. Europeans treated the slaves as property, if it got lost or damaged; it wasn't a huge deal; whereas the Native Americans would have their slaves for a short time period and then treat them like one of their own. In fact, the slave would maybe even fill the place a deceased family member; taking on full responsibility, obligations, and good things that family member normally received. It didn't matter much of age either.
Marriage was a little bit different in the two cultures. As far as marriage in the European culture, you were "actually" married, where it didn't seem quite the same in Native American culture. From the readings we see that the Native Americans "wife" was actually more like a girlfriend (But they did do above and beyond what a normal girlfriend would do. The wives of Native Americans were mostly viewed as slaves. They would have to totally submit to their husbands, doing everything he asked. If she didn't please him, then he could leave her without saying anything. It was also the man's responsibility to take great care of the woman. "I’ve known a man that would go 50-60 miles for a longing of cranberries." If he wasn't a great hunter or didn't take care of her, then she would just leave. In this way, it made it more of a "boyfriend-girlfriend" relationship than a marriage.
The way the Native Americans viewed themselves and the way the Europeans viewed the Native Americans differed for the most part, but in some ways they shared the same views. The Native Americans saw themselves as patient people who strived to live happily and treat others with kindness and tenderness. Charlevoix wrote, “Indians are perfectly convinced, that man is born free, and that no power on earth has a right to infringe his liberty.” This shows that the Native Americans thought all men equal, which is a major difference to the views most Europeans shared. The majority of the Europeans thought the Indians to be savages or barbarians. James Axtell stated that Europeans were to “redeem savage souls as a principle … motive for colonization.” They were the superior race and were afraid of anyone or anything different from them or their ideas. Native American women, for example, worked in the fields, often with children on their backs. The Europeans saw this as barbarous and could not understand why the Indian men allowed the women to do this – European women spent most of their time inside, tending to the children and doing chores around the house. This difference in the treatment of women was one of the reasons, after being captured and living with the Indians for several years, Mary Jemison and many other people chose to stay with the Indian civilization after being offered the chance to return to their European homes and families. This was the case in several instances as “White Indians” joined the Native American tribes. They preferred the life of the Indians over their previous life and refused to return home. One Micmac wrote, “there is no Indian who does not consider himself infinitely more happy and more powerful than the French.” The Native Americans loved the way they lived, but could also respect the ways of the Europeans.
The Native American’s culture was obviously viewed differently by the Europeans and the natives themselves. Usually when people speak of their own culture they aren’t condescending towards it. This made me curious as to why the Indian women in “Response to the Unconverted Delawares” were so against what they were raised to believe, and instead were so willing to adopt Christianity. I understood after I read that their thoughts were translated through European men. These accounts are probably completely false, making the life of Mary Jemison the closest thing to reliable source about how Indian women felt about their culture. She felt that the Indian culture was less stressful, possibly described as “care free”. Although she sometimes missed her white family, she overall felt that her Indian family was much better. European men seemed to be surprised of how successful the Indian culture was, politically and socially. In James Axtell’s piece, it talked about how there were numerous accounts of European people, from grown men, to children, and women, acclimating into the Indian culture, but very few Indians turning to the European culture. They still stuck to their initial thoughts of the Indians being barbarians, however they did note that there were good qualities. Pierre de Charlevoix wrote about how the politics of Indians, “have done honour to the areopagus of Athens, or to the senate of Rome.” He went on to note that violence in politics was something that the Indians didn’t get caught up on, “which have so much disgraced the politics even of Christians.”
The Europeans had mixed feelings about the Natives. They were unsure of what to expect from them. They saw them as savages and uncivilized, some missionaries even tried to convert them to Christianity. One of the tribes the Europeans were really unsure of was the Iroquois Indians. The Iroquois Indians were seen as very violent and aggressive. They made human sacrifices and tortured their prisoners. The Europeans lived a completely different lifestyle compared to the Indians, and did not understand why the Indians chose to live the way they did. Yet, some European women would prefer to live as the Indians did. One of these women was Mary Jemison, even though her family was killed and she was taken prisoner by the Indians. When she was given the choice to leave them she refused. She refused because in Europe women were nothing, they had little or no rights. They did the cooking, cleaning and helped take care of the children. With the Natives, women were the authority figures; they were the head of the house. When a man would marry a woman they would both live with the woman’s parents. Since they live with the woman’s parents she had the power to kick him out. Most Native women took care of the children by their selves, so the children did not have a father figure unlike Europeans whose fathers were the head of the house. Europeans lived the luxury life as they would call it, in comparison to the Indians. They had houses that were 60 to 80 feet high with decorations and useless things to show their wealth and power. While the Indians were living in 5 to 6 feet houses that were ready to be packed up and moved when needed. Most of Indians never stayed in one place. They would farm the land take what was useful to them, and when there was nothing left for them to do they pack up with what little they had and go. The Indians were hard workers but the Europeans thought that the land the Indians were on had better potential. Within time the Europeans took over Indian land move them else where.
