The Arrival of the White Men

Traditional Legends (Micmac, Chinook)

BEFORE READING

Background

The Micmac tribe was originally from the Great Lakes area, but later could be found in Canada and Maine. They have a long history, and are thought to have possibly encountered Viking explorers around the year 1000. They later allied with the French after building good relations with Jacques Cartier in 1523 and Samuel de Champlain in 1603.

The Micmacs became traders, often moving between other tribes and the whites. These activities wreaked havoc on their natural way of life, and many of their people died due to the introduction of war, disease, and alcohol. Later the French armed them and paid them bounties to kill and scalp France's enemies. The Micmacs fought the British in the American Revolution. Most became Catholics. In the 1800s, the Micmacs were forced to accept white control of their lands. By the early 1900s, the Micmacs' land was reduced to only enough to hold schools. Today, many still fight for recognition of their people's needs and against discrimination. /font>

The Chinook tribe originally lived on the Pacific coast and around the Columbia River Delta. Visiting Anglo explorers introduced smallpox, a sickness for which the Chinooks had little resistance, devastating their population. Lewis and Clark visited and lived with the Clatsops in 1805. The growing fur trade and influence of the whites slowly changed the natural lives of the tribe. Many abandoned their traditional village sites and merged with other tribes, mostly around trading areas.

The Chinooks had approximately 22,000 members in 1780, but that number was reduced to about 100 by the late 1800s. As they joined with other tribes, their language became extinct. In 1899, a group representing the Chinooks, Upper Chinooks (Wahkiahums), Clatsops, and Cathlamets filed a land claim with the U.S. government, which-thirteen years later-awarded them only $20,000 about 214, 000 acres of their homelands. In 1951, the Chinooks, who didn't live on a reservation petitioned the government for land. They were given $50,000 instead. The U.S. government's Bureau of Indian Affairs came to view them as a "terminated tribe," and their 1979 petition for recognition is still under consideration.

prophets—ones who speak by divine inspiration or as interpreters through whom the will of God or a god is expressed.

earnest—marked by or showing deep sincerity or seriousness.

Baptized—to admit into Christianity through baptism.

ornamental—of, relating to, or serving as an ornament or a decoration.

creatures—living beings, especially an animal.

DURING READING

Use the STUDY GUIDE below as a way to work through the selection and improve your comprehension of the essay.

AFTER READING

Answer the Questions to Consider questions in the book as a way to develop your understanding of the selection.

1. What do the words used to describe unfamiliar things say about the Micmac and Clatsop way of life?

2. What are the similarities and differences in the ways that the Micmacs and Chinooks described the Europeans?

3. How are the Europeans viewed in these accounts?

4. Why, in your opinion, is Native-American history often passed from generation to generation in the form of prophecy?

Bibliography

Native American Perspectives

Paul Bailey. Wovoka: The Indian Messiah (1957). About the Paiute prophet who taught the Ghost Dance to Indians in the 1880s.

Benjamin Capps. The Great Chiefs (1975). A lavishly illustrated book that relates life stories of the great Native American chiefs of the Old West.

Gregory Dowd. A Spirited Resistance: The North American Indians’ Struggle for Unity 1745–1815 (1992). Describes Shawnee Chief Tecumseh’s efforts to build an independent Indian nation.

Grant Foreman. Indian Removal: The Emigration of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians (1932). About the U.S. Army’s 1830s removal of five southeastern tribes from their lands.

William T. Hagan. American Indians (1979). A history of Native Americans, from early encounters with whites to the present-day.

Francis Paul Prucha, ed. Documents of United States Indian Policy (1990). A collection of U.S. government documents on Indian policy.

John Tebbel. The American Indian Wars (1960). The history of Indian wars, written by an Ojibwa journalism professor and historian.

W.C. Vanderwerth. Indian Oratory: Famous Speeches by Noted Indian Chieftains (1971). Noted speeches by the greatest leaders of the Native American tribes.