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Why does the Micmac leader claim that Indians consider themselves "infinitely more happy and more powerful than the French"?  b) How does the Indian leader interpret the French migration from Europe to North America?

Why does the Micmac leader claim that Indians consider themselves "infinitely more happy and more powerful than the French"?  b) How does the Indian leader interpret the French migration from Europe to North America?

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a) Why does the Micmac leader claim that Indians consider themselves "infinitely more happy and more powerful than the French"?  b) How does the Indian leader interpret the French migration from Europe to North America?

**6. A Micmac Indian Replies to the French (1677)** **Source:** William F. Ganong, trans. and ed., New Relation of Gaspesia, with the Customs and Religion of the Gaspesian Indians, by Chrestien LeClercq (Toronto, 1910), pp. 104-06. Nearly all European colonizers were convinced of the superiority of their own culture to that of the Indians. Many Indians, while anxious to benefit from trade with the technologically more advanced Europeans, did not share this view. In the excerpt that follows, Chrestien LeClercq, a French priest who traveled among the Micmac Indians of the Gaspe peninsula of Québec, reproduces an Indian leader’s response to French assertions of superiority, defending the Indians’ way of life. --- **Thou reproachest us,** very inappropriately, that our country is a little hell in contrast with France, which thou comparest to a terrestrial paradise, inasmuch as it yields thee, so thou sayest, every kind of provision in abundance. Thou sayest of us also that we are the most miserable and most unhappy of all men, living without religion, without manners, without honour, without social order, and, in a word, without any rules, like the beasts in our woods and our forests, lacking bread, wine, and a thousand other comforts which thou hast in superfluity in Europe. Well, my brother, if thou dost not yet know the real feelings which our Indians have towards thy country and towards all thy nation, it is proper that I inform thee at once. I beg thee now to believe that, all miserable as we seem in thine eyes, we consider ourselves nevertheless much happier than thou in this, that we are very content with the little that we have; and believe also once for all, I pray, that thou deceivest thyself greatly if thou thinkest to persuade us that thy country is better than ours. For if France, as thou sayest, is a little terrestrial paradise, art thou sensible to leave it? And why abandon wives, children, relatives, and friends? Why risk thy life and thy property every year, and why venture thyself with such risk, in any season whatsoever, to the storms and tempests of the sea in order to come to a strange and barbarous country which thou considerest the poorest and least fortunate of the world? Besides, since
Transcribed Image Text:**6. A Micmac Indian Replies to the French (1677)** **Source:** William F. Ganong, trans. and ed., New Relation of Gaspesia, with the Customs and Religion of the Gaspesian Indians, by Chrestien LeClercq (Toronto, 1910), pp. 104-06. Nearly all European colonizers were convinced of the superiority of their own culture to that of the Indians. Many Indians, while anxious to benefit from trade with the technologically more advanced Europeans, did not share this view. In the excerpt that follows, Chrestien LeClercq, a French priest who traveled among the Micmac Indians of the Gaspe peninsula of Québec, reproduces an Indian leader’s response to French assertions of superiority, defending the Indians’ way of life. --- **Thou reproachest us,** very inappropriately, that our country is a little hell in contrast with France, which thou comparest to a terrestrial paradise, inasmuch as it yields thee, so thou sayest, every kind of provision in abundance. Thou sayest of us also that we are the most miserable and most unhappy of all men, living without religion, without manners, without honour, without social order, and, in a word, without any rules, like the beasts in our woods and our forests, lacking bread, wine, and a thousand other comforts which thou hast in superfluity in Europe. Well, my brother, if thou dost not yet know the real feelings which our Indians have towards thy country and towards all thy nation, it is proper that I inform thee at once. I beg thee now to believe that, all miserable as we seem in thine eyes, we consider ourselves nevertheless much happier than thou in this, that we are very content with the little that we have; and believe also once for all, I pray, that thou deceivest thyself greatly if thou thinkest to persuade us that thy country is better than ours. For if France, as thou sayest, is a little terrestrial paradise, art thou sensible to leave it? And why abandon wives, children, relatives, and friends? Why risk thy life and thy property every year, and why venture thyself with such risk, in any season whatsoever, to the storms and tempests of the sea in order to come to a strange and barbarous country which thou considerest the poorest and least fortunate of the world? Besides, since
The text discusses a comparison between two lifestyles: one that involves relentless labor to obtain basic necessities, and another that relies on the natural abundance provided by the land. It highlights the dependency of some people on resources like cod and the need to seek help from the Indians to obtain varied food. The speaker questions which lifestyle is wiser and happier and notes that before the arrival of the French, the Gaspesians lived longer, suggesting that adopting external customs has impacted their longevity. The text emphasizes the contentment derived from living in harmony with nature and the belief in the superiority and happiness of the Indian way of life over the French.
Transcribed Image Text:The text discusses a comparison between two lifestyles: one that involves relentless labor to obtain basic necessities, and another that relies on the natural abundance provided by the land. It highlights the dependency of some people on resources like cod and the need to seek help from the Indians to obtain varied food. The speaker questions which lifestyle is wiser and happier and notes that before the arrival of the French, the Gaspesians lived longer, suggesting that adopting external customs has impacted their longevity. The text emphasizes the contentment derived from living in harmony with nature and the belief in the superiority and happiness of the Indian way of life over the French.
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