19. First nation's dilemma – flee, engage or trade
The native people of Eastern North America responded to European explorers and cod fishermen with fear, curiosity and hostility – until Europeans became allies in war and trade.
When Europeans explorers first visited the shores of North America, they weren’t sure what they saw. Was this land part of Asia or was it a “newfound land” blocking the way to Asia.
What about the native tribes who lived there? When they saw strange and very large canoes out in the ocean, it was as if an unknown tribe had come to invade their land. They weren’t far off from the truth.
How these two groups learned to become traders and allies – or not - is the goal of this article.
Terra nullius?
When European explorers first discovered North America, they imagined the land to be unoccupied and uninhabited – terra nullius. Of course, we know it was inhabited by a vast number of tribes speaking hundreds of different languages and dialects. In fact, some estimate the Americas had a greater population than all of Europe together. At the beginning of the 16th Century, none of the deadly diseases of Europe had decimated their populations as had …
