This is my third reading log, by this time I understood what Tracy was looking for in the reading logs more clearly and I can see my writing develop into better understanding of the material. In this particular reading log, the article I read was about the relationship between the Bethothuk and the European settlers, and the difficulties that they had to deal with and eventually overcome.

Reading Log #3

I think the main arguments of these readings were to make the reader understand that there are many opinions or ideas that people can have about a specific historic event. These articles are talking about the Beothuk people, and their relationships with the Europeans. This sheds great light on the Beothuk’s past, including why they relocated to the interior and how they related to the Europeans. The articles talk about how some people’s opinions vary in what actually happened in history. Such as, why the Beothuk people didn’t have a relationship with the Europeans. Some say its to do with their different economic objectives and the failure to set up a trading system. Others argue that its to do with ideology and cultural tradition, that it was the Beothuk’s lack of interest in trading that was the cause of no relationship. The author used these examples as evidence to show the two different perspectives on what may have really happened between the two groups. This also sheds light on what other Aboriginal community’s relationship with Europeans in other time periods may have or may have not been like. I wonder about those relationships, and how the other aboriginal groups reacted and related toward the Europeans. I also wonder if the two groups had of worked together, whether the Beothuk’s would have eventually gone extinct or not. I found it very interesting that the Beothuk’s didn’t want to start trading with the Europeans but became extremely violent, stealing and killing the Europeans and their possessions. I also wonder that if the main reason the Beothuk’s moved to the interior was mainly because of the Europeans, or whether as the article suggested it was due to the fact that the Beothuk’s were not really settled in the inlets and coves, and they weren’t fully utilizing the resources.