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92 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW andextremely difficultfor theHudson's BayCompany, theforemost trading andrulingconcern in theArctic.The natives weresuffering fromallsorts of maladies: tuberculosis, influenza, the effects of alcohol, and the odious commercial practices of tradingconcerns andfreetraders. The Company, not muchgivento humanitarian concerns, wasfacingstiffcompetition fromits rivalsfor a commoditywhosemarketwas,moreoften thannot,unstable. In effect,the Company's fortuneswerefailingseriously, andBonnycastle was chosen toinvestigate eachof itsfur tradeposts alongtheMackenzie Riverand the western Arctic. WhatBonnycastle saw onhisfourjourneys was certainly lightyears fromhis ownupbringing. Bornintoa modest Ontariofamilywitholdandrespected connections, educated atOxfordwhereheplayedhockey withLester Pearson andRolandMichener,he forsookthe practiceof lawto become oneof the Company's accountants inWinnipeg.Oncenorthheenteredaworldforwhich he maynothavebeenprepared,but hisenergyand curiosity, andfaithin himself, puthimin goodstanding withhisfellowemployees. The strength of Bonnycastle's observations layin thefactthattheyweremeanttobeprivate, devoidof romance, withnomalicetowardanyoneor anything. The diaries dealwithinnerthoughts, harrowing experiences, thedelights oflocalgossip thesocial bondoftheNorth- toalesser degreethecondition ofthenatives in theWesternArcticand, from Bonnycastle's vantage,thelamentable stateof affairsrampantin theCompany's northernposts andoffices: intemperance, illiteracy, incompetency and,mostserious, thelackof incorruptible loyalty to theCompany. At the time, Richard Bonnycastle was not a central characterin the Company's fortunes,but hisprivatediaries- asopposed to the obligatory formalreports- providea remarkableinsightinto the operationof the venerable company anda vanished world;to a lesser degree,thesepersonal diaries tracethegrowthof Bonnycastle fromanambitious, youngmantoan experienced andresourceful trader,a forthrightcompany servant whowent ontobecome secretary totheCompany's Canadian Committee andpersonnel managerfor the fur trade. mC•IA• mV•A•.•OConcordia University TheEmbattled Northeast: TheElusive IdealofAlliance in Abenaki-Euroamerican Relations. •w,z•i M. MORmSO•. [Berkeley]:Universityof CaliforniaPress •984. Pp.x, •,56.$•'4.95 This book is about Abenaki/Euroamerican relations from the time of earliest contacts (•48o) to •7•,7. Composed of anintroduction andsixchronologically ordered chapters plusforty-eight pages ofnotes, itexamines theways inwhich Indians, French,andEnglish colonials interacted indifferentfrontierarenas. REVIEWS 93 Solidly grounded inathorough knowledge ofthedocumentary, ethnographic, and oral history records,the result is an ethnohistorical accountthat documents complexand changing interethnicrelations duringthisseminal periodof initialcontact. Morrisonstresses the ideological foundationsupon which Indian/white relationships were based,and examinesthe cognitivecriteria and shifting motives bywhichtheAbenakiassessed andresponded todifferentcategories of Europeans andviceversa.Because theEnglish,French,andAbenakiheld culturally distinct worldviews, Morrisondescribes anddiscusses eachasabasis for understanding theentangledandalteringscene of conflict,accommodation ,and negotiation. While hopingto achieve 'a fair-minded,comparative approach,' it isevidentthatcolonials, particularly the English,deserve little sympathy. Bothbecause ofthetheoretical sophistication andalso theexcellent accountof the role of Indian beliefsand values,this studyadds a new dimension to our perception of northeastern colonial events, onenotoften achieved byhistorians. TheAbenaki werenotapolitically unifiedpeoplebutratheracongeries of culturally andlinguistically similargroups - apointthatneeds stressing since theEnglish erroneously butfrequently assumed intergrouppolitical andsocial consensus. Intra grouppolitical consensus combined witheconomic individualism intrade,however, generated disparate responses toEuropeans fromthe outset. Colonial conflict exacerbated existing divisive conditions inhibitingthe Abenakifrom presenting a unifiedfront to blockade Europeanexpansion untiltheiridentityandlandbasehadbeenseverely threatened. ButEuropeans werenotallcutfromthesame clotheither.The arrivalofa varietyof types of representatives of competing nationstates meantthatthe Abenaki hastoassess anddealwithEuropeans individually. By the earlyseventeenth centurythe Abenakihad becomethe unwilling participants in French/English rivalry.Initially,mostof theirtradewaswith NewEnglandbuttherewerefewenforceable rulesgoverning it. The English tendedto viewIndiansassavages lackingin moralsandindeedwithoutan identifiable culture. Forthemost part,theyremained intolerant andsuspicious of Indianswhosemistreatment wasjustified on theological groundsor in revengefor Indian retaliationto hostility.Althoughthe Englishwere not certainthattheAbenakiwerehuman,Abenakiobservers of Englishcruelty heldsimilar doubts aboutthelatter.In contrast totheEnglish whokeptIndians atarms' length, French missionaries preferredtoliveamongst them.Whileno less ethnocentric in their viewsof Indian religion,thesemissionaries at least tolerated otherIndian customs and sympathized withtheir problems. They werethusabletogaintheAbenakitrustandtherebyconvertatleastnominally manyIndiansto RomanCatholicism, A religioussyncretism resultedduring thelateseventeenth centurythattendedtorevitalizeAbenakiculture.In turn, theEnglish viewed Frenchmissionary effortsasapapist plottogaincontrol of 94 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW NewEnglandthroughIndian agents.It is little wonder,then, giventhese divergentideologies and misinterpretations of actions,that sixmajor wars (plusnumerous smallerconflicts) occurred between theAbenakiandEnglish colonists priorto 1727 . Had Frenchcolonial officials beenableandwillingto providethe militaryand economic supportthat the Abenakiwanted,the English mighthavehadtogiveconsiderble concessions totheiropponents. In time,theAbenakiadoptedthe stance that neithercolonial powerwasto be trusted orreliedupon.Theyrealized thattribalconsensus wasnecessary if the Abenakiweretomaintaintheirpolitical independence. Althoughideological differences generated much- perhaps most- inter culturalconflict, materialistic factorscannotbeignored.This wasespecially trueduringthelateseventeenth/early eighteenth centuries whentheAbenaki wereexperiencing considerable economic hardship. Morrison, emphasizing as hedoestheproblems of differingworldviews,tendsto giveshortshriftto potential orrealmaterialistic causes ofconflict. Hadmoreattention beengiven to changes in Abenakisubsistence and settlement patterns,a balanced and holisticaccountmight have emerged. The book, then, is designedto supplement, albeitin averyimportantway,otherstudies thatsimultaneously rangemore broadlyand give more detailedattentionto the complicated multi-cultural context. Indeed,themarkedemphasis ontheAbenaki cognitive aspect cannotbutactasacorrective to simplistic anddeterministic studies. In sum,thebookprovides an interesting dimension to the studyof a particular peopleandearlycolonialhistoryin theNortheast. c•^RI•.s...

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