The Blending of and Influence of Drastically Different Cultures

What happens when two completely different cultures must live side by side? How did the native culture already present in the Americas change the Europeans? Both cultures adopted useful practices from each other, sometimes even merging together or simply taking assimilating some of the other group into their own. Often, “…assimilation included dress, bodily discipline, religious belief and action, and equality under the law—these are all forms of cultural practice.”[1] Through trade partnerships, wartime alliances, intermarriage, cohabitation, and the important role of women, two cultures were forever changed by each other. Without some of these changes and the aid of Native Tribes and individuals Europeans might not have survived in their treacherous new surroundings.

Early Colonists Aided by Native Tribes

The Native Tribes and People aided the settlers immensely during their first arrivals and throughout the founding, struggles, and thriving of European colonies. They often supplied food for the colonists; sometimes in order to create a good relationship with the newcomers and sometimes simply because they were forced to. For example Squanto, born in 1580, of the Patuxet Indian tribe was kidnapped English explorers early in the 17th century. After his escape from this slavery he actually befriended the Pilgrims and helped them in many ways. He taught fishing, hunting, planting, and acted as an interpreter and cultural mediator between local tribes and the European settlers. He helped to negotiate peace and was ironically working on a peace treaty when he died in 1622 of Small Pox the Europeans brought with them. Numerous European groups, including but not limited to the New Englanders, Spanish, and Dutch, followed Indigenous sowing, growing, and food storing practices essential to their survival. For instance, the Massachusetts Bay Colony received help with their crops from local Indians.

Despite the attempts of the Natives and Europeans to create original friendly relations, these relationships whether commercial or personal often soured quickly. For example when Sir Walter Raleigh arrived in North America in 1584 the Native Tribes were hospitable and helpful, even providing food for them. Manteo and Wanchise taught the early Roanoke colony survival tips and warned them of unfriendly Indians. Due to an ill-conceived pre-emptive attach y the English the Natives began withdrawing their support leaving ill supplied and inexperienced settlers to struggle and battle on their own. While no one knows what became of the first Roanoke colony, one theory implicated they were actually assimilated into a local tribe either by choice or force. Either way, it is obvious that, “Early European Arrivals frequently depended on Native Americans for their very survival in a strange new world.”[2]

Trade Partners

In addition to helping out the newcomers, Native people actually established trade partnerships with specific settlements or countries. Trade eventually created a sense of mutual dependency, as both sides needed supplies for survival or profit. Once instance is that of the fur trader William Claiborn who traded with the Susquehannocks at Kent Island. The Dutch had an almost strictly commercial relationship with the Native Tribes. During wartime they created alliances against other European powers or other Native Tribes. For example the Algonquins and the French traded extensively with each other while also allying against the Mohawks. Thus both partnership and alliances were crucial to the survival of European settlers. “Europeans needed native peoples to teach 
them where valuable resources were located, to trade with them, to convey information about local diplomatic styles...” [3]

Intermarriage of Europeans and Native Tribes

Intermarriage was promoted both by Europeans, mainly the French, and Native Tribes as a form of assimilation, way to form alliances, and gain control. The French thought that through intermarriage their white blood would dilute the Indian blood and they would be able to Christianize and teach French ways to what they called Savages. They had no racial problems with intermarriage, miscegenation, and cohabitation as they saw the differences as mainly cultural and the quickest way to get rid of those differences was to fold the Natives into their culture. The French did their best to undermine the advanced of the Iroquois League and vice versa. Many Natives settled in the midst of colonial towns and would marry Frenchmen with familial approval or even be given to them to secure alliances. One example is that of the infamous Pocahontas whose marriage to John Rolfe helped procure peace between local tribes.

At the same time, some Native Tribes had ideas of their own; they too wanted peace and one people. The Iroquois League, consisting of the Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Senaca, and Mohawk tribes, challenged the assimilation tactics of Europeans. Both groups knew that whichever culture succeeded in changing the other had the power. They offered for individuals and groups to join them voluntarily or be captured and forced to integrate in. They were not afraid to use military force to make the singular people and land they desired. Due to the disease epidemics the need to replenish their population was a major goal. Those who did not voluntarily comply were captured, killed, enslaved, or resettled elsewhere. The Mohawks continued to promote intermarriage to cement their alliances with the French, but they did not spare the French from their compliance plans. Since the Iroquois had matrilineal organization technically the children of any Frenchmen who had been given Native wives were Iroquois children. These women often became intermediaries between their cultures and that of their husbands. As the settlers began to adopt more Native cultural ways French settlers began discouraging intermarriage.

Women Become Part of Native Culture

The status of Indian women was much different than that of the traditional European woman. Indian women were treated more as equals and often had important positions of leadership. This actually influenced some white women who were captured by Native People so much they refused to return to white settlement when given the opportunity after a war or disagreement had ended. Others actually fled to Indian communities. One servant, most likely black, fled to live among the Haudenosaunee nation. The servant later on had an opportunity to talk with Francois Barbé-Marbois in 1784 at Fort Stanwix and said, “Here I have no master, I am the equal of all the women in the tribe, I do what I please without anyone’s aying anything about it, I work only for myself,—I shall marry if I wish and be unmar- ried again when I wish. Is there a single woman as independent as I in your cities?’”[4]

From the beginning of European discovery, exploration, and settling of the Americas, the native population has played a significant role in their survival and creation of a unique culture. While there was an enormous amount of conflict between the Native Tribes and the European colonists, there was also a significant amount of good that came from their contact. While their relationships were not always meant to be one sided, often the sole beneficiaries in the long run were the Europeans. Both cultures however did adopt useful practices from each other, sometimes even merging together or simply taking in some of the other group and assimilating them in. Europeans often became trade partners or wartime allies with specific tribes against other Europeans or other tribes. Intermarriage, especially early on in colonization efforts, was encouraged especially by the French and Iroquois Indians. While it was more common for Native Americans to assimilate into European culture it did happen the other way around. In addition native culture was a draw for colonial women, especially the young, unmarried, or enslaved. Overall Native Americans had an enormous impact on European settlers and in many cases were the only reason they survived.


[1] Belmessous, Assimilation and Empire: Introduction.
[2] Breen, Converging Worlds Communities and Cultures 19.
[3] Breen, Converging Worlds Communities and Cultures 11.
[4] Johansen, Encyclopedia of Early American Indian History: Indians in the Colonial Era 3.

Bibliography:

Johnson, Paul. A History of the American People. New York: HarperPerennial Edition, 1999

Belmessous, Saliha. Assimilation and Empire: Uniformity in French and British Colonies, 1541-1954. Oxford Scholarship Online, 2013.

Lycett, Stephen J. Dynamics of Cultural Transmission in Native Americans of the High Great Plains. New York: Department of Anthropology, University at Buffalo, 2014.

Johansen, Bruce E. and Pritzker, Barry M. Encyclopedia of American Indian History. Santa Barbara, CA, 2008.

Breen, Louise A. Converging Worlds: Communities and Cultures in Colonial America. Taylor and Francis: 2012.

Findling, John E. and Thackery, Frank W. What Happened?: An Encyclopedia of Events That Changed America Forever. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC CLIO, 2011.