The story of
newcomer-indigenous contact was not always one of battle, conquest, and
dispossession, although these were the most common occurrences. occurrences.
Indigenous peoples were not always averse to the arrival and settlement by
outsiders. The colonial powers had metal tools, new military technology, and
other material goods, making them valuable as trading partners. Colonial
governments, for their part, learned from bitter direct experience or from the
costly errors of their rivals that extended military campaigns against the
original inhabitants carried enormous costs and rarely resulted in a peaceful
settlement and development frontier. As time passed, and particularly by the
late nineteenth and early twentieth century, arguments were being mounted that
empires had to both enrich the colonial power and contribute to the well-being
of the colonized people - it was the white man's burden to share God's
beneficence with the rest of the world. On both sides, therefore, there were
reasons for more gentle patterns of occupation and coexistence. While these
relationships often resulted in significant disruptions in indigenous lifeways
and economic activity, they represented a very different attempt by newcomers
and aboriginal peoples alike to respond to the changing realities of an
inter-cultural world.
The demarcation
between periods and sites of conflict and those of cooperation follow no
singular logic. Colonial nations which, in one area of the world, experienced
violent confrontations with indigenous societies responded very differently in
other locations. Indigenous peoples who, in early stages of contact, engaged
in bitter conflict with the newcomers, managed more flexible and mutually
beneficial relations with the same colonial powers a few decades later. In some
instances, the changed approach reflected the realization of the consequences
of conflict or, more positively, illustrated a growing understanding of each other.
There was no simple pattern from the colonizer's perspective. The Spanish and
Portuguese, the first to establish substantial overseas colonies, moved
initially with brutality and certainty, only belatedly coming to the
realization that their approach to colonization beggared their treasury and
slowed the economic development of their overseas holdings. The French had
reasonably positive relations with First Nations in northern North America and
bitter conflicts in Africa. The British managed to establish respectful
relationships in substantial portions of East Africa, waged bitter war against
the Maori, and engaged in genocidal behaviour in several of the colonies of British North
America. Belgium, late into the colonial game, entered with a vengeance,
establishing an unenviable track record of destruction and conquest in central
Africa.
Indigenous response
to newcomers went through similar patterns. Some, like the Beothuk of
Newfoundland, feared the newcomers from the beginning, made very little contact,
and perished from starvation, disease, and separation from their traditional
harvesting territories. Many of the small tribal societies in the Amazon basin,
Australia, Central America, the high Arctic, Siberia, and the mountainous
districts of Southeast Asia took comparable approaches, remaining in the safety
of their forbidding environments, protected by the difficult terrain from
destructive contact with the outsiders. Others fought with the colonial powers
until circumstances forced a reconsideration of their approach. The Japanese
worried about the potential aggressiveness of the Ainu:
[They] are a sturdy
tribe. Although they seem to be ignorant, it is said that, having solved the
problem of death, they have strong characters. If they are not treated with
care, they will probably cause trouble in the future. Just recently, a [man]
committed suicide because of his anger. We must remember the old adage that a
rat when driven into a corner may attack a cat.(1)
For a few, like the Maori of New Zealand, demonstrations of military prowess
earned the begrudging respect of the colonizers and resulted in a negotiated
relationship which, on paper, held the promise of a reasonable future within a
colonial regime. Others, like the Sioux, fought successfully against the
newcomers but realized that, even in victory, they had nonetheless lost their
land and control over their future. The Aborigines of Cape York, Australia,
routinely fought with newcomers, with their acts of violence typically
resulting in an equally strong or stronger reaction. Throughout Australia, a
series of localized massacres and bitter battles marked the expansion of the
ranching and farming frontier. Situations changed with the size of the colonial
population, the aggressiveness of the newcomers, and the policies of
governments. The indigenous response also shifted over time, as groups
oscillated between fleeing from the intruders, fighting with them, welcoming
and supporting the newcomers, or seeking a political or administrative accommodation.
Some groups, like the Jahai of Malaysia, shied away
from direct and extended contact with outsiders, using geography and distance
to protect themselves from unwelcome changes.
The expansion into
indigenous territories typically involved the search for wealth and
opportunity, and the original inhabitants were often viewed as pivotal to the
securing of the much-desired resources. The initial colonial efforts in Central
and North America, for example, revolved around attempts to use aboriginal labour to produce valuable crops, minerals, or other forms
of wealth for the colonial powers.
