Algonquin Park in Ontario Canada is an amazing place to find out about the Algonquin people who first lived in this amazing land. I have recently read a good book about the impact of newcomers on these peoples.
The Algonquin impacted a lot!
The rampant over hunting of
beaver by post-contact Acadian Algonquins is bestunderstood via a
cultural-ecology analysis, rather than the more traditional thesis that argues
that pure economics and the reality of white technology led Indians to
“exploit” beavers for their pelts.
I agree. It makes sense to view a population’s
interaction with its unique ecosystem as one more aspect of that particular
culture. For the Micmacs of Acadia just prior to the fur trade era, the
cultural ecosystem stretched from a sea full of resources to the upriver
hunting grounds of winter, where hunters took all kinds of fur-bearing wildlife,
favoring moose. This world was filled with spiritual power and hunting was a
holy occupation. Martin’s use of a cultural-ecology lens sharpens the
historical focus where, in my mind, it belongs – on the way in which the Micmac
themselves viewed the pre-contact world. They lived in a world full of magical
power, which infused them and everything in the ecosystem around them.
Of course, with the nature of historical sources about
native Americans from this period, it is hard for Martin to point to hard
evidence to support his thesis. Nevertheless, he makes a strong case. With
their population ravaged by European diseases, the socio-cultural order
collapsed for the Micmac in those critical years of first contact with the
French. Many Micmac no doubt simply repudiated the cultural traditions that
relied upon a spiritual infused ecosystem, Martin postulates. With the collapse
of their cosmology, these Indians “apostatized,” and under the pressure of
disease and French conversion attempts their ability to exist within the
spiritual world was lost. This (along with those aforementioned economic
realities, it must be said) led to the diminished power of spiritual taboos
that had earlier prevented over hunting.
All Kinds of Great Stuff!!
All kinds of great items exist out there when you are trying to get to know Algonquin land and culture.
 | Solitudes: Algonquin Suite (Music)
Imagine yourself in a canoe, paddling leisurely along the shoreline of a lake, drifting silently into one of its bays. As you float, you listen, and dream away. Or imagine yoursel...more
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (See the reviews)
List Price: $15.99
Lowest Used Price: $3.88 (as of 9/5/2008@6:47 AM)
Lowest New Price: $12.12 (as of 9/5/2008@6:47 AM) |
 | Robert Benchley & The Knights of the Algonquin (Video)
Average Customer Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (See the reviews)
List Price: $24.95
Lowest Used Price: $5.99 (as of 9/5/2008@6:47 AM)
Lowest New Price: $17.88 (as of 9/5/2008@6:47 AM) |
 | Logging By Rail in Algonquin Park (DVD)
In the early 1930s the Fassett Lumber Corp. made a promotional film of their operation inside of Algonquin Provincial Park and at Fossmill in Chisholm Township east of Powassan, O...more
List Price: $29.95
Lowest New Price: $29.95 (as of 9/5/2008@6:47 AM) |
 | I Love algonquin Sweatshirt (Apparel)
Text on Sweatshirt: algonquinGildan - Crewneck SweatshirtA value fleece, made from Air Jet Spun Yarn, offers a soft feel and no pill, wash after wash.7.75-ounce, 50/50 cotton/poly...more
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 | Deluxe Jigsaw Puzzle - Canadian Masters Tom Thomson - Morning Algonquin Park - 500 Pieces in Tin (Toy)
Puzzle size: 19'' x 14''
Tin case for convenient storage
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 | The Rough-Face Girl (Book)
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (See the reviews)
List Price: $6.99
Lowest Used Price: $2.89 (as of 9/5/2008@6:47 AM)
Lowest New Price: $3.26 (as of 9/5/2008@6:47 AM) |
 | A Choctaw Reference Grammar (Studies in the Anthropology of North Ame) (Book)
This book is the most comprehensive reference grammar of Choctaw, an American Indian language spoken by approximately eleven thousand people located primarily in Mississippi and O...more
List Price: $70.00
Lowest Used Price: $73.92 (as of 9/5/2008@6:47 AM)
Lowest New Price: $68.21 (as of 9/5/2008@6:47 AM) |
Algonquin Viids
Here are some user vids of Algonquin Park ... makes me want to be there!