Reading log #3
In the stories “Nagging Wife” by Jan Noel and in “A Fille Du Roi’s Passage” by Adrienne Leduc, the reader learns that women of this time and age had a hard life. They were not living a life of leisure like women were back in Europe, they had to work hard just like the husbands. They had to get their hands dirty helping with the clearing of the land, the planting of the crops, washing heavy clothes by hand and helping how they could with the fur trade family business as well. These brides had to be youthful and of age to bear children. They had many children, sometimes up to 15 or 20 children, so the children would be able to run the business or take care of the family when the parents passed away. The wives dealt with commercial transactions at their husband’s fur trade posts. Many husbands were quite older than their wives and they ended up dying early in life. The women would end up getting shares of the fur trade business that their husband had and were allowed to run it with their eldest son. When the women weren’t running the posts, they did many common tasks such as tanning hides. They would sew shirts and clothes for the family and others. They would take care of the house, feed the children and keep the home clean. They would take care of the livestock and crops so there was enough to eat. “They have to churn the milk two or three times a week, to do them justice, it can be said that they are busy all day, even going beyond their strength”. (Noel p.51-52) Most of the families in New France were always outside doing something, keeping busy and trying to make money and trying to survive. These articles demonstrated how women were a huge part of the fur trade and life in New France, and starting a colony in New France wasn’t just the men discovering new land, trading with the Indigenous peoples and creating settlements.
Citation:
Jan Noel,”Nagging wife” Revisited: Women and the fur trade in New France,” French Colonial History, Vol.7.(2006) pp.45-60
History Reading Log #2
In the journal “We are well as we are” by James P. Ronda, the reader learns about the missionaries and their mission to change the Indian culture and convert them to follow Christian  beliefs. The missionaries were trying to get the Indians to forget their culture, stop their traditions, all of which created cultural suicide. The missionaries wanted them to live and be like Europeans. The missions tried to change the way the Indians told stories, spoke and wore clothes. “Indian speeches were filtered through white interpreters, recorded by white secretaries, and ultimately arranged in the memoirs of white missionaries”. (p.67)
Some Indians sided with the missionaries and bowed down out of fear or perhaps they even wanted a change, but others rejected the work of the missionaries;  they didn’t believe in it and just wanted to throw out the idea of Christianity completely. Indigenous culture interpreted sin and guilt as bad but did not give it any significance. They interpreted sin and guilt in religion as a person is human and that they make mistakes but they shouldn’t be put in hell for one little thing. The Indians did believe in the afterlife but they saw this life as a normal place to go and continue their daily routines like hunting, eating, fighting and sleeping. They didn’t believe a person would go to hell if they sinned or go to heaven if they were good. Most Indians thought hell was make believe and that it was just useless. They believed sickness like the disease small pox was caused by the missionaries. They believed the missionaries were punishing them for not converting.  During the small pox era, the Indians were not allowed to practice their medicine or have any form of healing ceremonies. They were often called witches and were looked down on.
Each group of people was super paranoid of each other. The missionaries  thought the First Peoples had demon forms attached to them and they needed to be saved by Christianity. The First Peoples thought necklaces that the missionaries wore, like crosses were really charms with special powers. The reality of the situation was that both missionaries and Indigenous people just wanted to be able to celebrate their culture and religion without having to change for anyone.
Citation:
James P. Ronda, “We are well as we are; An Indian critique of seventieth-century Christian Missions,” The William and Mary Querterly 34.1 (January 1977) pp.66-82