European First Contact Essay

Europeans First Contact with the First Nations
The First Nations people of Canada are a part of a larger group of people that are now known as the Aboriginal people of Canada. The Aboriginals are the first inhabitants known to exist in Canada. The Aboriginals also include the Metis and the Inuit (“Who Are”). It is assumed that the First Nations have been in Canada for at least 12,000 years. Today, the people of the First Nations tribe have a population of more than 850,000 people. The First Nations is a community made up of Aboriginal people who like to identify as distinct cultural groups that are the descendants of the original inhabitants of Canada. The Canadian tribe of the First Nations consider themselves as an independent sovereign nation …show more content…
The Europeans began to rely on the First Nations for a variety of things such as finding food and learning how to get from one place to the next. The First Nations people were very receptive and welcoming and began to teach the Europeans about their land structure, daily lives, and how to live in their society. One of the biggest ways the two groups of people communicated was through trade. Because the First Nations did everything and made everything naturally the Europeans became very intrigued (“Who Are”). The First Nations had great admiration for the different items the Europeans brought with them. The Europeans had many favored pieces that they traded such as metal beads made of silver, brass, and German silver (Goldi, “Contact”). Because of this the two groups of people began to trade items. The First Nations people would trade items like metal for fur. The First Nations did not have metal, and the Europeans did not use natural products so both groups of people became very satisfied and content with this agreement (“Who Are”). The First Nations also had medicines that helped in salvaging the lives of the Europeans due to the diseases they came to Canada with. The most popular remedy was spruce tea which is loaded with vitamin C. This unfortunately only helped in curing scurvy, but not any of the more serious diseases (Goldi, “Contact”). Not long after, intermarriages started to happen between the two groups of people, this2 helped in keeping peace between the two groups of people. A lot of the Europeans and First Nations people thought of the intermarriages as great business opportunities with each other. The First Nations people considered themselves to be equal to the Europeans. The Europeans however, never really even considered themselves equal or the same as the First Nations, but were really just using them for