Many explorers through the years made an impact in their relationships with the Aboriginal people of Canada setting the stage for further relations. John Cabot was one of the first recorded explorers who landed on the North Atlantic Coast in 1497. He isn't naively thought to be the first encounter the Aboriginal people ever had. In fact when John Cabot landed, "the shock of the first encounter seems to have dissipated very early in those northern regions, perhaps with the Norse, perhaps with later, unrecorded meetings"(p.30)
This shows there had been other previous interactions between Aboriginal and Europeans. In 1577 Martin Frobisher took an Inuk woman and her baby prisoner during one of his voyages and "brought back an Inuk hunter to England and displayed him as a 'token of possession', proof that the explorer had found and claimed new lands for the Queen."(p. 30) Henry Hudson had some interaction with the Cree on James Bay in 1611 where he was given gifts. Jacques Cartier met Iroquois people on the south east coast and traded goods as well as mapping the Gulf of St. Lawrence. He also kidnapped an Iroquis chief and his two sons, took them to France and they didn't return.When Champlain arrived, on behalf of the French, he came to make maps as a part of the expidition to Quebec. He befriended the Huron's which put him at odds with the Iroquois. Involved in a battle against the Iroquois, Champlain was wounded and lived for the Huron's for a winter. During this time he became much more familiar with their trading routes, settlements, language and people. Now that Champlain was accepted as a part of the Huron community the Iroquois were unhappy and saw the French as enemies. The trade goods the French had were very desired items and it affected the balance of power between the Aboriginal peoples. This began many wars between the Iroquois, English and Dutch who were pitted against the Huron and French. In the end, so many were killed in the frequent raids and wars that the Huron's no longer lived in settlements but dissapeared possibly being absorbed into other tribes.
Champlain's relationship with the Huron created an imbalance in power and impacted all of the relationships in the area. It's possible the relationships between the Huron, Iroquois, English, Dutch and French would have escalated into the same series of events. It's sure that the arrival and alliances that Champlain made impacted the development and therefore the history of Canada.
