Forces That Shaped the Mi’Kmaq Relations with the Europeans

What forces shaped the Mikmaq relations with the Europeans? When the early settlers of the Americas arrived on the East coast of what is this instant Canada, they notice a plenty that was remarkably different from their own. First impressions would deem these people as uncivilized (source) savages (source) who lived down(p) lives (source). However, as time went on the settlers began to realize just how deeply rooted this Aboriginal culture really was.The Mikmaq lived a simple nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle, able to recognize the stars and changing of the seasons leading them to a variety show of different sources of food dependant on the season. Culturally they were a spiritual group, one that believed to live with the earth, not off the earth and practiced ceremonies to show appreciation of what the domain of a function gave them. Together they shared this unload. Individually they were at large(p) to pursue their own life path without restrictions, resulting in several s exual partners, homosexuality, marriages and divorces.They were a mostly irenic people, preferring the act of gift giving over warfare which they sole(prenominal) resorted to when deemed necessary. To the Mikmaq warfare was never apply as a way to gain territory like their European counterparts but rather a way to seek revenge for wrongdoings. (paraphrase source) As the early European settlers and the Mikmaq people began to become acquainted(predicate) with to severally one other, they found some leafy vegetable grounds in these values and learnt to peacefully coexist with each other creating a positive relationship built on trade, alliance and friendship.However, as time went on Mikmaqs values and very means of survival were challenged when settler population increase, warfare between the British and cut ended with British officially claiming the territory through several treaties and were eventually backed up by the influx of Loyalist century. When the first French settler s began to arrive to the area the Mikmaq were optimistically curious of them. They viewed them as fellow man, as equals, who brought with them gifts of useful utensils, tools, alcohol, and weapons. source) The Mikmaq were quick to ceremoniously return the favor to their in the altogether friends, sharing with them their knowledge of the land and giving them furs. The Mikmaq who roamed over a large territory power saw no harm in allowing the small French population of (HOW MANY? ) to settle in the embayment of Fundy region. (Wicken print off 95-96) The similarities and differences between the Mikmaq and French people both helped alter relations.Differentially, the Acadians were sedentary and relied on agriculture and livestock for food, which worked well as the Mikmaq were able to continue their nomadic hunting assembly lifestyle undisturbed. Similarly, they shared a commonality in spirituality. Although they believed in different versions they were fascinated by each others b eliefs and some Mikmaq were actually drawn into Catholicism and baptized(HOW MANY? SOURCE). Trade furthered improved relations as time went on the Mikmaq would reach a point of dependency on European goods.Evidence of improved relations drop been seen in intermarriage between the two groups (HOW MANY? SOUCRE) Initially the Mikmaq had a much larger population and were never threatened by the settlers, mainly seeing them as a friend with many benefits economically, culturally, and at times militarily (EVIDENCE OF MIKMAQ FRENCH FIGHTING TOGETHER IN EARLY SETTLEMENT YEARS) They continued these relations for about a century, with only minor conflicts erupting every now and then, but nothing that would seriously jeopordize their relationship. source). Over that century the French population remained quite low and numbered only about half of that of the Mikmaq population. This advantage acted as almost a power in which the Mikmaq able to preserve their ways and not give into French pressu res to fully convert to Christianity or to upkeep a sedentary agricultural lifestyle. This would all change when the Acadian population began to increase. (NUMBER OF INCREASE AND SOURCE) As the Acadian population increased so did tensions between the Acadians and the Mikmaq.As the population in Acadian grew so did their need for more food. In coif to get more food they needed more land that they could use to farm with. The Acadians would take land near the ocean which they could use to fish and also they cleared forests which destroyed the habitats of animals which the Mikmaq used to hunt. The Mikmaq were therefore forced to look elsewhere for food. There were field of studys of some Mikmaqs who were forced in land looking for food, actually taking livestock from the Acadians.Threats would go back and forth over this growing tension. The Acadians would report these incidents to their council, but the council wise in noting that the Mikmaq were still in a majority choose not to pu nish them for their actions, preffering to avoid conflict and simply reimbursing the lost goods out of their own pockets. Evidence again can be demonstrated in intermarriage between the two groups as only one aborniginal women has been save as marrying an Acadian over (time period).The growing population in British settlements would be seen as alarming for the Mikmaqs who had a much more negative view of these settlers. Unlike the Acadian settlers a strong relationship had not been formed over the last centrury. The British were invasive and they shared very little in common with them. Ramsay cook argues that the first European settlers were intent to civilize the so called savages through agriculture, technology, religion and language without realizing that these people were already civilized, just in a different way. In the early 18th century, the Mikmaq were a semi-nomadic peoples, who moved around the land freely according to the seasons. This lifestyle allowed them to live in dependently outside of the French and British querrals choosing for themselves when to go to war and when to agree to peace. -As conflict between England and France intensified in the 1740s tensions between the Acadian and Mikmaq populations grew.