- Oct 2024
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And who empowered these provincials to pass judgment upon England's policies in her own colonies? To come and go without so much as a "by your leave." CORA They do not live their lives "by your leave." ... They hack it out of the wilderness with their own two hands, burying their dead and their children along the way.
This quote from Duncan shows the frustration that he and other British had towards the colonists for questioning anything that England does. They viewed themselves as completely superior, so anything out of line triggered them. Cora's response reminds him of the hardships the colonist experienced to settle there as well as what it costed them. This is a good example of the tensions that started to arise between the colonists and the British; where they are starting to form their own identity without the authority of England.
- This wasn't related to any readings for this movie, but signs of colonists revolting was brought up during the lecture that week.
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I cannot imagine his Majesty, in his benevolence, would ever object to his American subjects defending their hearth & home, their women & children, if threatened by the "scourge" of attack from savages, aroused to such excess by our enemy, the ever-perfidious French.
In these couple lines, Webb is basically saying that the King would accept the colonists defense against any "savage" attack, especially if they were brought on by the French. This portrays the small conflicts that were going on between the French and the British where the colonists would have to pay. Comparing this to readings of that time, these events seem historically accurate as there were raids carried out by Native Americans on their former lands.
- Calloway, First Peoples, 168-169
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Logistics are his guns are bigger than mine and he has more of them. They keep our heads down while his sappers make thirty yards of trench a day. His thirteen inch mortars have a two hundred yard range, so when they're close enough, they'll move them in, lob explosive rounds over our walls and pound us to dust.
This matched with what actually happened to Fort William Henry, where the French put constant pressure on the fort. The French knew that the British had to give in eventually, and when supplies ran low they did.
- Greig Santos-Buch. 2024. “Understanding the Siege and Battle at Fort William Henry.” May 15, 2024.
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Would the Huron make his Algonquin brothers foolish with brandy and steal his lands to sell them for gold to the white man? Would the Huron have greed for more land than a man can use? Like Francais Black Robes do? Would Huron kill tribes with disease? Would the Huron fool Seneca into taking all the animals in the forest for beads & brandy? But sell the fur to the white man for gold? ...
Gifts and trade were one of, if not the most popular ways of diplomacy between the natives and the British/French. This quote by Hawkeye describes that, but instead he talks about how the use of these gifts manipulate tribes into giving up their cultural values. This portrays colonialism in one of it's worst forms, where it tears apart tribes and lands.
- Calloway, World Turned Upside Down, 140
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"Magua understand paleface is a dog to his women. When his women want to eat, he lay aside his tomahawk to feed their laziness."
Magua's line's here represents the culture disconnect from the Natives and the British. One of these biggest contrasts are the gender roles, where women in British culture relied on men more than in Native cultures. This also speaks to the very negative view that lots of tribes had on the British.
- “The British Era.” n.d. Minnesota Historical Society.
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My father's people say ... at the birth of the sun and of his brother, the moon, their mother died ... so the sun gave to the earth her body, from which was to spring all life. And he drew forth from her breast the stars. The stars he threw into the night sky to remind him of her soul. (the sky) So there is the Camerons' monument ... my folks', too, I guess.
The romantic and deeply mythological lines here serve to help understand the historical context they were in. Lots of captures by Indians were treated harshly, but some, especially women and children, weren't as they might have been adopted into the tribe's culture. Here is a specific saying that is only known in Hawkeye's culture, a sign that he is not only opening up to Cora but maybe wants her to learn his culture. Also, it is believed that the Natives had a deep respect for nature and that the elements were connected with them spiritually.
- Calloway, First Peoples, 169-170
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