Many of the small
tribal societies in the Amazon basin, Australia, Central America, the high
Arctic, Siberia, and the mountainous districts of Southeast Asia took comparable
approaches, remaining in the safety of their forbidding environments, protected
by the difficult terrain from destructive contact with the outsiders. Others
fought with the colonial powers until circumstances forced a reconsideration of
their approach. The Japanese worried about the potential aggressiveness of the
Ainu:
[They] are a sturdy
tribe. Although they seem to be ignorant, it is said that, having solved the
problem of death, they have strong characters. If they are not treated with
care, they will probably cause trouble in the future. Just recently, a [man]
committed suicide because of his anger. We must remember the old adage that a
rat when driven into a corner may attack a cat.(2)
For a few, like the Maori of New Zealand, demonstrations of military prowess
earned the begrudging respect of the colonizers and resulted in a negotiated
relationship which, on paper, held the promise of a reasonable future within a
colonial regime. Others, like the Sioux, fought successfully against the
newcomers but realized that, even in victory, they had nonetheless lost their
land and control over their future. The Aborigines of Cape York, Australia,
routinely fought with newcomers, with their acts of violence typically
resulting in an equally strong or stronger reaction. Throughout Australia, a
series of localized massacres and bitter battles marked the expansion of the
ranching and farming frontier. Situations changed with the size of the colonial
population, the aggressiveness of the newcomers, and the policies of
governments. The indigenous response also shifted over time, as groups
oscillated between fleeing from the intruders, fighting with them, welcoming
and supporting the newcomers, or seeking a political or administrative
accommodation. Some groups, like the Jahai of
Malaysia, shied away from direct and extended contact with outsiders, using
geography and distance to protect themselves from unwelcome changes.
The expansion into
indigenous territories typically involved the search for wealth and opportunity,
and the original inhabitants were often viewed as pivotal to the securing of
the much-desired resources. The initial colonial efforts in Central and North
America, for example, revolved around attempts to use aboriginal labour to produce valuable crops, minerals, or other forms
of wealth for the colonial powers. The model established in Central America and
portions of South America did not transfer well to the more mobile peoples of
North America and much of South America, however. These indigenous peoples did
not accept the forcible transition into a commercial workforce. In these cases,
much of the economic potential remained unrealized until additional laborers -
slaves, indentured servants, and immigrant workers - were imported.
In those parts of the
world where the emerging colonial economy drew heavily on traditional
indigenous skills of harvesting and traveling, more mutually beneficial
relationships developed. The North American fur trade rested on strong and
sustained relations between fur traders and indigenous trappers and traders,
although much less so during the westward extension of the United States than
in the French and British areas to the north. Similar patterns of contact and
mutual support emerged during the eastward expansion of Russia into Siberia and
with the reindeer-herding Sami people of northern Scandinavia. Russian
authorities levied an economically debilitating iasak
(tribute or tax) on the indigenous peoples, requiring them to provide large
quantities of furs to the authorities. They encouraged the development of
commercial reindeer herding and, later, commercial fishing, providing the
indigenous peoples of the North with an entrée into the market economy
expanding from the west. The Ainu of Japan likewise traded extensively with the
Japanese, although they often complained about the imbalance in the exchange:
Lord Matsumae's methods of trade are unfair. We are obliged to
buy rice in sacks containing only seven or eight shb
where they used to contain two to.
Furthermore, if one
bundle of shells is found to be short the next year he charges twenty bundles
for it and if one is unable to produce them, his child is taken in ransom.
Since all is carried out in the same manner it is a great hardship on the
people Bikuni.(3)
The development of
the Basho contracting system, comparable to chartered European companies,
changed the trading system for the Ainu in the late eighteenth century, but did
not strengthen the Ainu hand decisively. In parts of the South Pacific, the
early colonial economies relied on indigenous help with fishing, cultivation of
crops, and other resource activities. These relationships, while serving to
draw the indigenous peoples into colonial and even global trading networks,
often proved of lasting duration, sustained in some parts of the world into the
post World War II era.
