The Impact of the French on Native Societie

The Impact of the French on Native Societies
Folashade Esther Oyewusi
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The Impact of the French on Native Societies
Prior to the invasion of Europeans, Canada was inhabited by different native tribes which had established settlements throughout the land. The country was later to be invaded by France and became a colony and was dubbed a royal province in 1963 a colloquial name for New France. When the French settlers explored Canada, they arrived and found all the areas settled by the native tribes, including Indians, Jesuits, and the Huron among others. Most of these native tribes practiced farming while others were hunters and gatherers. The native people who lived on the West Coast were fishermen, and they preserved fish through smoking and drying. Native people often involved in warfare because they competed for prestige, resources and land. The arrival of the French settlers and other Europeans colonists, missionaries and traders transformed the way in which the native people lived in Canada. As would be expected, the coming of the Europeans had different ramifications for the native tribes, especially in terms of cultural practices and practices. This paper aims at examining the impacts of French invasion in Canada between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in terms of social structures, religious beliefs, gender roles, and social equality.
The invasion of Canada by France during the sixteenth century came with various implications in regard to the lives of native societies. Previously, Native tribes coexisted in a rather peaceful manner and survived on activities such as fishing, farming and hunting. With the Europeans invasion, the traditional lives of these tribes took a whole new turn and new religious beliefs, cultural values and socioeconomic activities slowly started to take root. A Large number of native people died as a result of European diseases because they lacked immunity. Nevertheless, the French settlers and the native people interacted and lived together forming the founding background of Canada.
The French came in fishing fleets that continued sailing towards the Atlantic coast and eventually reached the St. Lawrence River. At the St. Lawrence River, the French developed a mutual relationship with the native tribes a move that greatly facilitated in their settlement. While these native tribes had their own way of living, the French came equipped with new knowledge and were quick to realize the potential of the land. The superiority of their knowledge over that of the native tribes gave them an upper advantage in colonizing the region, first through friendly means and later through the forceful application of authority. While religion played an impetus role in these earlier settlements, economic motives soon begun to surface. Minerals such as iron pyrite as well as the region’s fisheries and fur attracted the attention of the newcomers who started to forge close contact with the native people in order to obtain an exploitation right.
The large territories, which were identified as Canada and Acadia were occupied by the native nomadic tribes of the Iroquois and Hurons, who lived in the New France. In Acadia, dominan...