We Were Not the SavagesWe Were Not the Savages

"This book sets the record straight about what has happened since Europeans invaded Mi'kmaw lands in the 17th century. For thousands of years prior to the European invasion, the Mi'kmaq had lived healthy lives in harmony with nature in the land they called Mi'kma'ki. When the Europeans arrived, they were welcomed and sustained by the Mi'kmaq. Despite this Mi'kmaw hospitality, over the next three centuries, their language, their culture, their way of life were systematically ravaged by the newcomers. The murderous savagery of British scalp proclamations, starvation, malnutrition and Canada's Indian residential and day schools all but wiped out the Mi'kmaq. Yet the Mi'kmaq survived and today stand defending the land, the water and nature's bounty from the European way of life, which threatens the natural world that we need to survive. Since the first edition was published in 1993, Daniel Paul's ongoing research has continued to confront the mainstram record of Canadian settler colonialism to reveal that the mistreatment of Indigenous People is not confined to the past. This 4th edition catalogues not only the historical tragedy but also the ongoing attempts to silence the Mi'kmaq and other Indigenous Peoples. Paul's work continues to give the Mi'kmaq a voice that must be heard." --Back cover.