Who were the savages?

“Whereas, notwithstanding the gracious offers of friendship and protection made in His Majesty's Names by us to the Indians inhabiting this Province, (…) on Saturday the 30th of September, a body of these savages fell upon some men cutting wood and without arms near the saw mill and barbarously killed four and carried one away.” (My emphasis.)

This is a section from the Scalping Proclamation of 1749 issued by then Nova Scotia Governor Edward Cornwallis. The “Indians” probably don’t look like very nice people, do they?

But, what if we’re just seeing one side of the story?

In We Were Not The Savages, author Daniel N. Paul puts forth an argument which is almost never heard in histories written by historians of European stock: The land of the Mi’kmaq was never ceded, only occupied. To support his claim, he notes that France never actually negotiated any surrender of land from the Mi’kmaq (nor apparently the Maliseet). Instead, the French authorities took great pains to not interfere in Mi’kmaq life other than to maintain good relations (and gain a few souls for Christianity). Rather than try to subjugate the Mi’kmaq, they simply tried to get on their good side. And being good neighbours, the Mi’kmaq accepted them.

The land called Acadia, which roughly covers present-day Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, was certainly considered by France to be its own possession. However, France went out of its way to maintain good relations with the natives, including the withholding of that vital piece of information. We can certainly fault the French for not being more honest in their intentions. But the policy at least had the benefit of avoiding open hostilities.

When the British won the war to take over Acadia for the last time, the land was said to have been ceded by France to the British. However, when British colonial authorities tried to impose their will on the natives, they reacted by saying France couldn’t cede what it didn’t own in the first place. Colonial authorities refused to deal with the Mi’kmaq as a sovereign nation and insisted that the land was now British. At that point, the Mi’kmaq, among others, considered themselves at war with Britain.

Viewed in this context, another interpretation is possible. In the midst of this war the British foolishly sent some unarmed woodcutters to do some work at a distance from the settlement without benefit of an armed escort. As far as the Mi’kmaq were concerned, they were fair game.

In any case, the proclamation put a price on the head of every man, woman and child who happened to be Mi’kmaq. The idea of punishing just those responsible for the attack, if considered at all, was soon dismissed. Authorities wanted to get rid of the Mi’kmaq completely.

"… The Indians who scalped your forefathers were open enemies, and had good reason for what they did. They were fighting for their country, which they loved, as we have loved it in these latter years." The man who made that statement was Joseph Howe, whose efforts in other fields would eventually lead to Nova Scotia becoming the first colony in present-day Canada to have responsible government.