Others Among Us

In the 1600s, in James Bay, my ancestors encountered others on the land.  These people spoke a different language, looked different and wanted the furs we used for clothing.  We now know these strangers to be Hudson Bay Company servants and explorers that traveled in tall, wooden ships from England to our lands in search of furs for European felt hats.  We even have a Mushkegowuk word, Wemistukuushuu to describe the Europeans.  This is an old word that refers to people whose shoes are made of wood.  Some of our peoples also believe the word refers to a floating island with a tall post in the middle (tall ships).  To make a long story short, in 1670, we began 300 years of trade, servitude, allegiance, respect and inter-marriage with the people of wooden shoes.

Fur Trade

However, from our stories, we also know that our peoples may have known of and traded with others long before we met the Europeans.  Our stories speak of Natoowaywuk (Iroquois peoples) who were fierce and in some of our stories they came into our lands on raiding trips.  A lot of us today also believe that we may have traded with other southern First Nation peoples (Algonquins) long before the Europeans traded with us.  So in this way, trade, business, respect and yes, conflict with others was not something new to us.

Because of our prior experience in trading and bargaining for furs, pottery, wooden utensils and other objects, trading with the Hudson Bay Company people was easy. We engaged in the fur trade with them. We even hunted geese, ducks, caribou and harvested other food such as fish to help the Hudson Bay Posts survive in our harsh environments.

In many instances, the Hudson Bay Company and the fur trade would not have survived without our knowledge of the land, animals and climate in the James Bay region.

Now I want to give you information that will be very important for your understanding and knowledge concerning my peoples in the fur trade. It is extremely important for you to know how we dealt, traded and bargained with others. You see the basis of trade relations were based on trust and good faith in our dealings with the Hudson’s Bay Company. Our philosophies were built on how we saw ourselves interacting with other First Peoples, the land and animals. The idea is a simple one and lies at the heart of how we respect others such as the land, animals, the spirits and humans.

You see the fundamental principles or laws that we follow came from the land and animals. The animals, fish and birds gave themselves to us but expected us to acknowledge, respect and honor those who had given life so that we may live. It is an intimate relationship of respect, love, trust and caring. Our ancestors believed that we must always show respect, love, trust and caring to the animals we harvest for food. Our rituals were directed to them. Some rituals involved offering tobacco to the water, placing meat in the fire and singing hunting songs that were devoted to the animal spirits that gave their lives to us. The songs and the way the hunter sang of the beaver, caribou, moose, geese or fish acknowledged and nurtured this special relationship with his hunting spirit as well as to the animal and earth spirits. This relationship was so important to cultivate because if we didn’t follow these protocols of respect in honoring the hunting, animal and earth spirits, they would be offended and disrespected. Consequently, the spirits would feel our dishonor, irresponsibility and selfishness and could make hunting very hard for us. The result would be that the animals would not show themselves to us.

Thus, our adiucan (ancient myths) and tipachimowin (recent stories) have themes that tell of the way we should act properly towards animals and food. The underlying themes speak of how we should act ethically. How we should follow the principles of reciprocity; to take but give back in exchange. The adiucan and tipachimowin portray what happens to irresponsible individuals who disregard the norms and values of our society, land and animals. Irresponsible characters in ancient adiucans eventually die shamefully from their actions. For example, the adiucan of Ayash, an evil, jealous leader who behaves badly and acts selfishly, shows what happens to persons that act anti-socially, unethically and irresponsibly. In essence, that story and others like it reveal what happens to the good and what happens to the bad. The stories are a guide to teach conscientious individuality, serving as a form of social control, and to develop competent behavior. These are the essential themes and truths of our stories and the way life is in our worldview.