{"id":6438,"date":"2016-11-02T15:03:17","date_gmt":"2016-11-02T15:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/preconfederation\/?post_type=chapter&p=6438"},"modified":"2019-06-04T22:43:12","modified_gmt":"2019-06-04T22:43:12","slug":"5-1-introduction","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/preconfederation\/chapter\/5-1-introduction\/","title":{"raw":"5.1 Introduction","rendered":"5.1 Introduction"},"content":{"raw":"[caption id=\"attachment_2146\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"263\"]\"A<\/a> Figure 5.1\u00a0 An 18th century Abenaki couple (artist unknown).[\/caption]\r\n\r\nFor the first 300 years of contact between Europe and Canada, Aboriginal autonomy remained more or less intact. Displacement had occurred in some places, but the limited ambitions of New France as a settlement colony mitigated wholesale loss of lands and power. That is not to say that Aboriginal life\u00a0was not under threat. The proto-contact period, the contact period, and the post-contact period all witnessed changes in Aboriginal life and authority that were profound. Aboriginal people and societies were not, however, being acted upon.<\/em> There were\u00a0many Aboriginal agendas: economic, political, military, and territorial. What were the\u00a0priorities driving\u00a0Aboriginal people\u00a0at a time when territory was being lost in increments to newcomers, long-time neighbours were squeezing westward and colliding with others, and epidemics were cutting\u00a0a swath through populations? How did Aboriginal people perceive what was taking place, and what future did they seek to create for themselves under changing circumstances?\r\n
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Learning Objectives<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

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