Warpaths and First Peoples

A comparative essay by Matthew H. Lee

History books typically relay only those details of history that matter to the author, the anticipated audience, and the intended purpose of the history book. A book on the history of metalworking for instance, may mention some details about the first cultures that worked with metal, but will typically mention little about the details of that culture that weren’t affected by, or had an effect on metalworking. This doesn’t mean that the book is incomplete; it could be very detailed, but narrow in scope. On the other hand, a book on the history of a culture, say the first one to use metal tools, may provide many details about that culture, but not as much on the specific aspect of the metalwork itself than the previously mentioned book.

The point is to remember that the histories of all things are intertwined. Many obscure details on one culture for instance, may be found in books on other seemingly unrelated topics such as astronomy, geology, medicine, or even fiction. The books, Warpaths, by Ian Steele, and First Peoples, by Colin Galloway are good examples of this. It may seem odd at first that one of the primary resources for a class on Native American history is a book on European conflicts that arose out of the settling of North America, but much of the Europeans’ success, failure, cultural adaptations, and day to day routines were affected by the actions, beliefs, and other cultural aspects of the Native inhabitants of the land.

This concept is thoroughly expressed in the first chapter of First Peoples. The chapter also cautions that recorded history is not always what actually happened, but rather what was perceived to have happened. The introduction relays a story about Charles Windolf, an immigrant soldier in Custer’s 7th Cavalry Regiment in the Battle of Little Big Horn. The evening after a fierce battle in which most of his battalion was massacred, he listened from a hilltop to the Indians below singing and drumming into the night. He later reported that the “savages” were celebrating their victory, when in reality they were mourning their own people who had fallen in the battle.

First Peoples is a history of those people who came to be known as Native Americans, American Indians, or simply Indians. Although it generally assumes the widely accepted belief, based upon archaeological evidence, that Native Americans originated in Northeast Asia and crossed the Bering Land Bridge, it also provides for the very interesting beliefs of the Natives themselves about how they came to inhabit North America. One of these beliefs is relayed in a story by a Navajo Chief, and illustrates another point in the first chapter, that when studying history it is important to consider more sources that just books. It advises that pictures, paintings, art, and stories handed down by generations are also very important in glimpsing details about a culture’s beliefs and values.

Warpaths is basically a history of the battles fought on the North American Continent in the 16th through the 18th centuries. It begins in 1523 when Ponce de Leon, a Spanish explorer who had been along on the Columbus voyage of 1492, landed three ships on the shore of what is now Florida, to 1765 when the last great battle between the British and Native Americans ended. The book is a valuable resource in the study of Native American history in that the events of the period between 1523 and 1765 caused sudden and sweeping changes to a culture, or collection of similar cultures in North America, which had undergone little change in hundreds, or even thousands of years. It is likewise a good reference in the study of the history of the many different countries, and sub-cultures within those countries, that currently inhabit North America, including the United States. The United States as a country began on July 4th 1776, but its history includes the events leading up to that day, many of which are detailed in this book. There are also sub-cultures within these countries which display different characteristics adopted from the natives of the various regions.

The book details the countless military, economic, and diplomatic interactions between the Natives and the Europeans. These include the early Spanish encounters, which mainly took place along the southeastern coast and along the Gulf, which according to this book, were mostly confrontational. Peace was attempted many times, but the greedy agenda of the Spaniards and the guarded nature of the Indians prevented any lasting cooperation. Early English expeditions were greeted with similar resistance, but later economic ventures in Virginia were initially successful. The French too were successful in their diplomatic and economic ventures in the northern areas, which are now part of the northern United States and Canada.

Also included in Warpaths are the numerous confrontations between the various groups of Europeans attempting to explore and settle the North American Continent. These played an enormous role in the history of Native America because of alliances between the Europeans and the Natives. Many Native Americans fought, decided outcomes, and lost their lives in conflicts between the French, English, and Dutch. For the Europeans, these alliances were important because of the lack of logistical support from their home countries, and also the lack of reinforcement troops due to the distance and also ongoing conflicts at home. For the Natives, these alliances were mostly a matter of survival. Alliances benefited them by having strong military allies in their conflicts with neighboring tribes, or prevented avoidable bloodshed with the Europeans themselves. The Natives also benefited to a certain extent economically depending on where they were and who they were dealing with. To a great degree in the North with the vast fur trade, but elsewhere, in many cases it was more of an exploitation of the Natives.

First People begins to discuss the interactions with Europeans in the second chapter. Unfortunately, most of what is widely known about the Native Americans is that which was learned and recorded from the time of European “discovery” up to the present because of the use of written history. This book however, seems to go into more detail on the early diplomatic relations between the Europeans and Natives, and also provides more details on the impact that Native America had on Mainland Europe. Whereas Warpaths seems to be more of a sequential record of events, with a dizzying abundance of specific dates, the text in First Peoples seems to be heavier on details of events that happened during blocks of time. First People also details Native American events that took place in other parts of the continent undiscovered by Europeans, during the time that their brothers in the east were beginning to interact with the new visitors.

Another interesting difference between these two books is the use of “Documents” and “Picture Essays” in First Peoples. Each chapter has a section at the end with documents containing commentary, stories, and accounts from different sources, both Native and European. This is useful because it provides information from a point of view apart from that of the author. The Picture Essays, also at the end of each chapter, contain a collection of photographs, drawings and paintings, explained in accompanying text, which provide additional details relating to the events detailed in the chapter.

As wisely stated in the preface of First Peoples, many various sources should be considered when studying the history of a culture. These two books, although different in purpose and scope are equally valuable in the study of Native America. Both would also be at home in studies of the histories of England, France, the United States, Canada, and countless other countries whose cultures were influenced by dealing with the earliest inhabitants of the Americas.