history hw

The film “Black Robe” and our documentary readings discuss the complexities of the first contacts between the French settlers, French Jesuit missionaries and the very densely settled Huron, the Algonquin, and the Iroquois in the region from Quebec, and Montreal, Canada (New France) down to New York and the Great Lakes region in the 1630’s - there were hundreds of thousands of native peoples in this particular area, with tens of thousands for each of these tribal groups (and about 8-10 million natives in the entire area that is now the U.S. and Canada before European arrival. Cartier had gotten there in 1534. Champlain then founded Quebec in 1608. The Jesuit missionaries first arrived to the region about 1615- first the Recollets, then the Jesuits in the 1620s.

Here, we would see more alliances than “formal colonization.” Unlike the Spaniards, the French in this region would be more traders than conquerors. Here, few settlers as opposed to traders, soldiers and priests. Here, natives were never subject to tribute or taxes as they were in Mexico and South America. Because beaver pelts were the focus of colonial outposts, there was no displacement of natives from lands as with English settlers. Thus French colonization would be less traumatic for the native people here.

Major themes & issues our films and documents raise:

· The native world in the U.S. Northeast and Eastern Canada- including native adaptations to their surroundings, as well as their spiritual world.

· Contact, clash of civilizations, and impact of European colonialism

· Clashing worldviews

· Native spiritual world; European spiritual world; what happens when they collide?

· Guns, Germs, Steel & Alcohol (Pop. of 8-10 mill would be down to 1 mill by 1700’s)

· Commercial exchanges, the “marketization” of Native economies (the “commoditization” of their production) and the introduction of European-style capitalism. Beaver, otter, and mink furs become the most important cash commodity of the region. The French would control the fur trade until about 1760, when they were overtaken by the English after the French/Indian war (1754-1763).

· Natives peoples interaction with nature and how that changes with the arrival of European colonists and the introduction of European-style capitalism.

· Native peoples playing Europeans off against each other for advantage, especially as they become more dependent on European goods that they can't produce for themselves (steel axes, knives, guns...).

· How do all of these issues transform the native societies in the U.S. Northeast and Canada?

Native peoples in this area & characters in film:

The Algonquin (who take Father Laforgue to the Huron Mission)- will ally themselves with the

French to counter Iroquois threats and get access to European trade goods.

The Iroquois Confederacy: Mohawks, Oneida, Onandaga, Cayuga, Seneca. They would ally themselves first with the Dutch, then with the English. The Dutch also supplied them. In this film they take the Algonquin captive. Historically, the Iroquois were long-standing enemies of the Algonquin and the Huron. The Iroquois would eventually destroy the Huron as an autonomous people by 1654.

The Huron –see the French as allies against the Dutch and English supplied Iroquois (the Huron were longstanding enemies of the Iroquois). They become middlemen- trading manufactured goods to Indians upriver for furs to trade to the French. The Iroquois eventually destroyed the Huron as autonomous people by 1654.

-Father Laforgue: priest who is taken by the Algonquin to the Huron Mission to replace Father Jerome

-Samuel de Champlain: French leader, governor in New France

-Daniel: Father Laforgue’s aid

-Annuka: young woman, Chomina’s daughter

-Chomina- the Algonquin chief

-Father Jerome: Jesuit missionary in the Huron mission we see near the end

-Mestigoit: Montagnai sorcerer- the “interpreter of dreams”

-Iroquois: in this film, they take Father Laforgue (the "Black Robe") and the Algonquin captive

From your readings, answer this question before we see our film clips:

1) Carefully read Benjamin’s The Atlantic World: “The Fur Trade of New France” by Denys Delage, pp. 139-145. Tell us all about this very important article and all of the ways it contributes to our understanding of Native/European relations in the Northeast. Show complexity!

These are from our primary sources in Lepore- answer them and bring book to class:

2) Describe in detail each of the three important documents under "The Peoples of the Longhouse" (pp's 88-91), and discuss their importance for our understanding of native peoples there.

3) Describe in detail each of the three important documents written by European "explorers" and colonizers under "A New France" (pp's 91-95), and discuss their importance for our understanding of French colonization there and its impact on natives.

4) Describe in detail each of the two important documents written by French Jesuit priests under "The Society of Jesus" (pp's 96-100), and discuss their importance for our understanding of French colonization there and its impact on natives.

5) Discuss in detail the section "New Worlds, New Women" (pp's 100-103) and its importance for our understanding of gender (European and Native), religion, and colonization.

6) Discuss in detail the primary sources in the section "Covenants of war and Peace" (pp's 103-105) and their importance for our understanding of trade, war, and colonization.

7) Discuss in detail the importance of this article I gave you "Kateri Tekakwitha: First Catholic Native American Saint" (BBC, 2012). (She was not the first, Juan Diego in Mexico was)

Now, having answered all of those and taken copious notes on your films, carefully answer the following questions based on our films and readings. Be expansive! Relate to your readings in Lepore, Kicza and Delage in each case.

8) Tell me about the ways that the everyday world of the Hurons, Algonquins, and the Iroquois is portrayed in the film and how this compares to your readings. Include their adaptations to their surroundings, their worldviews… especially since their worldview is shaped by their surroundings. Comment with specific examples. Bring in examples from Kicza, Lepore and Delage.

9) Notice the rituals -both native and European, for ceremonial purposes, trade, and to cement alliances and discuss the importance of these rituals historically. Relate to readings on rituals to cement alliances in both Kicza and Lepore (p. 94). After all, the most valuable economic activity here, the fur trade, relied on alliances.

10) Discuss, in detail, the commercial exchanges between the French fur trappers and the natives of the area. What changes do these commercial contacts bring about for the Huron, Algonquin, and the Iroquois? Comment with specific examples. Bring in examples from Kicza, Lepore and Delage.

11) Discuss the issue of technology and its consequences for the Huron, Algonquin, and the Iroquois. (guns, steel, writing, clocks…) Comment with specific examples. Bring in examples from Kicza, Lepore and Delage.

12) Discuss the ways each “side” views “the other”. What are some consequences of that? Now, read “A Micmac comments about French and Indian cultures” in Kicza p. 115. Comment with specific examples. Bring in examples from Kicza, Lepore and Delage.

13) Discuss the complexities of the differing religious worldviews (native, European), the process of religious conversion, and then some consequences. Comment with specific examples. Bring in examples from Kicza, Lepore and Delage.

14) This film and the documents on this topic also deal with the issue of “civilization vs. barbarism”. Discuss. Comment with specific examples. Bring in examples from Kicza, Lepore and Delage.

15) How do these missions compare to the French Jesuit Missions described in your Lepore reader (pp. 96-100)? Discuss also French settlements and interaction with natives- it is key.

16) Compare and contrast these Jesuit missions, the French settlements, and the way the natives were impacted by them in this region to the Jesuit missions and Spanish settlements we saw in Paragauay and the way natives were impacted there. Comment with specific examples. Bring in examples from Kicza and Lepore.

17) What does this film tell us about “our period”? Given that all films take liberties with “the truth”, why this story, told this way, now? (the film was made in 1991)

History 106, Miss Pass Page 2 of 8