The Europeans had mixed feelings about the Natives. They were unsure of what to expect from them. They saw them as savages and uncivilized, some missionaries even tried to convert them to Christianity. One of the tribes the Europeans were really unsure of was the Iroquois Indians. The Iroquois Indians were seen as very violent and aggressive. They made human sacrifices and tortured their prisoners. The Europeans lived a completely different lifestyle compared to the Indians, and did not understand why the Indians chose to live the way they did. Yet, some European women would prefer to live as the Indians did. One of these women was Mary Jemison, even though her family was killed and she was taken prisoner by the Indians. When she was given the choice to leave them she refused. She refused because in Europe women were nothing, they had little or no rights. They did the cooking, cleaning and helped take care of the children. With the Natives, women were the authority figures; they were the head of the house. When a man would marry a woman they would both live with the woman’s parents. Since they live with the woman’s parents she had the power to kick him out. Most Native women took care of the children by their selves, so the children did not have a father figure unlike Europeans whose fathers were the head of the house. Europeans lived the luxury life as they would call it, in comparison to the Indians. They had houses that were 60 to 80 feet high with decorations and useless things to show their wealth and power. While the Indians were living in 5 to 6 feet houses that were ready to be packed up and moved when needed. Most of Indians never stayed in one place. They would farm the land take what was useful to them, and when there was nothing left for them to do they pack up with what little they had and go. The Indians were hard workers but the Europeans thought that the land the Indians were on had better potential. Within time the Europeans took over Indian land move them else where.
The Europeans viewed the Native American culture as not being in competition with the "blessings of the improved life", which meant, in so many words, in competition with their way of life. The Europeans felt that the Native Americans were like animals and inferior to them. In James Axtell's document he stated that these Indians hardly covered themselves and they were disgusted because they didn't want anything to do their religion. The Indians to him were wild beast who went on raids to kill and kidnap their people.He also felt that the captives never tried to escape because they were "weak and defenseless". And yet he never understood why the captives weren't eager to return when it was safe for them to, this was because the Native American's way of life was centered around nature, freedom and family. In the reading "A Micmac Question" the Indians explained how they felt their way of life made them richer than the richest Frenchman because they could find the conviences in other people. The Indians expressed how they don't need sixty and eighty feet tall homes like the French when the men are only six and five feet tall. The Indians expressed that their culture was more authentic and centered around nature, and that they are content with the little things in life like hunting and catching fish for food. In "The Micmac Questions", the Indians basically told the French how they prefer their lodging over the "most superb" and commodius of French houses, telling them that they found happiness in their way of life and it was a priveleage. From the outside looking in, the new settler's didn't understand the Native American culture, so they claimed it to be wrong, but every person who recieved the chance to live among the Indians and actually understand their way of life had a new appreciation for them, such as Mary Jemison;white woman captured and then, litterally married into the Indian culture.The Native Americans felt that they were only using the Earth as God taught them to, so did the French and other new settlers. Just because the beliefs were different, the Native American people didn't feel that made them wrong as , people or a culture.
The European's saw the Native American's as uncivilized and savage becuase they didn't really stick to their laws completely. They thought that if their "governments" were weak, and crumbled frequently, then so would their morals. They also thought that it was strange that the indian women had so much more power in the community and in the household than the in European culture. Another thing that they did not agree with was that the Native American's did not worship Jesus, they actually looked to nature for guidance. The Natives were also very content with their living conditions whereas the Europeans thought that they needed to be pampered a little bit more. But the Indians looked as this as, ok well we have food, we have shelter, we're happy, why should we change how we live? And the Europeans just could not grasp the conceptn of "live within your means."
