Club Car

I found this first lecture extremely interesting. While both Canada and America were very similar when it came to their Indian policies its easy to see that in the future the relations between Canadian Indians with their European neighbors will be very different then those of their American counterparts. This can definitely be seen in the establishment of the Assembly Of First Nations. Another interesting topic was the treatment of the Metis. Before this point I never put much thought into the mix-bloods in America. I have a feeling if i grew up in Canada not only would I know about Metis I would have a much better understanding of the mix-blood culture. The part of the lecture I found the most interesting was in fact the first part. While I understand professor Isern's hesitation in organizing natives based solely on their geographic location I don't think it can be disregarded entirely as a form of organization. An Indian from the Pacific region is not fundamentally different then one from the plains or the plateau. Everything from the mode of transportation to the food they ate was different and was directly affected by their location. The plateau peoples primary food source was salmon, where as the plains people's was bison. Both salmon and bison have cultural significance for both sets of tribes. Also the use of horse's for travel is much more prevalent in the plains then in the forests of the plateaus, while on the pacific coast a young Salish boy would probably learn how to paddle a canoe before they could ride a horse. It is obvious that geography played a large role in shaping tribes and their cultures. That is not to say if a tribe moved from one location to another they could not adapt to their new surroundings, but they would most certainly have to adapt.

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