History 2201E Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Half-Breed, Francization, Miscegenation
Document Summary
French-native relations: called the natives sauvage, meaning wild/different. Becomes savage in english: policy in the 17th century was to assimilate them into french culture. Wanted french and natives to intermarry to boost demographics of the colonies; miscegenation. Promised that christianized natives would be given french citizenship; didn"t mean anything to the natives. Europeans thought that the father alone passed genetic material to the children. Over 100 marriages registered, many more unregistered. Children of intermarriage known as m tis, meaning half-breed: frenchification of natives failed because the natives didn"t respond to. French culture the way they thought they would. Many accepted catholicism, etc. but refused to accept french laws.