Introduction
Nations separated by oceans interact with each other and influence each other similarly to different peoples living in one country: this interaction can involve hostilities, colonization, legations, and cooperation. The relationships of Europeans and Native Americans were quite different, varying from place to place, including military operations and diplomatic steps, manifestations of sympathy, hostile intentions, and attempts to assimilate and convert. Realizing the nature of their complex relationships requires the thoughtful exploration of the primary concepts determining almost any interaction between nations: conflict, striving to diplomacy, religion, and cultural misunderstanding.
The Effects of War on People’s Lives
The history of relationships of Europeans and Native Americans involves dozens of military conflicts between European settlers and the aboriginal population of America. The first ones strived to acquire the new territory of recently discovered land, and the second ones devoted efforts not to allow it. The only relatively positive effect of conflicts is forming diplomatic alliances and developing further mutually beneficial relationships. For instance, during the American Indian Wars, part of English residents allied with the Iroquois Confederacy. These wars “usually examined on a diplomatic level, but which at the base were experienced by flesh and blood beings motivated by basic human emotions such as revenge” were quite severe (Way 2020, 124). This series of military conflicts became a significant constituent of the history of interaction between Europeans and Native Americans and demonstrated the power of the concept of conflict partly forming these relationships.
During the colonial period, the interaction of these nations was most challenging. One of the bloodiest conflicts was King Philip’s War, occurring in 1675-1678, which caused the deaths of many people, both New England colonists, and Indians. Any war is ruins, blood, destructions, and crippled fates: military operations leave a mark on every person affected by them. The evidence of this effect on people’s lives is a work by Mary Rowlandson, a colonial American woman held for almost 12 weeks by Native Americans to ransom. The woman writes that the date of the Indians’ attack “was the dolefulest day that ever her eyes saw”: “the bullets seemed to fly like hail” (Rowlandson 1682, 3). While on an institutional level, European soldiers “maintained formal relations with the natives as an empire-building component,” “on the personal level, they encountered Indians as enemies, and this led to brutal bloodletting” (Way 2020, 125). Thus, since war ruins the lives of millions of people, this concept spoils any interaction between countries or nations.
Role of Religion in Each Group
Religion is one of the essential concepts that determine the nation’s lifestyle and its way of interacting with others. The issue of Indians’ faith is an example that allows considering both manifestations of sympathy and hostility of Europeans. Native Americans had a system of different beliefs that varied from tribes to tribes, which could not be accepted by Europeans, primarily practicing Christianity. The views of majority tribes had similar features: they believed in Creator, holy places, and power of nature. Europeans wanted to assimilate locals, making them change their religion.
There were two primary directions in the striving to affect the Indians’ worldview: sympathetic missionaries’ actions and hostile attempts to forbid the aborigine’ traditions. The missionaries’ work was reflected in the letters and annual documents sent to Paris by missionaries who tried to convert Indians. For instance, Le Jeune (1963, 17) offers that “the friendly natives should be systematically taught agriculture and aided with food.” In addition, he praises “their intelligence, contentment, fortitude, good nature, generosity” and proposes “that seminaries should be established, in which Indian children, both boys, and girls, can be educated at Quebec” (Le Jeune 1963, 20). This way to alter the beliefs of locals was relatively mild and did not require rejection from the previous lifestyle under compulsion.
There were also more hostile attempts to change them: Indian children were sent to boarding schools by force, where they were taught another culture and worldview. Most customs such as religious dances became forbidden: creating the “Code of Indian Offences” was a significant constituent of a fight with Native Americans. Only in 1978 American Indian Religious Freedom Act was passed; however, their holy places were still not accessed to them for several years. In response to these limitations, many tribes decided to rebel: several of them fought with weapons; others posed their rituals as religious ceremonies. All of them were profoundly dissatisfied, and it was one more reason for military conflicts. Thus, an attempt to change religion brutally does not contribute to improving interaction.
Personal Relationships between People of Different Cultures
Any international relationships require the interaction of people of different cultures. Individuals brought upon diverse traditions and customs perceive the world differently. Native Americans living in wild nature and more civilized Europeans could not accept the lifestyle of each other. Unconsciously, people consider their worldview the only right; therefore, Europeans strived to assimilate the aborigines. The differences of these two groups created severance “between white and red, themselves symbols masking a shared humanity and a common history” (Way 2020, 125). There are usually two types of forming relationships between people of different cultures. The first one includes that they can be tolerant of each other and live in peace despite cultural differences. The second one signifies the desire of a stronger nation to assimilate the weaker. Therefore, although this interaction could be built on acceptance of discrepancies, the wish of Europeans to have territory and the unwillingness of Indians to give it made their conflict inevitable.
Inevitability of Conflicts
The conflicts between different nations are not inevitable: otherwise, all people would constantly be waging endless wars. Different cultures do not mean that people should start battles: they can accept the peculiarities of each other, take an interest in them, and discover a new aspect of someone’s reality. The complicated relationships between Europeans and Indians were caused primarily not by their different cultural preferences and beliefs. They warred because they wished to conquer or preserve territory. Therefore, if they did not need to share one land, they could live in peace and maintain diplomatic relationships.
Conclusion
During the colonial period, the interaction between Europeans and Native Americans was quite complicated and involved military conflicts, attempts of assimilation, and predominantly absence of tolerance. While the Europeans tried to conquer America’s land, Indians were full of readiness to fight for their freedom. Their conflict was sharper due to the inability to accept the differences in their religions and cultural lives. Only after years, Native Americans have got the right to believe in what they wanted and be free to exercise their spiritual and cultural practices and could stop their fight.
References
Le Jeune, Paul. 1963. “The Jesuit Relations.” In The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents: A Selection, edited by Stanley Mealing, 13-29. Ottawa: Carleton Library.
Rowlandson, Mary. (1682) 2013. A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. Sunnyvale: Loci’s Publisher. Citations refer to the Loci’s Publisher edition.
Way, Peter. 2020. “The Cutting Edge of Culture: British Soldiers Encounter Native Americans in the French and Indian war.” In Empire and Others: British Encounters with Indigenous Peoples, 1600–1850, edited by Martin Daunton and Rick Halpern, 123-148. London: Routledge.