Teaching Point: To analyze/critique texts and pictures to understand the effects of Spanish

colonization.

How was life different before the Spanish for Native Americans?

How did the lives of native Americans change after Spanish colonization?

Essential Questions

Critical Thinking: Based on your analysis/critique of the picture and your knowledge of Social Studies, how was life like before and after for the Native Americans, after the Spanish arrived?

An Early Colonist Describes the Indian Town of Secota In Thomas Hariot's account A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia (1590), he describes the Algonquian village of Secota, accompanied by Theodor de Bry's engraving. After noting the village's impressive agriculture and observing its inhabitants' feasts and religious rituals, he describes the Indians of Secota in words that echo many Europeans'. To Harriot, the Indians appeared void of all covetousness: "[they] live cheerfully and at their hearts' ease." While such accounts were no doubt intended to paint a deliberately rosy picture of the New World for these early voyagers' sponsors, they also reflected the extent to which the indigenous peoples of North America managed to live in harmony with their natural environment, as well as their lack of the Europeans' notions of individual property.

Their towns that are not inclosed with poles are commonly fairer than such as are inclosed, as appeareth in this figure which lively expresseth the town of Secota. For the houses are scattered here and there, and they have gardens, expressed by the letter E, wherein groweth tobacco which the inhabitants call uppowoc. They have also groves herein they take deer, and fields wherein they sow their corn. In their corn fields they build as it were a scaffold whereon they set a cottage like to a round chair, signified by F, wherein they place one to watch, for they would soon devour all their corn. For which cause the watchman maketh continual cries and noise. They sow their corn with a certain distance, noted by H, otherwise one stalk would choke the growth of another and the corn would not come unto his ripeness G, for the leaves thereof are large, like unto the leaves of great reeds. They have also a several broad plots C, where they meet with their neighbours to celebrate their chief solemn feasts as we have already mentioned above; and a place D where after they have ended their feast they make merry together. Over against this place they have a round plot B where they assemble themselves to make solemn prayers. Not far from this place there is a large building, A, wherein are the tombs of their kings and princes, as will appear by the 22 figure. Likewise, they have a garden noted by the letter, I, wherein they use to sow pumpkins. Also a place marked with K wherein they make a fire at their solemn feasts, and hard without the town a river L, from whence they fetch their water. These people are void of all covetousness and live cheerfully and at their hearts' ease. They solemnize their feasts in the night, and therefore they keep very great fires to avoid darkness and to testify their joy.

Focus Questions Who wrote this and why? What does the author think is important to note about the Town of Secota? Would this text have cast a positive or negative image to a 16th-century explorer? This text was created to generate interest in settling the New World. How doe you weigh that against the way the information is presented?

Town of Secota

Essential Question: Based on your analysis/critique of the picture and your knowledge of Social Studies, how was life like before and after for the Native Americans, after the Spanish arrived?

Dutch missionary John Megapolensis on the Mohawks (Iroquois), 1644

In 1643, Dutch minister J ohn Megapolensis became the town’s first pastor at Fort Orange (near Albany). As pastor he was not allowed to farm or trade, but received support from the town, while diligently performing his duties, which included teaching the Indians about Christ.

The Women are obliged to prepare the Land, to mow, to plant, and do every Thing; the Men do nothing except hunting, fishing, and going to War against their Enemies: they treat their Enemies with great Cruelty in Time of War, for they first bite off the Nails of the Fingers of their Captives, and cut off some joints, and sometimes the whole of the Fingers; after that the Captives are obliged to sing and dance before them . . ., and finally they roast them before a slow Fire for some Days, and eat them. . . . Though they are very cruel to their Enemies, they are very friendly to us: we are under no Apprehensions from them. . . .

They are entire Strangers to all Religion, but they have aTharonhijouaagon, (which others also callAthzoockkuatoriaho) i.e. a Genius which they put in the Place of God, but they do not worship or present Offerings to him: they worship and present Offerings to the Devil whom they call Otskon or Airekuoni. . . . They have otherwise no Religion: when we pray they laugh at us; some of them despise it entirely, and some when we tell them what we do when we pray, stand astonished. When we have a Sermon, sometimes ten or twelve of them, more or less, will attend, each having a long Tobacco Pipe, made by himself, in his Month, and will stand a while and look, and afterwards ask me what I was doing and what I wanted, that I stood there alone and made so many Words, and none of the rest might speak? I tell them I admonished the Christians, that they must not steal, . . . get drunk, or commit Murder, and that they too ought not to do these Things, and that I intend after a while to preach to them. . . . They say I do well in teaching the Christians, but immediately add Diatennon jawij Assyreoni hagiouisk, that is, why do so many Christians do these Things. They call usAssyreoni, that is, Cloth-Makers, or Charistooni, that is, Iron-Workers, because our People first brought Cloth and Iron among them...

Credit: Ebenezer Hazard, Historical Collections (Philadelphia, 1792), 1, 520-526. How did the settlers view the Native Americans?

Why do you think the settlers felt this way about the native Americans?

Do people today treat minorities like the settlers treated Native Americans in the past?

EUROPEAN ACCOUNT OF NATIVE AMERICANS“They go all naked save their privates, yet in cool weather they wear dear skins, with the hair on loose: some have leather stockings up to their twists, & sandals on their feet, their hair is black generally, which they wear long on the left side, tied on a knot, about which knot the kings and best among them have a kind of Coronet of deer's hair colored red, some have chains of long linked copper about their necks’ and some chains of pearl, the common sort stick long feathers in this knot, I found not a grey eye among them all. Their skin is tawny not so borne, but with dying and painting themselves, in which they – delight greatly. The women are like the men, only this difference; their hair – growth long all over their heads save clip – somewhat short afore, these do all the labor and the men hunt and go at their pleasure.”

How did the settlers view the Native Americans?

Why do you think the settlers felt this way about the native Americans?

Do people today treat minorities like the settlers treated Native Americans in the past?