The Film Black Robe: Algonquin Indians

When Europeans encountered the Native Americans, the encounter was fraught with difficulties for both sides, for the Native Americans more so than the Europeans. Europeans conquered the Native Americans, forced them into labor, and spread diseases which the Native Americans had no resistance to. In addition to this the Europeans considered themselves superior to the Native Americans. Despite this, the Europeans and Native Americans, both had things the other wanted and so they often engaged in trade with each other. However, the Native Americans thought that, despite not having the luxuries the Europeans had, they were better off than the Europeans. This sentiment is exemplified in “Your People Live Only Upon Cod” by French priest Chrestian LeClerq who was traveling with the Micmac Indians. It is a documented response by an unknown Micmac leader to European, particularly French, claims of superiority. In analyzing this document, we will find that the cultures of the French and the Micmac were vastly different. We will also discover what the Micmac and the French thought of each other.

Between 1607 and 1718 the Spanish, French, and English governments attempted to expand their power through exploration in order to acquire land and provide economic growth. All three countries colonized portions of North America for the purpose of utilizing their newly acquired land’s natural resources in order to transport valuable goods unavailable in Europe. While all the colonization methods focused on establishing relationships with natives, the ways in which natives were treated varies to extremes. The Spanish treated natives with contempt and tried to eradicate their culture. The English used natives as slaves to do the hard labor that agriculture required. In contrast, the French created an alliance with the natives, which allowed them to trade with Indian tribes in their region.

In the 1991 film Black Robe, which is set during the 1630s Beaver War in North America, the French make attempts to search for and continue to convert a Huron Indian tribe to Christianity. To complete this mission, the founder of the French settlement in Quebec, Samuel Champlain, sends a Jesuit priest, Father LaForgue, off to find the Indian tribe, and a man named Daniel and a family of Indians, who are a part of the Algonquin tribe, accompany Father LaForgue on this journey.

The Blackfoot People are one of the many Native American Indian tribes that roamed America in the early 1700s. Like many tribes they were nomadic hunters that lived in the Great Plains of Montana and the Canadian provinces of Alberta. The name is said to have come from the colour of the peoples shoes that were made of leather. They had typically dyed or painted the soles of their shoes black.

This video is about a man named Morgan Spurlock, who spent 30 days on a Native American reservation. The reservation that Spurlock lived on was the biggest Indian reservation called the Navajo Indian reservation. Just before Spurlock got to the reservation his thoughts of how the Navajo people looked and lived were similar to mine. Looking back on all of the images and how the Native American culture is showcased on TV, kind of planted this image in our minds. We both thought that Native Americans wore these huge headpieces made of large colorful feathers, beads, and face paint. The people living in Navajo did not look like that unless preforming some type of ritual.

I chose to write my research paper on the Blackfoot reservation which is home to the Blackfoot tribe. The Blackfoot tribe was sometimes known as the classic example of the Plains Indians. The Blackfoot reservation actually consists of four different tribes and those are the Blackfoot/Siksika, Blood/Kainai, Pikuni/Peigan, and North Peigan Pikuni tribes. The Blackfoot Indians initially migrated from the Great Lakes region and now live in Montana and some of Canada.

The film Black Robe is set in Quebec, New France in 1634. The Jesuits put together a missionary with the approval of Captain Champlain to travel up the St. Lawrence River to try and convert the native tribes. They travel up the river to establish connection with a Jesuit mission in the Huron nation. Father Laforgue is chosen to the led the expedition along with Daniel, a young Frenchmen who was a worker who expresses his interest in returning to France and enter priesthood. The movie shows the relationship of the natives with the black robe is not good at the start. The natives fear them, however as they continue to interact with each other and learn from one another there relationship grows in a more positive aspect.

The Fallen Feather documentary analyses both the creation of the Canadian Residential Schools and the effects of these schools. The documentary states that these schools were created as a plan to end what was referred to as Canada’s Indian problem. The documentary used survivor accounts, primary documents, and professional accounts in determining the motivation behind the creation of these schools. These schools were full of physical and psychological abuse that still has an effect on the First Nations people today.

The Blackfoot Indians were a very remarkable tribe. They have unique and interesting way to live, which I find fascinating. They live in the Northwestern United States and Canada. The Blackfoot Tribe consists of four Blackfoot nations who have the same cultural background but different leaderships. Those nations are the Siksika Nation, the Kainai or Blood Nation, the Pikanii or Peigan Nation, and the Blackfeet Nation. The Blackfoot Indians are a nomadic American Indian tribe that migrated to the to Northwestern United States. The first three nations are in Alberta, Canada and the fourth nation is in Montana. Most Blackfoot people still live in this region today.

