Of Manitous and Men: First Contact in North America

Evan Haefeli 

Did Native Americans think Europeans were gods or spirits when they first arrived in North America? If they did, why did they think so, and how did it affect the way the natives received the Europeans? This paper explores some of the theoretical problems at stake in interpreting native peoples’ first reactions to Europeans. It sets the encounters in North America within a world-wide debate over the relationship between culture and historical action. Analyzing Henry Hudson’s visit in particular through documentary and oral sources set in archeological and anthropological perspective, it suggests Native American cultures’ flexible relationship to historical events. [WP# 98004]