How to resist a comment…
Rousseau versus Voltaire.
Is man naturally good or is man bettered by society?
The fact is that humans inherently possess virtuous traits which can be corrupted by society, but inherently negative traits that can be tempered by society.
Amerindians where mostly devoid of the "evil" facets of a society having reached the developmental stage where "castes" develop.
A rigid aristocracy, where a minority forge their superiority over the people through force of arms, was unknown to them.
Freedom.
Freedom was what they possessed in droves, and this gave them a certain moral uphand on some aspects oh humanity.
One must ask himself: Why is it that so many Canadians (in the sense of 17th to 18th century Canadians), if not prefered to go live with amerindians, at least appreciated so much to go interact with their amerindian neighbors, and adopted so many of their customs, which would shape early Canadian society?
Why is it that many individuals captured by raiding partys would prefer to stay within the tribe that captured them once they had passed all the hazing of the temporary slave status?
Stockholm syndrom? Please. It was freedom. Freedom to act, freedom to love. And freedom will always be hampered by having a minority of the constituants of society whom declare themselves superior.
Humans do what humans does, and in the end, unfortunately, society is often shaped in part by the lowest common denominator.
The developmental road they took was in large part imposed by demographics, circumstential if your will is to see it as such…but in the domain of freedom, this gave them a clear advantage.
"Inherently and naturally good, fair, just, honest, and noble"? Nay. But unspoiled by the vices of a corrupt society? Definitely…and this still echoes within most of them today, for what is a distant past to some is not as distant to them.