Battle Wounds

After the death of Lame Beaver we move on to the story of the traders who had given Our People their fist gun. The man's name was Pasquinel, a frenchman living off the trade with indians. He brought beads from Paris and bracelets from Germany. Pasquinel moved about in his small canoe through the Platte, stopping in indian tribes to (hopefully) trade what he had for beaver pelts. This job was extremely dangerous for there was always the tension between white men and the indians, the fight for dominance in the plains. any white could be seen as a friends and then turn into a prey or enemy overnight so Pasquinel always carried a knife and gun with him. Pasquinel reached a tribe, but hid his canoe a mile away, fearing the indians would steal his possessions when he wan no there. After trading he left and one of the indians, under orders of his chief, tried to kill pasquinel to get everything he had. With an arrowhead in his back Pasquinel rowed his way back to civilisation. As he moved on towards civilisation he found a couple of Cheyenne indians who helped move the arrow into a position that no longer caused Pasquinel pain and later tried to defend him against englishmen who stole everything he had left, leaving him to fend for his own. He made it back to Saint Louis 5 months after.

"Occasionally , as he hiked, he could feel the arrowhead adjusting itself, but each week it caused less pain" (Michener 177). Pasquinel, after that wound did not stop trading with the indians, he did not give not fear. What impresses me the most it that the arrowhead was a constant reminder of the Panawee's betrayal, nevertheless Pasquinel did not show fear or even resentment towards the indians. Personally my reaction would have been mainly based on fear and resentment, but Pasquinel seemed to take it as a normal day in the job. What would our world be like if we all blindly forgave people who had done us wrong, believing they just had their reason to. Without the need for an apology or some form of regret towards the win they caused. If everyone behaved like this a lot of arguments that exist today would never appear and a lot of problems could be solved easily.

"In sign language Pasquinel spoke from some minutes, explaining that he had come from Sain Louis, that he came in peace, that all he wanted was to trade for beaver. He concluded by saying that when he returned through Panawee lands he would bring Chief Rude Water many presents." (Michener 175). I find it fascinating how people used to easily communicate without the need from words, and found a way to express themselves even if they were from two different worlds. For example indians believed in nature and living in harmony with the world around them. On the other had "white men" believed in innovation and discovering how to live a life of commodity. Both of these people have nothing in common except the fact that they are human beings, but somehow they manage to communicate with each other and share contact. I am intrigued as to how did they do this? How could they know if the other person was understanding and how did they know what they understood was what the other person said? If they had spoken the same language would the relationship between indians and "white men" have been less violent, or any different? 

As we move along the story we seem to find less and less honour in a man's word and more back stabbing for one's benefit. If we keep on moving this way where will we find ourselves in 20, 50 years?