The Historians’ Indian: Native Americans in Canadian Historical Writing from Charlevoix to the Present

BRUCE G. TRIGGER The Historians' Indian: Native Americans in Canadian Historical Writingfrom Charlevoix to the Present siscw1971several importantstudies havechronicled thetreatmentof native peoples inCanadian historical writing.•Duringthesame period therehasbeena growinginterestin the historyof nativepeoples as theirdescendants beginoncemoreto playa greaterrolein national life.The rangeof topics beinginvestigated andtheunderstanding of the generaloutlinesof nativehistoryhaveincreased ashistorians, anthropologists, archaeologists, geographers, and economists have combined their professional skillsin the pursuitof ethnohistorical research.There is alsoevidenceof a new concernto integratethe findingsof ethnohistorians into the broaderframeworkof national history. Nowisanopportune timetosurvey currenttrendsinthestudy of nativehistory.In chapter 1 of Natives andNewcomers I soughtto broaden thediscussion of thesetrendsbyrelatingsuccessive fashions inthehistorical portrayalof nativepeoples tochanging anthropological understanding and the actualpositionof Indiansin Canadian society at thetimewhentheseaccounts werewritten. • In thispaperI Thispaperisarevised version of thefirstof twoSeagram Lectures delivered tothe Department of History, University ofToronto,3 February1986.I thankthose attending fortheircomments andNobuhiroKishigami forhisdiscussions ofethnohistory . J.W.StG.Walker,'TheIndianinCanadian Historical Writing,'Canadian Historical Association, Historical Papers, 197l, 21-47; D.B.Smith,LeSauvage: TheNative People inQuebec Historical Writing onthe Heroic Period (•534-•663) ofNewFrance (Ottawa1974);Walker,'The Indianin Canadian Historical Writing,1972-•982,' in I.A.L. GettyandA.S.Lussier, eds.,AsLongastheSunShines andWater Flows: A Readerin Canadian NativeStudies (Vancouver 1983), 34o-57 B.G.Trigger,Natives andNewcomers: Canada's 'Heroic Age'Reconsidered (Montreal 1985), 3--49 CanadianHistorical Review,x•xw•,3, •986 ooo83755 /86/o9oo-o315 $o1.2 5/0¸ University ofTorontoPress 316 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW willattempttoconsolidate someof themainthemes of theseearlier studies andtoevaluate significant trendsin morerecentwork. INDIANS AS ALLIES In histories of Canadawritten prior to the •84osIndiansplayeda prominent roleandweretreated respectfully. Thisreflected theactual significance of nativepeople,who as trappersand traderswere important totheCanadian economy andwho,withtheexception ofthe Iroquois priorto •7ø• andtheMicmac in thelateeighteenth century, were alliesof successive French and British governments in their struggles against theEnglish colonists andlatertheAmericans tothe south. The modelfor theseearlyhistories wastheHistoire etdescription g•ndrale dela Nouvelle France, published by the FrenchJesuitpriest PierreoFran•oisoXavier de Charlevoix in •744.• This work must be regardedas the first seriousstudyof Canadianhistory,earlier self-styled histories beingeitherchronicles ofcontemporary events, to whichsummaries of previous happenings weresometimes added,or latercompilations anddigests ofthese accounts. 4Charlevoix provided a systematic treatmentof Frenchcolonization, mission work,and conflict withtheEnglish in theNewWorld.Although a strong jesuit biascoloured hisinterpretations, hiscarefulevaluation of alternative sources and provision of bibliographies and footnotes markeda significant advance in thewritingof Canadian history. Charlevoix knewnativepeoplesat first hand. He had cometo Quebec in •7o5,wherehetaughtgrammarattheseminary until•7o9. In •72o he returnedto Canadachargedby the Frenchgovernment withevaluating various proposals concerning theleast expensive way toreachthePacific Ocean.Between•72• and•722hetravelledslowly, bywayofMichilimackinac andtheMississippi River,toNewOrleans, visiting French tradingposts alongtheway. 5In thecourse ofthese two visits, he hadtheopportunity to meetIndiansfrom manydifferent 3 P.F.X. Charlevoix, Histoire etdescription g•n•rale de laNouve!le France avec lejournal historique d'unvoyage faitparordre duroidans !'Am•rique septentrionale, 3 vols.(Paris •744);laterreferences aretoCharlevoix,History andGeneralDescription ofNewFrance, ed.J.G. Shea,6 vols.(NewYork 1866-72). 4 Themost important ofthese areMarcLescarbot, Histoire delaNouvelle-France (Paris 16o 9, rev.ed. •6• 7); Samuelde Champlain,LesVoyages delaNouvelle France occidentale ...depuis l'an•6o3jusques enl'an•629 (Paris•632);GabrielSagard,Histoire duCanada ... 4 vols.(Paris1636);Franqois Du Creux,Historiae Canadensis (Paris1664);Chrestien Le Clercq,Premier Etablissement delafoydans laNouvelleFrance , 2 vols.(Paris1691). 5 D.M.Hayne,'Charlevoix, Pierre-Franqois-Xavier de,'Dictionary ofCanadian Biography, vol.III (Toronto 1974), lO3-1o THE HISTORIANS' INDIAN 317 groupsand to hear what Frenchin different placesand occupying various positions hadtosayaboutthem.In hishistoryheexpounded a viewof nativepeoplesthat embodiedconcepts that haveremained importantuntilthepresent. Likesome otherJesuitscholars ofhisday, hesubscribed tocertainbeliefsabouthumanbeings thatcharacterized thenewthinkingof theEnlightenment andthese beliefs arereflected in hisinterpretations of nativebehaviour. He believedthat nations,like individuals,possess charactersor temperaments thatthey cannot layaside atwill. 6Thespecific characteristics that he ascribedto different nativepeopleswere, however, based on littlemorethanthe variousstereotypes thatthe Frenchhad developed inthecourse oftheirrelations withthese groups. Yethedid not restrictnegativestereotypes to nativepeople,but argued,for example,that the Frenchwerepresumptuous and perfidiousto the pointthatit impededtheirrelations withnativegroups. 7He regarded temperament asbeingphysically innatein humanbeings, butdidnot interpretit, asmanynineteenth-century scholars wereto do,asbeing racialin character andthereforefixedoverinnumerablegenerations. Instead, heattributed it largely totheinfluence oftheenvironment? He thereforeconcluded that temperament wasalterableasenvironmentalcircumstances changed. Like most Enlightenmentscholars,Charlevoix viewed native peoples asbeingasinherentlyrationalasEuropeans. He alsobelieved that the conductof all human beingswasdeterminedby similar calculations of honour and self-interest. The main difference between FrenchandIndian wastheextentoftheirknowledge; theIndians'lack of educationmade them more superstitious and violent. Yet he believedthat even the most savagepeoplescould be improved...