The Aboriginal ways of living changed drastically during the contact era. Such as their social, political, economic, cultural and continuities. For example, Hernan Cortez entered the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlan in 1519. He thought that what he was seeing was almost unbelievable since it was much bigger and stronger than Granada and even with much more individuals than Granada had when it was taken. Cortez was not an indifferent tourist who was eager to see the sights and then be on his way. There are many factors that impacted the change in Aboriginals’ ways of living during the contact era for the Aboriginal peoples.
Another important point is the diseases and social disruptions. Diseases such as yellow fever, smallpox, measles, influenza and had affected the Aboriginals lifestyles majorly. These diseases were a very big part of the destruction of large segments of the Arawak’s, Beothuk’s, Caribs, and Meso-American empires. The illnesses were so dangerous that they were able to spread from one side of the continent to another. These “new” sicknesses that the Europeans brought to America were not only dangerous to a certain group of people. These illnesses were everywhere, at both home and abroad.
Technology and their knowledge also played a big role in their development. The effect of the arrival of the new technologies in the Aboriginal world both broadened and even narrowed the Aboriginal lives. Which then food supplies sometimes seemed to decrease, and Aboriginal peoples decided to turn to the fur trade post. The tools or the labor-saving technologies helped them acquire more and better food, increase mobility, and allowed them to clear forests faster to plant more crops.
For as their knowledge, the aboriginals of the Maritimes and the Gaspe were able to identify the trading opportunities represented by European sailing ships in 1535.
Aboriginal peoples from the Mi’kmaq through the Gaspe Iroquois to the Laurentian were eager to trade with Cartier when he arrived. Twenty Mi’kmaq canoes of fur-laden went to reach out to Cartier’s boats. They had no fear and they knew that the European were open to trading. Another point that shows their enhanced knowledge is the Wabanaki Confederacy.
Maritimes, Vermont, Newfoundland, Maine, and the Gaspe Peninsula were among the first to experience sustained contact with Europeans. The Abenaki, Wuastukwiuk, Penobscot, Mi’kmaq, and Passamaquoddy together covered much of this territory and somewhat more. They also shared many cultural features and traditions, including a suite of common ancestral stories. They had the same enemies in the Mohawk of the Haudenosaunee League. They welcomed the French into their territory along the St. Lawrence to arrange them, so they can fight the Iroquois enemies.
One of the most valuable components of the Aboriginal people’s culture is their language. Along the Pacific Northwest coast existed a variety of languages, which created a barrier to trade and negotiate. These were not minor dialectal variations; major differences between languages were both difficult to cross and proudly guarded.
From the date 1615 all the way to 1629, the Recollets worked with Aboriginal individuals near the St. Laurence and in Wendake. Aboriginal groups believed they were representatives from the French with unusual religious thoughts because the missionaries were something to be tolerated but not indulged. The Recollets focused on individual conversions but mostly on what the French traders living among the Wendat needed. The missionary approach transformed drastically upon the arrival of the Recollets’ successors, and the Jesuits.
After a short English occupation of the colony, The Jesuits became closely related to the Compagnie des Cent-Associés and combined with the restoration of French authority. The Jesuit purpose was to change entire communities instead of individuals. They approached their goal by exercising greater control over the behavior of the coureur de bois and working within the host-community culture. They studied Wyandot, represented the French enterprise in the field, and attempted to live among the Wendat according to their hosts’ practices, rather than imposing their own.
The balance between the number of men and woman often exhibits a badly tilted imbalance between the number of men and women in colonial societies. From the 1840’s all the way to the 1930’s in early New France, on the western fur trade frontier, and in British Columbia, under these circumstances, it was inevitable that newcomers’ males except Catholic priests would look to the aboriginal peoples as sexual and marriage partners.
From the earliest days of New France and Newfoundland miscegenation between the Europeans and the Aboriginals occurred. Since some practices such as polygyny wereenabled by the Aboriginals, more permanent heterosexuals did not take long to appear.
Their alliances and trades were a very significant part of their lives as well. Such as the iron, copper, and fur trades. Expanding on iron and copper, the people of the golf of St. European iron and copper products were accommodated by Lawrence into their hunting and household toolkits. These products had a large value in themselves, but they also had commercial value in the existing indigenous marketplace.
Alliances had also influenced the Aboriginals’ ways of living. Their societies created alliances between themselves to oppose the neighbors and the European immigrants. Alliances existed among the Wendat Confederacy, Wabanaki Confederacy, the Iron Confederacy, the Council of Three Fires, and the Niitsitapi Confederacy in what is now called Canada. Centered to the south of Canada lied another Alliance that had a major impact on Canadian history. Contact with Europeans resulted in stronger and more inspired alliances.
In conclusion, the Aboriginal ways of living changed severely during the contact era. The key factors in this transition were social, political, economic, cultural changes and continuities. The diseases and social disruption also played a major role in the transition of Aboriginal lifestyles. Other factors that affected this drastic change include the technology, knowledge, religion, values, alliances, and trade, which all developed extremely during the era. Human interactions at center impacted this progress severely as well.