Well I have been reading more on Diereville’s Voyage to Acadie and here are a few exerts. First of all the Native Americans were once called Indians and it was supposed that when the continent was discovered that it was connected with East Indies. The people on East Indies were called Indians. It sort of makes sense.
Now Diereville was an agent of a merchant company in Rouen and he spent one year in Port Royal Nova Scotia (known as Acadie back then). He frequently went with the Native Americans to their learn their ways, customs, habits and also to collect specimen of things he found in the new land, such as flowers, and plants.
The Chase was the chief occupations of the Native Americans for subsistence. Lots of wild game such as moose, caribou (deer) and wild fowl furnished them with food while the beaver, otters, martins and lynx furnished them with furs for clothing and trading with the French. Sometimes on their hunting trips they would not eat for days but when they killed a deer they ate it in a most ravenous manner, bolting down the flesh without chewing and washing it down with spring water.
Beaver was found in many streams but much skill and cunning was needed to capture him. It’s sense of smell and hearing were so accurate that it was almost impossible to shoot it. The Native Americans also had a fine sense of smell, they could smell a bear at a great distance. With the guns they got from the French they seldom failed to get enough food for themselves and also game and venison for the Port Royal garrison.
The man who excelled in the chase was raised to a high rank position in his tribe and was chosen to be the chief of 100 warriors and he was respected both in peace and in war.
A warrior had to prove himself to be a good hunter before he could have a wife. If he fell in love, he applied to her parents who at once gave their permission if he was successful in the chase. If they had any doubt at that point the was required to prove himself by feeding the whole family of his future father in law with game he killed.
The marriage ceremony was simple. The parents presented the girl to her fiancé, just saying “This man is your husband”. The newlyweds then went into the woods for their honeymoon and to hunt together. The game they killed were taken to the bride’s father’s wigwam for a feast where all the Native Americans nearby were invited.
After a baby was born, it was dipped into the coldest water available even in winter to harden the baby and fish oil or melted fat was poured into the baby’s mouth before it was allowed to drink his mother’s milk until he was strong enough to eat solid foods.
Native American feasts were given on the following occasions, the birth of a boy, his first tooth, his first walk, and when he killed his first game. (nothing is mentioned about the baby girls).
When the French first settled in Port Royal , the Native Americans worshipped the Sun as their God , they called it Nichakaminon meaning very great. They acknowledged him as their maker. They also believed in a Demon called Mendon. The Jesuit missionaries converted the Native Americans to Christianity……..
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