During the first part of eighteenth century many Indian nations were interacting directly with European nations—primarily England, France, and Spain—in three key areas: (1) the demand for land by the European colonists, (2) the fur and hide trade which brought Indians into a world-wide economic system, and (3) the European insistence that Indians convert to Christianity.
European colonists wanted land which they could farm, and they generally overlooked the fact that Indian people had been farming the lands for centuries. Initially, European justification for taking Indian land was that it was terra nullius: unoccupied land. In other words, if the land was unoccupied, then it could be legally taken. However, European concepts of occupancy differed greatly from those of the Indian. The European doctrine of terra nullius meant that if the land was not cultivated—meaning cultivated in a European fashion with fences enclosing it—then it was terra nullius.
Indian nations considered land to be sovereign territory, a fact which Europeans conveniently ignored to justify their theft of the land. The Indians viewed land as communally owned rather than privately owned. While the Europeans thought of land as a form of wealth, the Indians did not.
The Native fur and hide trades were important because the European tanneries were unable to produce leather as supple and white as that produced by the Indians. In her chapter in Robes of Splendor: Native North American Painted Buffalo Hides, Anne Vitart notes:
“The cost of Indian leather, on the European market, was twice that of the regular leather from European tanneries.”
In her book Slavery in Indian Country: The Changing Face of Captivity in Early America, Christina Snyder reports:
“Beginning in the eighteenth century, a European cattle plague threatened the British leather industry, but American deerhides provided an acceptable substitute used by manufacturers in bookbinding, in saddles and saddlebags, and in deerskin breeches favored by American colonists.”
The fur trade changed the economies of many Indian nations. In the southeast, for example, Indians had traditionally hunted only to supplement their agricultural efforts. By the end of the eighteenth century, however, hunting had grown to be a vital element of Indian lives and the means by which they could obtain European goods. Items such as guns, housewares (iron pots, brass and tin kettles, pans, canisters), tools, blankets, textiles, and rum were frequently considered necessities rather than luxuries. At the French trading posts of Detroit and Green Bay, cloth, blankets, gunpowder, and shirts were the dominant trade goods.
The European trade goods were not only used by the Indians “as is,” but they were often recycled. Thus, iron pot rims were made into wedges, brass kettles were refashioned into tinkling cones, iron frying pans were used in making arrow heads, and so on. Archaeologist George Odell, in his chapter in Stone Tool Traditions in the Contact Era, reports:
“Native Americans were ingenious in their re-employment of scrap metal once it became obvious that European trade goods would not be resupplied.”
While the fur and hide trade brought Indians and Europeans into closer contact and into business relationships, it also carried with it the seeds for the destruction of the traditional Indian economies and the spiritual relationship between Indians and the land and the animals. The fur trade undercut the traditional native economies and made them more and more reliant upon European goods. At the same time, the new economy meant that Indian hunters must now harvest a surplus of deer and other animals to have hides for trade. This began to upset the ecology by overhunting. It also violated a spiritual relationship between the people and the animals who had spiritually given themselves to the people since before there was time.
Prior to the European invasion, Indians had viewed themselves and the animal people as equals. With the hunting for the fur trade, a new world view emerged: Indian men began to see the world in a hierarchical fashion in which they had dominion over the animals. In addition, this hierarchical view placed men at the top of the human hierarchy and upset the traditional balance between men and women.
Briefly described below are a few of the events of 1722.
The English in 1722
The primary concern of the English in North America was land. In the English view of America, the land was a wilderness which was occupied by wild animals and wild Indians, both of which needed to be exterminated in order for the land to be civilized. With regard to individual Indians and the legal system, Indians were generally not allowed to testify or be admitted as a witness against any Christian non-Indian.
In Connecticut, the English colony reinforced its prohibition against the unauthorized purchase of Indian land. The law now provided for forfeiture and fine. The new law was in response to a complaint by Pequot leader Robin Cassacinamon (the second).
Massachusetts governor Samuel Shuttle declared war on the Abenaki. This war is called Drummer’s War, Grey Lock’s War, Lovewell’s War, or Father Rasles’ War. Part of the concern of the English colonists was the presence of Jesuits among the Abenaki. The colonial Puritans were strongly anti-Catholic and particularly anti-Jesuit. Father Sebastian Rasles, a Jesuit missionary, strongly encouraged the Abenaki to defend their lands and themselves against the English colonists.
In Massachusetts, the English continued their genocide against Indians by increasing the bounty on Indian scalps to £100.
In Maryland, the Assateague signed a peace treaty with the English colonists.
In Virginia, English settlers began to move into Monacan territory. As the English moved in, the Monacan began to move south to live with the Catawba. Historian Landon Jones, in his book William Clark and the Shaping of the West, reports:
“They could anticipate the changes coming to their world by the arrival of the honeybees.”
The bees generally preceded the European invasion by about a hundred miles.
In Pennsylvania, two colonists murdered an Indian and colonial authorities wanted to execute them. However, the Iroquois told the English authorities that “one life is enough to be lost.” Consequently, the men were set free.
In Pennsylvania, a law was passed which prohibited the selling of rum and other alcohol to the Indians.
The Spanish in 1722
In Texas, the Spanish established a fort, La Bahía, and the mission of Espíritu Santo de Zuñiga in Karankawa territory.
The French in 1722
Historian William Eccles, in his chapter in North American Exploration. Volume 2: A Continent Defined, discusses the French invasion of North America:
“In the eighteenth century the French had four main aims in their thrust into the Far West: to discover new supplies of furs; to find new tribes to proselytize the faith of the Church of Rome, a motive that was considerably diminished as the century wore on; to penetrate and dominate the Spanish commercial empire by land; and to be the first to discover the inland sea that would lead to the Pacific.”
In Mississippi, a French sergeant killed several Natchez in a dispute over corn. Since the French commandant did not punish the sergeant, Natchez warriors began a series of raids against the French. In one instance a group of warriors from the White Apple village (who were reportedly drunk) attacked a French plantation. The French responded by dispatching troops from New Orleans. Tattooed Serpent, the Natchez chief, managed to make peace with the French and forced the villages of White Apple, the Hickories, and the Griga to pay an indemnity to the French.
Indian Nations in 1722
In New York, the Tuscarora joined the Iroquois Confederacy, and the League of Five Nations became the League of Six Nations. In his chapter in the Handbook of North American Indians, David Landy reports:
“Thereafter they participated in the councils of the League, but their chiefs were not made sachem chiefs of the League, and consequently the roll of League chiefs was not expanded beyond the original number.”
The Tuscarora maintained their village between the Oneida and Onondaga villages.
In Louisiana, there were now two Houma villages: Grand Houmas on the east bank of the Mississippi and Petit Houmas, a smaller village located on Bayou Lafourche.
In Maine, the Micmac increased their sea raids and captured 22 European vessels.
Indians 101
Twice each week—on Tuesdays and Thursdays—this series presents American Indian topics. More eighteenth-century histories from this series:
Indians 101: American Indians 300 years ago, 1721
Indians 101: American Indians 300 years ago, 1720
Indians 101: Indians and Europeans 300 Years Ago, 1719
Indians 101: Three Centuries Ago (1718)
Indians 101: Massachusetts, 1700 to 1725
Indians 101: The Pueblos, 1700 to 1725
Indians 101: The Natchez and the French
Indians 101: Indian Resistance to the California Missions
