As a result of a serious lack of understanding of Aboriginal civilizations, Aboriginal peoples
There are 11 Aboriginal nations recognized in Québec: Abenaki (Waban-Aki), Algonquin (Anishinabeg), Atikamekw Nehirowisiwok, Cree (Eeyou), Huron-Wendat, Inuit, Maliseet (Wolastoqiyik), Mi’gmaq (Micmac), Mohawk (Kanien’kehá:ka), Innu (Montagnais) and Naskapi. Across Canada, there are nearly sixty Aboriginal nations.
We often forget that the truth was that the French colony in North America needed Aboriginal people in order to survive, because it was smaller than the English colonies and, as previously mentioned, focused on the fur trade. The sociologist and historian Denys Delâge affirms that:
[…] in the inter-imperial conflict between the French and English empires, the English empire benefited from a stronger navy, better prices and, above all, successful emigration to North America. Outclassed, the French had no other choice but to draw their strength from
an alliance with the Aboriginal nations
nations. This alliance constituted a decisive factor in the ability to maintain a French colonial enterprise in America despite an enormous numerical disadvantage compared with the British colonization.A group sharing a common culture, history and language.
This is a very different reading of our history. But above all, New France was an immense territory, extending from Acadia to New Orleans. It was unfathomable that the presence of a few Frenchmen and a few small forts erected here and there could have maintained this “French empire” on the continent.
In reality, New France corresponded to the territory covered by the set of alliances with the Aboriginal nations. Of this vast network of alliances, we now acknowledge that the relationship was reciprocal and that the maintenance of good relations was both the rule and an imperative, especially for the fur trade.
The traders learned the Aboriginal languages and customs and carefully maintained the good dispositions of their clients to incite them to trade the greatest possible number of furs. The agents who went to live among the Indians
Indiansoften adopted Indian ways of life, married Indian women and joined the Indians to hunt, fish and wage war.The term Indian is still used legally to refer to people with Indian status under the Indian Act, which is still in force in Canada. However, it is considered outdated and should be replaced with First Nation or member of a First Nation.
The Aboriginal peoples, far from living in unenviable conditions and wanting to integrate and assimilate with the French colony, fascinated the Europeans. For example, at one time mixed marriages were performed somewhat to the consternation of French society. Indeed, as Mother Marie de l’Incarnation observed, it was easier to make an Indian out of a Frenchman than to attempt the reverse.