Page 31 - European Impact on the Micmac Culture

ISSUE : Issue 31

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1982/6/1

er which, as recorded by Father Chrestien Le Clercq, seems to illustrate the demoral? izing effect of disease. According to tra? dition, there was once a time when these Indians were gravely threatened by a se? vere sickness; as was their custom, they looked to the sun-for help. In their ex? treme need a "beautiful" man, holding a cross, appeared before several of them in a dream. He instructed them to make simi? lar crosses, for, as he told them, in this symbol lay their protection. For a time thereafter these Indians, who believed in dreams "even to the extent of supersti? tion," were very religious and devoted in their veneration of this symbol. Later, however, they apostatized: Since the Gaspesian (Micmac) nation of the Cross- bearers has been almost wholly destroyed, as much by the war which they have waged with the Iroquois as by the maladies which have infected this land, and which, in three or four visitations, have caused the deaths of a very great number, these In? dians have gradually relapsed from this first devo? tion of their ancestors. So true is it, that even the holiest and most religious practices, by a cer? tain fatality attending human affairs, suffer al? ways much alteration if they are not animated and conserved by the same spirit which gave them birth. In brief, when I went into their country to com? mence my mission, I found some persons who had pre? served only the shadow of the customs of their an? cestors. Their rituals had failed to save these In? dians when threatened by European diseases and intergroup hostilities; hence their old religious practices were abandoned, no doubt because of their ineffectiveness. Several other observers also commented on the new diseases that afflicted the Micmac. In precontact times, declared Denys, "they were not subject to diseases, and knew nothing of fevers." By about 1700, however, Diereville noted that the Micmac popula? tion was in sharp decline. The Indians themselves frequently complained to Father Biard and other Frenchmen that, since con? tact with the French, they had been dying off in great numbers. "For they assert that, before this association and inter? course (with the French), all their coun? tries were very populous, and they tell how one by one the different coasts, ac? cording as they have begun to traffic with us, have been more reduced by disease," The Indians accused the French of trying to poison them or charged that the food supplied by the French was somehow adulter? ated. Whatever the reasons for the catas? trophe, warned Biard, the Indians were very angry about it and "upon the point of breaking with us, and making war upon us." To the Jesuit fathers, the solution to this sorry state of affairs lay in the civ? ilizing power of the Gospel, To Biard, his mission was clear: For, if our Souriquois (Micmac) are few, they may become numerous; if they are savages, it is to do? mesticate and civilize them that we have come here; if they are rude, that is no reason that we should be idle; if they have until now profited little, it is no wonder, for it would be too much to ex? pect fruit from this grafting, and to demand rea? son and maturity from a child. In conclusion, we hope in time to make them susceptible of receiving the doctrines of the faith and of the christian and catholic religion, and later, to penetrate fur? ther into the regions beyond. The message was simple and straightforward: the black-robes would enlighten the Indi? ans by ridiculing their animism and re? lated taboos, discrediting their shamans, and urging them to accept the Christian gospel. But to their chagrin the Indians proved stubborn in their ancient ways, no matter how unsuited to changing circum? stances . CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE Take home a memory of Cape Breton , I ISLAND I 1 CRAFTS J Nm' rt Blue Heron Gif t Shop vTSbooks FABULOUS HANDKNITS WEAVING APPLE DOLLS TOYS CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS WOODCRAFTS OPEN YEAR'ROUND SOUVENIRS Monday - Saturday, 9-5 CHRIStSas'ROOM '''''''' ' '"' Certificates CERAMICS POTTERY QUILTS Island Crafts 335 George St., Sydney, Nova Scotia Phone: (902) 539-6474 or 564-5527 GLASSWARE, FIGURINES, WOODENWARE, CRYSTAL Gifts for All Occasions BADDECK, N. S. 295-3424 Ethnic Heritage Series Volume I Gordon Haliburton, "For their 6od"--Education, Relig? ion and the Scots in Nova Scotia Volume II Sukhdev Singh Sandhu, The Second Generation: Culture and the East Indian community in Nova Scotia Debra Meeks, Irish Traditional Folk Songs in Halifax: A preliminary study Volume V Volume VI Hugh Mi 11 ward. Regional Patterns of Ethnicity in Nova Scotia: A Geographical Stu3y Volume VII Laurie Lacey, Ethnicity and the German Descendants of Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia Published by the International Education Centre Saint Mary's University Halifax, N.S. B3H 3C3 (31)

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