As stated in Pierre de Charlevoix’s “Excerpts on Indian child-rearing, criminal justice, and politics”, Indians were perfectly convinced “that man is born free, and the no power on earth has a right to infringe his liberty…” They believed that the life they were living was the right one, the one that was intended. However, the Europeans thought the Indian’s lifestyle was too hard. The Europeans were not used to change. They also thought their way of life was the only true way. Of course, the Europeans had excelled faster in new inventions to make their lifestyle easier. The Indians continued to live life the way their ancestors had. The Europeans were fans of tradition. They were not willing to accept the Indians way of life. Instead, they tried to convert them to Christianity, and the English life. In “The White Indians of Colonial America”, “the English were confident that the Indians would want to be converted once they were exposed to the superior quality of English life.” As a result, the Europeans would capture the Indians to try to convert them. In return, the Indians would capture the English. Surprisingly, “most of the returned captives did not try to escape, the emotional torment caused by the separation from their adopted families deeply impressed the colonists”. With that said, this started to change the colonists perspectives on how they viewed the Native Americans. But this did not stop the confrontations between the two.
The roles of women between the two cultures were very similar. The women were not that actively involved outside the household. Their duties consisted of chores in the house or in the nearby garden. The roles of men between the two cultures were also very similar. They were raised to become protectors of their households. They were the ones in charge of putting meat on the table. As stated in the “Defense of Indian marriage practices and gender roles”, “the husband, as master of the house….takes considerable pain to please his wife..”.
The roles of men and women in 1700s can also be found in today’s cultures. The similar roles between the Indians and Colonists are prime examples of human nature, male dominating the household. Even though the two cultures had things in common, they were never able to get along. Again, this relates to problems of our society today.
When the Europeans arrived in the Americas they were unaware that millions of people had lived there for millions of years. As most would guess, the culture of the two worlds contrasted vastly. However, the Europeans viewed the Native Americans’ rituals and traditions as bizarre tendencies of ruthless “savages.” Often times the settlers would talk of the Indians’ “barbaric” nature, and an Indian by the name of Micmac responded by saying, “Thou sayest of us also that we are the most miserable and most unhappy of all men, living without religion, without manners, without honour, without social order, and, in a word, without any rules…we consider ourselves nevertheless happier than thou in this, that we are very content with the little that we have”. The Native Americans viewed their traditions in a respectable and honorable manner. Despite the scrutiny of the Indian culture, many of the European captives that were forced to live among the people as shown in White Women of Genesee, many captives, especially women, refused to go back home. “Many of the European women captives found life in an Indian community more rewarding than the isolation and hard work that was common of a wife on the colonial frontier.” The reason that many women preferred the life of an Indian woman is because they were given equal social stature as men in society. Many Europeans believed it barbaric that women worked long, hard hours in the fields and even with children on their backs, yet through their equal share of labor they received both social and economical respect. In fact, unlike the European cultures, the men moved in with the wife’s family and lived among her clan. Therefore, he was often on his best behavior because all that was needed for a acceptable divorce was the presence of his belongings outside of the clan’s shelter. Although the Europeans viewed Indian traditions far from their own the political system, especially in the Iroquois tribe with similar to colonial parliament. The five tribes of the Iroquois Nation came together a few times over the course of the year and discussed important matters, pledged allegiance to one another, and conquered other peoples. This can be compared to the Senate and the colonies united under one authority, and just as the Indians collectively decided to conquer other peoples, the settlers decided to move the Indians further and further off their land until they were left with close to nothing.
The Europeans and Natives viewed the Native American culture differently. Each, of course, that their own was better. It was hard for them to understand the intricacies of each culture. Native women worked a more laborious schedule than did a European woman. The Native women would often work in the fields alongside the men. European women had a more domestic role in society. They did the traditional motherly things such as cooking, cleaning, and child rearing. As far as the spiritual side of things, Indians worshipped nature before the Europeans came. This was very foreign and unheard of to the Europeans. The Europeans thought they were superior to Indians in all aspects of life. They treated the Indians poorly. However, there were some missionaries that came over and tried to preach the gospel to the Indians. The Indians appreciated this very much. Joseph Pepee had this to say in Calloway’s book, “The white people worship the true God, and please him, and God blesses and prospers them. We and our fathers worshipped devils, or them that are no Gods, and therefore God frowns upon us.” Essentially, what he is saying is that God blesses those that believe in Him. He is somewhat putting down his people and his ancestors for their worshipping of devils right now and in the past.
Native Americans were in general happy with their culture, though they were more open to changes in it than the Europeans were in their culture. One example that comes to mind is that of the Native Americans who merged the idea of a Christian God with their own religious ideas.