The arrival of
newcomers also ushered in an era of personal contact between colonial and
indigenous peoples. With few exceptions, the overwhelming majority of the
colonial populations were young men. The dispatch of hundreds of sailors,
fishermen, loggers, soldiers, miners, and officials to the far distant fringes
of the empire resulted in the creation of incomplete, fragmented societies. The
convict societies in several parts of Australia, likewise, shared few social
characteristics with the more comprehensive and balanced society of the
homeland. Some settlements, like the early communities along the east coast of
British North America, Boer communities in South Africa, and British colonies in
New Zealand and South Australia, brought men, women, and children, with the
goal of providing greater social stability and permanence. But these were
exceptions. Most initial colonies were peopled by large groups of young men,
with few women among their number.
Although the colonial
societies had both legal and social strictures governing relations with
indigenous women, the distance from the mother country and the full control of
church, state, and community values prevented the full implementation of these
rules. Young men, far from the social controls of their communities, sought
sexual comfort and companionship from indigenous women. These relationships
ranged widely in character, from exploitative and destructive contacts, in
which rape and the use of coercion was commonplace, to lasting and mutually
beneficial arrangements. Aztec historian Chimalpahin
wrote of these experiences:
Women who came from
Spain ... married men of Mexico, and from there came the mestizos. Equally, the
daughters of some of our most esteemed Princes, as well as some young women of
the servant class, were impregnated by Spaniards and thus more mestizos were
born - a thing which happens every day. Some of these keep their mixed origins
a secret and hide the fact that they have come from us, the Natives ... . Other
mestizos, in contrast, do us honour and are proud to
have come from native blood.(4)
Many French and
British fur traders in North America entered into formal, if not always
permanent, relationships with aboriginal women. Often, these unions solidified
commercial or political arrangements. Maori women,
likewise, became the partners and wives of non-indigenous men in New Zealand,
establishing a pattern of interracial marriage which became a crucial long-term
characteristic of the society. Australian Aboriginal women, in contrast, were
shunned by almost all non-indigenous Aus
non-indigenous Australian people, resulting in a long and bitter history of
abandoned women and children. Japanese traders from the mainland imposed
themselves on the Ainu women or took them as mistresses, causing dismay among
the Ainu men. Many Ainu women married Japanese and, in most instances,
integrated into Japanese society, further eroding Ainu culture. Across most of
Africa and among the slave populations in the Americas sexual and personal
relationships across racial lines were rarely tolerated by the dominant
society. These social regulations did not mean, however, that non-indigenous
men did not find ways, consensual or otherwise, to satisfy their sexual needs
with local women. They did so, in many instances, by generating self-serving
images and profiles of indigenous women which labeled them as licentious and
sexually promiscuous, and thus limited their personal and collective liability
for the difficulties inflicted upon the women and removed their responsibility
for the progeny of these typically short-term unions.
Interracial sex and
social relations had profound effects on many indigenous and colonial
societies. The unions marginalized indigenous women and created additional
competition for these women within the aboriginal societies. The sextlalization of social relations - with short-term
liaisons, rape, and the birth of mixed-race children being key features of
indigenous-colonial relations - drove a firm wedge between the groups.
Indigenous men were often angered by the treatment of women from their
communities and were generally excluded from any comparable relationships with
non-indigenous women. Colonial women, in turn, typically blamed their
aboriginal counterparts for the failings of the flesh which befell their men
folk. Across the Canadian west, for example, observers often complained about
aboriginal immorality and portrayed the women as sexual predators who preyed
upon the newcomer men. Settlers urged government officials, particularly the
police, to keep the women away from towns. As one writer noted, First Nations
women were "of abandoned character who were there for the worst
purposes." The mixed-race children from these liaisons were rarely raised
with contact with their fathers and often found themselves shunned by the
colonial society. Indigenous communities were typically more receptive,
although mixed-race people often inhabited an awkward and uncertain social
space in the evolving order. In Africa, the reality and mythology of
black-and-white sex played a prominent role in ethnic relations. Black men were
general viewed as sexual predators, a key element in the "black
peril" that sat at the core of the colonial order. Many men were
persecuted, often without reason, for alleged breaches of the social
expectations regarding black-and white sex. As one scholar wrote of the
situation:
All the world over,
both men and women, though perhaps more often and more violently women, who
have been kept in stricter bonds, attribute to some dark and shadowy figure
which they fear and hate the desires they disapprove of most strongly in
themselves. And for Rhodesians that dark and shadowy figure was ready made in
the person of "the native," at the same time scapegoat and shadow,
while those cellars of the mind were rejected desires were stowed were also the
repository for fears, fears that remembered the rebellions in Matabeleland and
Mashonaland. And when desire emerged, fear was not far away. So it was that
almost every white Rhodesian spoke with horror of the African's lustful
immorality, his utter lack of restraint. And he took elaborate precautions to
safeguard his women against these tendencies. (5)
In contrast, the vast
majority of the offences of white men forcing themselves on black women went
unpunished and often passed without comment. As Gabriel Mabeta
wrote in 1925:
O black people? You
my esteemed people! You my despised, pauperized and down trodden people! How
many more years shall you sleep under a white man's foot? Wake up and rub your
eyes and see what he is doing to your daughters. Let us defend our girls and
die defending them. A white man has taken our country and has deprived us of
all our rights, must he take our girls also? God forbid. A white man's flesh is
not of iron, nor is his sinew of wire. Wake up and protect your women and girls
ere we are submerged by a wave of half castes.(6)
These contradictory
images and expectations were common along the indigenous-newcomer frontiers.
