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Robbie Zitzlsperger
American Indian studies, Fur Trade
April 6, 2017
Midterm #2 essay
When john tanner was first introduced to the Native American life style
through his adoption and sale, he was unfamiliar with any customs of the Ojibwa and
their way of life. Tanner had no way to hunt or trap, which lead his father to agree
with him when eventually John asks his adoptive father for a gun to hunt with, when
he does this his father hands him a pistol and tells him that once he can kill
something with that, they will teach him to hunt, and get him a gun. (Tanner, p. 17)
When john acquired his first pistol, he was extremely nervous, he knew how
important the ability to hunt was, and he wanted to do well on his first hunt and
prove himself to all. Another example of this is when he was sent out to make martin
traps; he had no knowledge or experience and was only able to make a few taps in a
day, where an experienced hunter would have around twenty-five to thirty, so he had
to get help from a fellow tribe member in order to complete the task successfully.
(Tanner, p. 18) he leaned on the Indians knowledge to learn for himself.
Both of these examples show things that tanner did not know before becoming
part of the tribe. Things that were necessary to survive living the native American
lifestyle. This relates to the multi-culture of the early contact period quite well. The
settlers didn't have extensive knowledge on the acquisition of furs, this made
American Indians valuable to the Europeans, their knowledge of hunting, trapping,
and foraging made them important to early explorers and settlers. Much like with
Tanner, if the Indians hadn’t shown him how to hunt or trap, he wouldn’t have that
ability and would’ve been a burden to the tribe.
Throughout the book, Tanner mentions feeling threatened due to the color of
his skin, one instance of this is when is adoptive father is struck in the head with a
rock. Tanner mentions that he felt worried as his father was his main source of
protection from the Me-to-saw-gea, a Ojibbeway chief who was in the area leading an
anti white party. (Tanner, p. 20) another instance of a hindrance due to his ethnicity,