Many Europeans did not share the Native Americans view. While the readings show that some Europeans acknowledged the complexities of Native American society, the more common opinion was that of Native Americans as savages. While most Europeans would have agreed that the Native Americans had valuable skills, they would also say they lacked a real government, due to the lack of absolute sovereignty.
The differences in governmental systems is an excellent example of how the cultures contrasted. Native (North) Americans were spread throughout the continent in small, mostly independent village, whereas Europeans tended not only to gather in larger groups, but also to unite their cities to form countries. Having areas of greater population densities led to many differences in Native American and European lifestyles. In Europe, almost everything spread more quickly. In some cases, such as disease, this was bad, but in the case of ideas, this was a tremendous benefit. With ideas traveling about so quickly, technology was advanced at a pace far greater than in Native America.
Of course, a comparison of Native American and European cultures is not complete without looking into gender differences. While some Europeans believed that Native American women were forced to do a great deal of work, in actuality, it was not altogether much greater than the workload of European women. However, Native American women played a much greater role in society, by being allowed to interact (if not always very directly) in politics.
Another key difference between Europeans and Native Americans was the treatment of prisoners. Upon first glance, it appears Native Americans treated their prisoners, in general, better than Europeans did. However, it seems more likely that Native Americans simply had a more friendly way of accomplishing a morally questionable goal. In taking prisoners, Native Americans sought to replace family members they had lost, and in the process forced their prisoners to completely abandon their prior life. As "White Indians" points out, many prisoners were unallowed to talk to those they had known before capture, in fear that it would interfere with their transition into Native American life. While Native American life was not necessarily bad, forcing people to change their lifestyle (Especially in a way that seems to be almost brainwashing the victims), is necessarily bad.
Europeans, of course, were certainly not better. Though, if anything positive can be said about selling prisoners into slavery, at least there is no question about the moral impermissiblity of such actions. So, in the case of taking prisoners, while it at first appears Native Americans are more humane than Europeans, further inspection reveals that it is not a simple case of one being good and the other being bad.
When Europeans saw Native American, Europeans thought the native were barbaric. Sometimes, people judge as outward appearance, and Europeans saw Native American’s cloths and house which were not form of civilization. Native American had great equality between men and women, but because of outward appearance, Europeans thought Native American’s culture was also barbaric.
When Native American compared with European life style, they would think European’s life was very advanced life, and the other hand, their life was very normal and natural, and felt confusion about their culture, because they would not know what better life was between not habituated new life and normal life.
There were difference in women’s authority. In Europe, every authority was for father at that time. Father worked, and women were householder. However, in Indian culture, men did hunting, and women did farming, field work, and share the workload. In Europe, because men got high level authority, woman was not able to do divorce, but Native American women could quit relationship with her husband.
The Native Americans and the Europeans during the seventeenth century differed in several ways.
The Europeans believed in "original sin," where as the Native Americans believed in a spiritual nature, therefore lacking in the concept of "original sin." Another difference between the two cultures is the idea of marriage and premarital sex. Europeans looked down upon premarital sex forcing women to be ridiculed in public, or wear the scarlet letter. The Native Americans continued with a laid back belief system. Sex before marriage and even sometimes affairs was accepted in the culture of North American Indians. Also The Native Americans believed that once man and woman are married the man must live with his new wife and her family. This was a away for the family to keep the husband in line and keep the woman protected.
In the Native American society women are seen as an assential part of living. The division of labor between men and women was considered to be cruel by the Europeans at the time, despite the fact the European women did equal amounts of labor as the Native American women. All of the planting of the crops such as squash,corn,and beans,was done by the women. Along with creating a new faster way to harvest crops, the Native American women made the clothing for the men and their family, while the men were incharge of hunting game.The role of women was much greater in the Native American society due to the belief of matrilineal descent. Women could put a stop to any war that she did not like due to the fact she was the provider for the family. The Europeans believed that the man needed to rule over all the family, it was not the womans job.
The final difference between the cultures was "child rearing." Native Americans believed in letting their children run free with little direction, where as the Europeans used a forceful approach. This was known as "breaking the will." Swaddling babies, and body shaping for women was a common way to carry out the forceful discipline. This form of child rearing the Europeans used was also carried out in the education system available during that time, flogging was one way of setting the children straight.Europeans believed that the Native Americans culture was unacceptable,they were savages because of the lack of absolute monarchy. In their minds the Native Americans needed to become civilized.