Legal prohibitions and social conventions which attempted to prevent
interracial sexual relations were a logical outgrowth of these conflicting
assumptions about the contact experience.
Sexual relations also
often had economic aspects, for the newcomers were frequently willing to pay
sizeable sums for access to indigenous women. Edward Markham wrote of the
situation in a New Zealand port:
Thirty to five and
Thirty sail of Whalers come in for three weeks to the Bay and 400 and 500
Sailors require as many Women, and they have been out on year. I saw some who
had been out Thirty Two months and of course the ladies are in great request
... . These young ladies go off to the Ships, and three weeks on board are
spent much to their satisfaction, as they get from the Sailors a Fouling the
Sailors a Fowling piece [shotgun] for the Father or Broth, Blankets, or Gowns.
(7)
A major sex industry,
complete with contracts for the use of Maori women,
emerged on the South Pacific islands, as it did among the whalers in the
western Arctic.
While
"half-castes," "half-breeds," and other peoples of mixed
newcomer-indigenous ancestry were generally scorned, a cultural group known as
the Métis developed in what is now western Canada. With French Canadian fathers
and aboriginal mothers, the Métis were defined initially by their participation
in the fur trade as laborers and boatmen and, more comprehensively, by their
participation in an elaborate buffalo hunt. People of English-indigenous
parentage in the region did not establish themselves as a distinct culture,
although some individuals and families integrated with the Métis people. The
Métis became widely known for their military prowess - their victory over the
Sioux at the Battle of Grand Couteau became a key element in their emerging
national identity - their tightly organized buffalo hunt, unique language, and
vibrant social life. They established themselves as cultural intermediaries
between the newcomers, both French and English, and the indigenous peoples,
among both of whom they had relatives and strong socio-economic connections.
Social relations
were, not surprisingly, also conditioned by racial assumptions and images.
Newcomer societies generally portrayed indigenous women as promiscuous, an
image which therefore freed them to mistreat and abuse aboriginal females
without guilt. The same set of social values made it very difficult for
non-aboriginal men to take indigenous women as permanent partners - unless they
opted to remain living beyond the edge of settled newcomer society. In the
British North American fur trade, where extensive relations between indigenous
women and newcomer men were commonplace, a few traders succeeded in taking
their aboriginal wives back to the settled colonies to the east or to Britain.
Far more common was the process of "turning off" wives to remaining
or incoming traders, leaving the new man to look after the women and young
children from the relationship. Even these comparatively long-term
relationships were quite rare. The vast majority of social and sexual relations
between indigenous women and newcomer men were short-term in nature. It is
worth noting, in a pattern similar to that of African men and non-African women
in Europe and North America, that relations very rarely involved indigenous men
and newcomer women.
Within most colonial
situations, government attitudes changed when the indigenous peoples were no longer
perceived as a collective threat to the functioning of the colony.
Relationships that had been managed at arm's length, either through the
comforting words of a treaty or through the protection of military power,
shifted dramatically when the prospect of an armed conflict dimmed. When the
British-French wars in North America ended, when peace was negotiated in New
Zealand, and when military adventures weakened the tribal peoples of South
Africa, colonial administrators shifted toward a policy of benevolence. Most
indigenous communities initially viewed the overtures as signs of cooperation
and future partnership, only to discover that they had been pushed toward
irrelevance. Only where indigenous peoples remained either economically
important or militarily threatening did the colonial administrators continue to
maintain a more equitable approach to aboriginal affairs. The shift toward
government management of indigenous affairs ushered in a radically different
period in the history of aboriginal-newcomer relations.
