Document Interpretation 1: Micmac Chiefs Observation of the French

The author of this source appears to be Chrestien Le Clercq who at the time was a
French missionary that felt that he related to the Micmac chief on his reaction to the
judgments on how his people lived. In Micmac Chiefs response it is apparent that he
contested the reproach of his natives. The Chief voiced his frustrations about how
ignorant the French were but mostly Europeans in general. The Chief didnt entirely
grasp the importance of the culture of the Europeans, however he claimed that its not
proper or ingenious to evaluate the ability of Native Americans entirely from a European
perception.
The impression I received when reading this document was that the Chiefs
response to the French is quite similar to what we are traditionally taught about Native
Americans. For this reason, I believe this document is credible because its a primary
source. Conventionally, I was taught that Native Americans at the time coexisted with
their environment. Consequently, their civilization was dissimilar from the developed
civilizations. Native Americans still had the life of a wanderer. They are likely wandering
everywhere with their wigwams in place of owning a stable home. Thus, their way of
making an investment was likely to become hunters and gatherers. Furthermore, since
Native Americans back then werent accustomed to a workforce and their way of life was
humbler than developed civilizations, they didnt have complex societal rules. All of this
information was implemented in the response of the Micmac Chief. Apart from the social
features of Native Americans, this document additionally exposes their tussle to
withstand annexation and to preserve their heritage. As most of us know, Native
Americans exerted both submissive and vigorous resistance versus the Europeans even
though they ended up being deported.
The concept of Other comprises the manner of recognizing our identities by
figuring out the dissimilarities amongst Others and ourselves. When we confront
foreign individuals, Others, that acquire a unique culture, we as a force of habit tend to
form an opinion about them by the ethics of our particular culture. This document
demonstrates examples of my understanding of Other. For instance, moving wigwams
and having an itinerant life may appear incompetent to the Europeans while to them
maybe constructing houses made of rocks or lumber may be more effective. From the
Europeans perspective, the life of the Micmac may be a less pleasurable alternative since
it restricts operating a food assembly tactic, which can interchange inept scavenging.
Nevertheless, from the Native Americans viewpoint, constructing stable households may
be less of an option, for maintaining the environment is priceless compared to being
industrious in their culture. Both the Europeans and Native Americans had to
comprehend that both societies were sensible from their own outlook.