Most of the Europeans views seemed to differ on how the Indians lived. Many viewed the American Indian lifestyle as somewhat odd to the normal Christian practices. The mostly considered the Indians as a barbaric group of people. There were also some who felt that the American Indian culture may have been a better life. This is clearest from Axtell's article "The White Indians of Colonial America."The Natives felt that their culture was a very friendly one. The only reason they took captives was to refill their dead brethren and even then their captives were treated just like they were family. Axtell's article also shows how many of these captured Europeans wept when they were forced to leave their new families and many tried to escape back to them. Charlevoix's article describes how many of the American Indian practices were much different from the Europeans, such as their customs, politics, and family life. Europeans were very strict on the practice of marrying someone and it was very difficult to get a divorce in this time period. However, the American Indians had basically a mutual agreement where one could leave the other if they were displeased with them. So, in a sense they were just together for as long as they wanted to be. Also, the way children were raised was much different. Europeans' beat their children and were very strict as to what they should and shouldn't do. In the American Indian cultures the father wasn't really even in the life of the child. Instead the child was mostly raised by their mother and her relatives like uncles.
The American Indians and the Europeans had totally different life styles, but they both benefited from each other. The Europeans thought of Indians as “savages” , and according to Calloway Europeans saw Indians as unhappy men “ living without religion, without manners, without honour, without social order, and, in a word, without any rules like the beast in our woods and forest, lacking bread, wine”(p. 50). So basically the Europeans idea of an Indian was that live a miserable life with no luxuries or a patriarchy, or some sort of father. Although the Indians thought otherwise because they felt that they were living a normal life and were actually very smart people. Also unlike the Europeans all Indians were relatively equal; the women would do the farming and the men would go out and do the hunting. Furthermore, the Indians had very meek child rearing practices, which meant that they were never punished or had a father figure around to discipline them. On the other hand a European father would spank his child and that had harsh punishments towards their children. Lastly, the Indians would share the land with the Europeans and not hold it exclusively for them. Also they traded with each other for example: Europeans would want women so the Indians really had no choice because it was just part of the deal, and the Indians would get pots and pans because it is a lot easier to cook with than a clay pot. Overall these two cultures have extremely different styles of living and they are both judged by each other although you could say that the Europeans were not too fond of the Indians way of living.
Native American culture and European culture had aspects of both comparison and contrast in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Often disregarding the similarities, the Europeans focused on the differences between the people and their cultures of the two nations. As the Europeans came to colonial America, some of them perceived these native people and their unfamiliar ways as savage and uncivilized compared to the customs of European society. One aspect of great dissimilarity was the role that women played in Native American society. Women in Europe were not considered to be as important as men, and their place in The Great Chain of Being—the hierarchy that put all things into their places on earth, was below that of men. Along with this, the role of patriarchy not only regarding the King but also in the family was prevalent at this time, making women act almost in the same submissive manner toward her husband as was required of her children. The idea of patriarchy in Europe and the idea that the Europeans brought with them to America were consistent with the statement, “as a body can have but one head…so a household can have but one lord.”
Native American culture was very different in regards to the role that women played in society. The Eastern Woodlands Indians lived in lineages and “clans,” which was their group of related lineages, usually traced back to a mythical spirit, or an animal. In these lineages one would find the husband living with his wife and children, and the other families in the lineage would consist of the woman’s relatives. Never would the woman move in with her husband and his family, and heritage and inheritance were always matrilineal. Women also had a say in community government—though they were not allowed to speak at such events, they often dictated to the men their opinions on the matter, which were taken highly into account. They were very respected in society. Because of this appealing aspect of the power women had in this lifestyle, some European women captives chose not to return to their old lives and old families; instead they preferred this new way of living. One famous European woman who was adopted when she was fifteen by the Genesee was named Mary Jemison, who chose to remain in the new culture she grew to respect and feel a part of. Though it was not considered to be a matriarchy, women played a very significant role in the society of the Native American people, specifically the Eastern Woodlands Indians.
It is a certainty that there were differences between the two cultures of Native Americans and the Europeans. The Natives, who were far more open to the idea of cultural change, were actually realitively happy with their way of live. The Europeans, however, who were deeply rooted in tradition, had no urgencey to change thier "superior" way of life. Although the Europeans realized the Natives lived somewhat of a complex life, they were thought of as "savages." The Europeans, who obviously came from a large unified country, thought that the Natives, who usually lived in independent villages, lacked westernization. Technology, for example, was a large reason for that outlook. Which was had largely to do with the independent villages that the Natives live in. Although there was a significant difference in the cultures technology, the Europeans thought that their way of life was far superior which is presented in the text, "The English were confident that the Indains would want to be converted once they were exposed to the superior quality of English life." However, technology wasn't the only cultural differences. The women of the Native tribes played a larger role than those women of European decent. Native women performed more manual labor compared the house-labor that Europeans women did.