Indigenous Adaptations
In most instances,
aboriginal people and communities exerted significant influence on the contact
situation. In those instances where the newcomers swamped the local
inhabitants, either militarily or numerically, indigenous people had little
opportunity to respond, save by flight or military resistance. In the first
instance, they lost control of their traditional lands. They then, by
relocating onto the lands of other peoples, imposed themselves on the
aboriginal cultures whose territories they entered. Those who fought in such
circumstances typically encountered a bitter and disastrous fate, characterized
by sharp population loss, dispossession, and cultural disarray. As devastating
as these occasions could be, they were relatively rare on the frontier between
indigenous and newcomer societies.
Far more often,
indigenous peoples adjusted to the arrival of outsiders. At the early stages,
when aboriginal communities established their initial assumptions about the
non-indigenous peoples, numerical advantage rested with the indigenous cultures
and, often, the military balance was either close to even, or to the aboriginal
advantage. The passage of time - and particularly the expansion of settlement
frontiers - typically tipped the balance toward the non-indigenous side of the
power equation, significantly reducing the authority and bargaining power of
the original inhabitants. Throughout, however, aboriginal communities responded
as best they could to new and disconcerting changes in their human environment.
With little direct experience and little evidence at hand about the motives,
scale, and long-term impact of the newcomer expansion, aboriginal peoples
generally responded to the immediate threats and opportunities, as they
understood them within the frame of their society and community values.
For a significant
number of indigenous populations, avoidance was the primary means of coping
with the intrusions of newcomers. This tactic worked only if there were
traditional or other lands available that were of no interest to the newcomers.
Otherwise, flight from settlers and development proved to be only a temporary
expedient. This transpired repeatedly along the southeast coast of Australia,
where Aborigines retreated toward the outback in the face of settlement
expansion, and along the east coast of North America, where indigenous peoples
discovered that there were few places truly secure from incursions. Aboriginal
populations in sub-Arctic and Arctic lands and in tropical jungle regions had
more success, for non-indigenous interest tended to be highly focused and
site-specific. The Beothuk of Newfoundland fled in the face of non-indigenous
activities; the entire population died off by the nineteenth century without
ever establishing regular contact with the newcomers. Various groups in the
Amazon, the Akuriyo of Surinam, the Jarawa of the
Andaman Islands, and other residents of tropical areas used the veil of the
jungle to avoid contact for hundreds of years. The Pygmies in the Belgian Congo
refused efforts to settle them on plantations, and remained in the jungle areas
that the Belgian settlers found both intractable and unattractive. Although the
forests provided the Pygmies and others with protection for several generations,
post World War II logging and industrial activity
eventually placed these previously isolated lands in the path of development.
Among the Nenets of central Siberia, the indigenous peoples resisted, and even
revolted against, the intrusions of Russian and Soviet agents. Interestingly,
the Nenets who had adopted sedentary lifestyles generally accommodated the
Russian agendas and administrative systems. Those who remained on the land,
following the reindeer herds as was their tradition, resisted more regularly
and proved troublesome to the national government.
They identified a
series of grievances against the Russian and, particularly, the Soviet
governments - complaints which resonate with the global experience of
indigenous peoples. The specific grievances included the equation,
significantly reducing the authority and bargaining power of the original
inhabitants. Throughout, however, aboriginal communities responded as best they
could to new and disconcerting changes in their human environment. With little
direct experience and little evidence at hand about the motives, scale, and
long-term impact of the newcomer expansion, aboriginal peoples generally
responded to the immediate threats and opportunities, as they understood them
within the frame of their society and community values.
For a significant
number of indigenous populations, avoidance was the primary means of coping
with the intrusions of newcomers. This tactic worked only if there were
traditional or other lands available that were of no interest to the newcomers.
