Show english alliance with indians aided new world conquests iroquois tribe swung 0 balance of power A against 0 ainest french pre Dired ired by national geographic society washington ashington D c service the conquest of the new world by the spaniards s is a story of the quest for gold the conquest of northeastern north america is a story of the rivalry of the french the english and the dutch for control of the fur trade since furs were to be obtained only through friendly alliance with the natives the three european ri rivals were not long in aligning themselves in accordance with the natural enmities among the indians when champlain undertook the colonization of the st lawrence region early in the seventeenth century it was only natural that he made friends with the Algon quins who then occupied that territory this alliance inevitably brought the french into conflict with the iroquois the hereditary enemies of the algonquians what champlain had no means of knowing was that the agricultural I 1 s TAOS INDIANS are the most northerly of the pueblo tribes and live along the upper reaches of rio grande crande in new mexico In their otheir early conquest of the great southwest the spaniards had plenty of trouble with members of this tribe now their main occupation is ceremonial dancing and semi sedentary iroquois possessed a genius for political politic al and military organization which combined with their warlike traditions was destined to give them the upper hand in conflict with native rivals english chose iroquois when the english undertook to aid the iroquois in their struggle they allied themselves with the side that represented the balance of power so it came about that north america is now english instead of french the english did not indulge extensively ten in missionary activities but with the roman catholic french the desire to convert the natives nat iv es t to 0 christianity was a leading f factor actor in in stimulating exploration in 1615 champlain thought the time was ripe to send missionaries into the territory of the st lawrence this work was begun by the recollects a franciscan order f 4 A A t rw LEN M CHIEF nava jo of arizona is a member of nj another southwest tribe of indians that played a vital role in the irin ning of the aresti e herdsmen the navajo is now retired to reservations in new mexico arizona and utah but in 1625 the jesuits came pursuing their calling under almost unbelievably difficult conditions with an unselfish courage and perseverance unsurpassed in the history of religion because the jesuits made a particular po point int of studying the natives ind and recording their customs we aade for the region of the st lawrence and the great lakes a thor I 1 j ar EDDIE BIG BEA BEAVER VER indian of montana is typical of his tribe a targe large division of algonquin s from whom the english fro luois luois wrested control of the st lawrence region now the tribe resides on reservations in montana and alberta peacefully engaged in s stock tock raising ough knowledge of the aboriginal tubes tribes before they had become greatly altered by contact with the europeans the good fathers found the indians difficult subjects for conversion the entire background and philosophy of the christian religion differed fundamentally from the native beliefs of the indians christianity was incomprehensible the basic idea of christianity immortality with conduct during life determining 0 the reward or punishment of the soul was incomprehensible sible to the aborigines who had but little thought for the hereafter and did not mix their ethics with their religion moral principles of good and evil were not sharply defined and the ideas of any such spirit abode as a happy hunting ground or an indian hell were foreign to native thought until the idea was implanted missionaries dreams or visions induced by fasting or drugs wherein he regularly saw and spoke with individuals known to be dead were ample proof to the indian of the existence of a 3 y DRAGS WOLF GROS VENTRE indian of north dakota has heard tales of his ancestor s dealings avith ul ti the ie white man atho uio came to conquer the he plains and did this T his tribe is another lother al branch of the algonquin s who lined up with the french in the early days of american history soul and an afterlife offerings placed with the dead were a manifestation fe of this belief the souls of the dead however howe were usually feared and frequently frequently extreme measures were taken in attempts tempts to prevent their return the religion of the indian was entirely practical and was designed to help him not in the future but in the immediate present thus when the indian thought himself plagued by an evil spirit the obvious way to rid himself of his difficulty was to propitiate that spirit with offerings his attention thus was fixed equally upon friendly and unfriendly forces believed in supernatural underlying all this was the somewhat hat mystic conception of an impersonal supernatural force which permeates all nat nature ure and animates all phenomena which control the destiny of man early white travelers not comprehending pre the real nature of this idea usual usually ay translated it as the great spirit the fabric of the indians religion was woven about his intimate observations 0 b ions of nature each day he saw the sun rise in the east and set in the w west est obliterating the stars which guarded the heavens at night he noticed the regularity of the waxing and waning of the moon lie he watched the procession of the equi boxes with the accompanying complex phenomena of the seasons |