In the seventeenth century the beliefs of early English colonies conflicted with foreign cultures - Mainly because many of the Native American practices and customs did not occur in the scope of the rigid Christian society that the English had developed. The whole patriarchal system, which Europe was fundamentally based on, was challenged by Native American society. The equal division of labor in Native American society defied the doctrine of colonial life. Men and women in Native American society were responsible for collecting food. Women were also responsible for the making of cloths for themselves as well as there family. Women were also known to have engaged in battle. On the other hand the only thing men were solely responsible for was hunting. Native American tribes also traced the decedents matrilinealy, thus fixating a woman at the head of the household. This was a severe contradiction to the traditional European patriarchal system. Native American culture also defied the cardinal moral values of colonial society. In English colonies pre-marital sex was a punishable offense- one could be sentenced to public humiliation and even the branding of a scarlet letter in the New England colonies. Native Americans approved and even promoted pre-marital sex among children. Likewise, Native American children were brought up with the same learn from experience approach. Children were allowed to run free and play however, and with whomever they pleased. Whereas European children had to succumb to the austere child rearing strategies the colonies provided. Colonial Europeans did not see the Native Americans for the complex culture they ad established, only for the foundational contrast to there own society.
The Native Americans and Europeans viewed each other’s cultures with doubt. Both felt they had the more desirable lifestyle. Europeans viewed the culture of Native American’s as potential to expand the Christianity community but the Native nations felt their education and religion of the land was more important than any materialistic views. As said in “White Indians,” the Europeans believed in “the superiority of civilization,” while the Native Americans solely lived off the land with minimal conflict. Europeans knew no other way of solving problems than by creating violence or conflict, especially while encountering the Native nations. While the Indian people found peace by tying to solve the European’s problems of hunger, shelter, disease and warmth.
The two cultures were in most ways completely different. European culture believed in Patriarchy, the male leadership, while Native Americans gave their women a more superior role. Although, it’s not to be considered a matriarchy, the women of Indian nations did the farming, while then men hunted. European women were more like objects, that simply mothered the children and prepared the house hold. The Indian nations as a whole were a closer “tight-knit” family, the Iroquois Confederacy saw each other’s nations as a longhouse across modern-day New York. Conflict commonly arose among the in differing European nations. Due to the large groups of Indian lineages, the people had to marry outside their clan, and were forced into matrilocal residences, in other words, men lived with their wives families after marriage; opposite to that of European citizens.
Some cases arose in which Indians were forced in live among European civilizations, and/or Europeans were forced to live among Indian tribes, in some cases due to capturing and being held as prisoners. In most cases, white women and poor white men found in Indian lifestyles preferable while Indians rarely acquired the European lifestyle, unless they were working for nourishment or greater treatment. In other words, with out motive, most Indian people didn’t choose to live among the Europeans.
There was a great collision of world views and cultural beliefs between the Europeans and the Indians. The English were shocked at the crude way they lived, and many thought the Indians to be uncivilized. In The World Turned Upside Down, Calloway writes how “missionaries, teachers, and others labored to convert American Indians into 'civilized' Christians” showing their disgust with the natives' behavior. Micmac acknowledges these reactions to his people, writing how the French think they are “men, living without religion, without manners, without honour, without social order, and, in a word, without any rules”. The Europeans also differed greatly in their beliefs of the role of women in their society. The Indians gave the women many roles, as described by Heckewelder in “Defense of Indian Marriage practices and gender roles”. Heckewelder writes how women “prepare the daily victuals, and get firewood” as well as extract sugar from maple trees, among other things. The traditional European view of women's role in society was a very restricted one, and as such this difference came as a shock to many. The Native Americans, however, viewed their way of life as a very simple but fulfilling one. Micmac writes “as miserable as we seem in thine eyes, we consider ourselves nevertheless much happier than thou in this, that we are very content with the little that we have”
Europeans viewed the Indians as savages who were that way due to lack of education. They thought that the native Indians would rather live like Europeans once they were exposed to the “better” way of living. The Europeans believed that “no civilized person in possession of his faculties, or free from undue restraint would choose to become an Indian.” Ironically though, many of the captive Europeans would not return to European culture when given the opportunity to leave their newfound “savage” way of life. To the Europeans, civil was considered having nice material things and controlling nature. The Native Americans had quite the opposite idea of civil. They thought that living more in unison with nature was a better way of living.