Otherwise, flight from settlers and development proved to be only a temporary
expedient. This transpired repeatedly along the southeast coast of Australia,
where Aborigines retreated toward the outback in the face of settlement expansion,
and along the east coast of North America, where indigenous peoples discovered
that there were few places truly secure from incursions. Aboriginal populations
in sub-Arctic and Arctic lands and in tropical jungle regions had more success,
for non-indigenous interest tended to be highly focused and site-specific. The
Beothuk of Newfoundland fled in the face of non-indigenous activities; the
entire population died off by the nineteenth century without ever establishing
regular contact with the newcomers. Various groups in the Amazon, the Akuriyo of Surinam, the Jarawa of the Andaman Islands, and
other residents of tropical areas used the veil of the jungle to avoid contact
for hundreds of years. The Pygmies in the Belgian Congo refused efforts to settle
them on plantations, and remained in the jungle areas that the Belgian
settlers found both intractable and unattractive. Although the forests provided
the Pygmies and others with protection for several generations, post World War II logging and industrial activity
eventually placed these previously isolated lands in the path of development.
Among the Nenets of central Siberia, the indigenous peoples resisted, and even
revolted against, the intrusions of Russian and Soviet agents. Interestingly,
the Nenets who had adopted sedentary lifestyles generally accommodated the
Russian agendas and administrative systems. Those who remained on the land,
following the reindeer herds as was their tradition, resisted more regularly
and proved troublesome to the national government. They identified a series of
grievances against the Russian and, particularly, the Soviet governments -
complaints which resonate with the global experience of indigenous peoples. The
specific grievances included the taking of their reindeer, the occupation of
indigenous lands, persecution of shamans, forced labor processes, restrictions
on political rights, and the removal of children to boarding schools, where
they lost traditional knowledge and language skills.
Indigenous
participation in the surplus economies was quite common across the globe. In
some areas, such as the northern Canadian fur trade, the economic relationship
was often mutually beneficial and supported by indigenous peoples. Likewise,
the Maori of New Zealand participated actively in the
whaling, mining, and early farming activities on the islands. The Maori were aggressive consumers and traders, demanding fair
return from the storekeepers and finding ways to capitalize on the new
technologies and material goods available to them. In many parts of North,
Central and South America, newcomers attempted to press indigenous peoples into
plantation work, an effort that also failed with many of the mobile societies
in Africa. In the face of indigenous resistance, desperate employers, supported
by their governments, intervened more directly. Across the South Pacific, for
example, plantation operators used all measure of trickery and compulsion to
secure Islander and Aborigine workers. Outrage in Britain about the
mistreatment of indigenous peoples resulted in government intervention in the
early twentieth century to stop the impressment of aboriginal labour.
The
indigenous-newcomer economic exchange was often very uneven. Indigenous peoples
typically had limited material needs and lacked the determination to enhance
their financial position that dominated most newcomer communities. Companies
found, however, that trading with indigenous peoples could be extremely
lucrative, whether it be for furs in North America, spices and plants in South
East Asia, fish products in various coastal regions, or precious stones and
minerals in South Africa and across Australia and North America. The traders
worked hard to generate demands for new products, and when they failed to
interest the indigenous peoples in more material goods, they introduced
consumables like tobacco (if not native to the area) and alcohol. New economic
systems were implemented to tie individuals and communities to a specific
trading firm, with many companies offering loans to the harvesters in order to
ensure their commercial loyalty. Alcohol quickly became a highly desired trade
good, quickly consumed and enticing to the indigenous peoples.
Numerous commentators
observed that the indigenous peoples acquired a taste - and a demand for rum,
whiskey, and other such drinks, creating a more diverse trading environment and
introducing alcohol into the social and personal worlds of the first people.
Some of the companies - the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada is perhaps the best
example - worked fairly cooperatively with indigenous peoples and struck a
balance that, most often, served both partners in the trade. In most other
areas, particularly under the influence of competitive trading conditions,
companies were rapacious and aggressive in seeking commercial advantage. So,
too, however, were indigenous peoples, who sought ways to exploit isolated
traders, competitive options, and the newcomers' lack of familiarity with local
conditions.
The key, however, is
that indigenous communities did respond. Indigenous people reacted with wide
variations to the intrusions and actions of newcomers. Some groups fled into
traditional territories, using distance and geography to shield themselves from
the newcomers. Others, more optimistic and enthusiastic about the outsiders,
sought economic integration and settled among the new arrivals. Many groups
expressed considerable faith in the new authorities and negotiated or signed
treaties and other accords with the colonial powers. Many other groups dug in
and resisted the occupation of their territories. And a large number of
indigenous peoples went, in distinct phases, through most if not all of these
stages, as they attempted to respond to the ever-changing and seemingly
never-ending intrusions by outsiders.
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