In order for Europe’s influence to be successful across the world, they had a guide written by Father Jean de Brébeuf, called “Instructions for The Fathers of Our Society Who Shall Be Sent to The Hurons.” In this small guide, Father Jean, writes instruction for other European members to follow in order to be successful in their influence in the new world. The thought of being the superior race, followed them to the new world, so embracing a culture that they thought was low-class, was a big change to the European men. “As to the other numerous things which may be unpleasant, they must be endured for the love of God, without saying anything or appearing to notice them.” They did not do anything that contradicts the Natives belief, as they were trying to convert them to the “idealized” culture. They were doing so in a way that the Natives did not realize they were being converted. So, the Europeans change their normal customs in order to gain their trust. In which they accommodate to non-European

#1:The Black Legend, Native Americans, and Spaniards • Pre-Columbian North America o Native North Americans ♣ Population • About 2-10 million ♣ Didn’t metalwork, had no gunpowder ♣ Networks • social, political, trade ♣ No classical civilizations, monuments, architecture • 1200 CE-developed civilizations o collapsed from environmental degradation such as drought ♣ Zuni-Southwest ♣ Hopi-Southwest ♣ Organized as confederacy made by tribes • Tribes were matrilineal • Iroquois o Great League of Peace • Different lifestyles by region o West coast ♣ Fished, hunted sea mammals o Great Plains ♣ Hunted buffalo • European discovery of North America o

When the Europeans arrived in the New World, they brought along a host of diseases which were devastating to the Native American population. Due to the adaptations that the Native people had undergone to adapt to North America, they no longer had any natural defense towards these diseases. Because of this, about ninety percent of the Native American population was wiped out, with much of them never meeting a single European. The elimination of so many Natives would benefit the Europeans by eliminating any potential resistance towards their eventual conquest of America. In addition to disease, the Europeans also subjected the Native Americans to slavery, in attempts to “Christianize” them. Both of these contributed to the “black legend” attributed to the Spanish explorers, which detailed a “legacy” of misery and destruction. With so many accounts of torture and murder, this black legend fit the Spaniards well. Though they did provide many contributions to their new lands, the amount of human life that was lost in order for the Spanish to take control of said lands outweighs their contributions. Even though a whole new culture of people may have been created, multiple cultures were lost in the process. The amount of death and destruction caused by the Spaniards outweighs their final contributions, which shows that the Spanish did deserve being part of the “black legend”.

There are seven Native American reservations in the State of Montana. The Blackfeet Nation is one of these seven. The Blackfeet Indian Reservation is in the northwest part of Montana along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains and south of the Canadian border. The reservation is home to the Blackfeet Tribe. Of the approximately 15,560 enrolled tribal members, there are about 7,000 living on or near the reservation. Nearly 27 percent of enrolled members are of three-fourths or greater Indian blood. There are three branches of the Blackfeet peoples: the Northern Blackfeet (Siksika), the Blood and the Piegan or Pikuni. The tribe call themselves "Niitsitapi" (nee-itsee-TAH-peh) meaning "the real people."

Across Canada and the United States there are many First Nations languages which are a part of the Algonquian language family, all of which with varying states of health. Although these languages share many characteristics of the Algonquian language family, the cultures, systems of beliefs, and geographic location of their respective Nations differentiate them. In being shaped by the landscape, cultures, and spirituality of the First Nations, the language brings the speakers closer to their land and traditions while reaffirming their identity as First Peoples. Using the Blackfoot Nation to further explore this concept, this paper will show that while language threads together First Nations culture, spirituality,

“The Last Algonquin” written by Theodore Kazimiroff tells readers about the almost-lost culture and history of Joe Two Trees, the last Algonquin Indian. This native to New York faced multiple events throughout his life, that shaped the world around him and himself, including: his adventures in New York City, the short-lived occupation at the coal mine, the beautiful, “perfect” red-haired woman named Sheila, and the retelling of his culture, lore, and personal history to the new generation. When his parents died, he essentially already mastered the Algonquin ways of life. However, he still had a whole other culture to worry about: the white man’s world. The naive Two Trees survived in the white world, and his experience with the alien people