When the Europeans arrived in the Americas they were unaware that millions of people had lived there for millions of years. As most would guess, the culture of the two worlds contrasted vastly. However, the Europeans viewed the Native Americans’ rituals and traditions as bizarre tendencies of ruthless “savages.” Often times the settlers would talk of the Indians’ “barbaric” nature, and an Indian by the name of Micmac responded by saying, “Thou sayest of us also that we are the most miserable and most unhappy of all men, living without religion, without manners, without honour, without social order, and, in a word, without any rules…we consider ourselves nevertheless happier than thou in this, that we are very content with the little that we have”. The Native Americans viewed their traditions in a respectable and honorable manner. Despite the scrutiny of the Indian culture, many of the European captives that were forced to live among the people as shown in White Women of Genesee, many captives, especially women, refused to go back home. “Many of the European women captives found life in an Indian community more rewarding than the isolation and hard work that was common of a wife on the colonial frontier.” The reason that many women preferred the life of an Indian woman is because they were given equal social stature as men in society. Many Europeans believed it barbaric that women worked long, hard hours in the fields and even with children on their backs, yet through their equal share of labor they received both social and economical respect. In fact, unlike the European cultures, the men moved in with the wife’s family and lived among her clan. Therefore, he was often on his best behavior because all that was needed for a acceptable divorce was the presence of his belongings outside of the clan’s shelter. Although the Europeans viewed Indian traditions far from their own the political system, especially in the Iroquois tribe with similar to colonial parliament. The five tribes of the Iroquois Nation came together a few times over the course of the year and discussed important matters, pledged allegiance to one another, and conquered other peoples. This can be compared to the Senate and the colonies united under one authority, and just as the Indians collectively decided to conquer other peoples, the settlers decided to move the Indians further and further off their land until they were left with close to nothing.
In the colonial America, the Europeans tired to force their “civilized” culture on the Native Americans. The natives were content with their life style, which consisted of freely hunting, fishing, and farming. In a tribe, the men hunt, fished, and fought while the women cooked, farmed, and took care of basic necessities. In the summer they moved to places where they could farm, and in the winter they traveled to their hunting grounds. The children did whatever they wanted, while gradually learning the values and social roles in their tribe. On the other hand, the Europeans had a rigged life style. With strict rules regarding most aspect of everyday life, there was little room for freedom and free will. The men farmed while the women took care of children and the household. There were strict rules for children and the women. Most of the Europeans lived in dirty, smelly, rat infested cottages. These are some of the differences between lifestyles and culture of the Europeans and Native Americans. Even though the natives way of life was in most cases better, they were called uncivilized savages. The Indians didn’t understand why, if their country is hell compared to Europe, did the Europeans leave their country, family, and property to come to America. One native tells a Frenchman that “we (the Indians) consider ourselves nevertheless much happier than (you), and we are very content with the little we have.” The Indian’s life style was so much better that when white people were captured and adopted, they adapted to the culture and lived happily with the natives. Most stayed when they were given an opportunity to return home. This shows that the Indian’s “salvage” was vastly superior to the European’s “civilized” way of life.
The Native Americans focused on agriculture and hunting. They believe each gender should help the community. Therefore the women farmed while the men would hunt to provide food for the family. The Indians did not have father figures since the father would move to the mother’s tribe and therefore had no corporal punishment. The Indian culture had a very open minded approach to religion. The lacked the concept of original sin as well as a lack of government. They had consensual, collective decision making. There were no written laws. They were more like social standards which were only enforced by public opinion.
The Europeans had a very different approach to living. They had ideas of religion, politics, and power. The mainstream religion in Europe was Christianity. The Europeans had goals they wanted to accomplish. They wanted to promote conquest and to colonize new land. The father of the house had complete control. There was no mutual ruling within a house in Europe.
Each culture viewed the other as being wrong. The two could not see eye to eye since they were so different from one another. They thought the way of living was strange. They had very ethnocentric views of one another.
