When Cultures Collide

When Cultures Collide Where the river ends And the ocean begins; Cultures collide And history’s tide, Erases a way of life For the indigenous people. St. Lawrence Iroquoians Welcomed the French To the shores of ‘Kanata’ At Stadacona; With ceremonial greeting, Exchanging gifts and ideas. But only the riches of the land Are considered worthy: Natural habitat retreats, And the environment suffers. First Nations people would fare no better, Against these foreign invaders. *** Notes: ‘Kanata’ is the Saint Lawrence-Iroquois word for village; referring to Stadacona (present day Quebec City, Quebec), and was interpreted as ‘Canada’ by the French explorer Jacques Cartier (1491–1557), in 1535. The St. Lawrence Iroquoians existed from the 14th century to about 1580. They soon disappeared after the arrival of the Europeans, and it is suspected that diseases transmitted by the Europeans to them (for which they had no immunity) were a major reason for their demise.