Native Americans and the European Excursion
Prior to the arrival of Europeans in America, there were millions of Native Americans scattered all over the continent. Among the Native Americans were tribes made up of nomadic tribes who moved from place to place while following food sources and the varying weather patterns. In addition, there were more agricultural-based tribes that were more permanent in their residents. However, even though the latter tribes farmed, they did not have enough tools and techniques to help them grow crops successfully, so they supplemented with hunting and fishing. The most prominent crops were corn, beans, and squash (Park et al., 2016). In the farming tribes, land was allocated to families, meaning that a family would have a right to use a specific piece of land, but they had no right to own it. The same case was applied in the hunting tribes; tribes could temporarily claim specific areas for hunting but if a land was unclaimed, anyone could use it.
After the European excursion, the agricultural tribes were affected most because, while they were not dedicated to accumulating material possessions and riches, including land, the Europeans wanted to own everything they could find. Initially, the Native Americans welcomed the Europeans; however, the Europeans brought with them diseases that wiped out approximately fifty percent of their pre-contact population (Brown-Rice 2013). This catastrophe diminished the Native’s ability to fight back when the Europeans invaded their land and started claiming it as their own. The Europeans would fence around their crops but let their animals loose in open fields where the Natives had farmed. The Natives would respond by slaughtering these animals. Subsequently, the Europeans would then demand compensation, but upon refusal, they would invade the Native’s lands and burn down their villages and farms (Anderson 2004). Contrastingly, the hunting tribes had initially formed a successful relationship with the Europeans, where they sold them fur, which was popular in Europe. In exchange, the tribes were given weapons, such as the French-supplied materials for weapons like spearheads and guns (Greer 2005). However, the hunting tribes like the Mohawk were later devastated by disease in the 1630s, and the tribe diminished, as did the trade.
In conclusion, the hunting tribes, for example, the Mohawk tribe, were better suited to the European excursion because the tribes and the settlers rarely conflicted on matters of land. Secondly, the hunting tribes formed a solid trade relationship with the Europeans, which played a crucial role in the Mohawk-Canadian wars because they supplied the tribes with the weapons they needed.
References
Anderson, V. D. (2004). Creatures of empire: How domestic animals transformed early America. Oxford University Press, USA.
Brown-Rice, K. (2013). Examining the Theory of Historical Trauma Among Native Americans. Professional Counselor, 3(3).
Greer, A. (2005). Mohawk Saint: Catherine Tekakwitha and the Jesuits. Oxford University Press.
Park, S., Hongu, N., & Daily III, J. W. (2016). Native American foods: History, culture, and influence on modern diets. Journal of Ethnic Foods, 3(3), 171-177.
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Question 
Native Americans and the European Excursion
Assessment Description
Compare and contrast hunting- versus agricultural-based tribes. How did each respond to European incursions on their lands? Using specific details, which group was better suited to sustain this significant change? (See Map 1.2 – Native America Nations of North America HIST 5).