New Englanders summed up their view about Native Americans with one word, savage. The New Englanders saw the natives as dirty and dumb, foul and ferocious. New Englanders made it a goal in loife to try to not encounter the natives simply because it almost always was a life and death situation. The new europeans also did not favor natives because of their lifestyle. Upon observation of a native tribe through the perspective of a New Englander, it appeared that the natives made their wives/women slaves; working the fields bearing children upon their backs under the hot sun. The natives, according to the americans, are seen as barbaric and uncivilized because of the way they hunt and gather, treat their women, and perform wild rituals. The native americans, however, based their lives around community and family. Often tribes and hut leaders were elders, not forgettting to add, but, they were women most of the time. Given that men live and die on the battle field, women tend to stay at home, work the fields, and keep the household in order. But women had a more important role than that of a housewife and farmer, they were very influential in decision making during war, peace, and upon a coming of change in their own communities. It is likely that women led the community most of the time, but, the natives favored equality as much as they did community. Men would hunt and gather in the fall and winter, women would tend crops in the spring and summer, where ever there was overlap between seasons, there was good living. Everyone basically worked together to lighten the load on each other, creating a harmonious community where there were few problems. Needless to say, the natives valued people very much. So much as to when they attacked New Englanders, they would take captives to fill in the role of a man or woman who has died or who is sick. All in all, community, equality, family, and people in general, are all tied together in the life of a native a tribe and are the center of their culture.
There are often dissagreements between New Englanders and Natives, but the root of this is the culture of each side. It is presented that natives work together, men are equal to women, people are much more valued than materials, and elders rule through family lineage (common ancestors). But New englanders lives are the flipside of the natives. For these New englanders, middle and lower class work hard to make a living while upper class do not raise a finger, men are considered better than women, money and posessions are more important than people, kings rule through a so called devine right presented by god to a certain lineage of kings.
New England life was all about taking over land and spreading their culture, while Native life was all about living in a peaceful community in harmony with nature. New england in a way, was attemping to move quickly, almost too quick for their own good. On the other hand, natives had no care material goods as they were only considered with family and spiritual orientation.
Both the Europeans and the Native Americans had ethnocentric ideas.When the Europeans came to America and observed the Native Americans, they found that the Indians' ways were very different from their own.Native Americans felt the same toward the Europeans,but didn't act like the Europeans would come to.Native Americans acted with peace, while, as we will see, the Europeans took matters into their own hands and retorted with violence.These two groups conflicted on areas like religious beliefs,gender roles,divorce,and wealth as well as many other things.
Europeans were mostly protestant.They believed in the ideas of Martin Luther that said people could be saved only by grace, which came as a free gift from God.The Native Americans religion came from ideas of animalism and sacrifice.Nature was a very important part of their religion.
The Europeans also endorsed the idea that men should be the head of power.Robert Filmer's "Patriarcha" outlines the ideas that men were made for the role of authority.As God created Adam to be responsible for the creatures of the earth, he gave him that gift of power.In Native American culture, though it was not a matriarcy, women were entrusted with most of the power.Women were able to make important political decisions unlike in European society where women couldn't vote.Women also played a big part in providing for the family.They did the farming,while the men were responsible for hunting and fishing.In European society, this would've been unacceptable.Women were supposed to cook, clean, and bear children.
The idea of divorce was not the same between the two societies, either.Native Americans left it up to the women.Getting a divorce was as simple as the husband coming home to find his belongings scattered outside.Europeans took a more legal approach with paperwork and a justified cause.
These differences created conflict between the two societies.Europeans sought to impose thier beliefs and values on the Native Americans by will or by force.This led to devastating things for the Native Americans.The Europeans were destroying their culture.In the Henretta text, it tells us that they brought disease and other harmful things, such as tobacco and alcohol, with them.They also forced the Native Americans to practice their religion.Consequences for not obeying Europeans' demands were even punishable by death.With no other choice, Native Americans conformed to their counterparts' ways.This caused the term "White Indians" to be used and is futher seen in James Axtel's "White Indians in Colonial America".
Europeans were also very materialistic.The more the merrier to them.They killed the valued animals that the Native Americans respected just for the furs.Native Americans used every part of the animal when they had to kill,nothing went to waste.Europeans also wanted the technology, for instance, guns.Native Americans didn't have that privilege,but were content with what they had, and it worked for them.When guns were introduced to the Native Americans and they were used in battle, suddenly the traditional significance of battle was turning into more of a slaughtering spree.Once again the Europeans corrupted the Native American society with their ways.
Overall, one can conclude that these two societies clashed on most everything.We can see today who's ideas ended up dominating,though.
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