Introduction: Literature offers a strong and passionate voice for the past. The literature of the Native Canadian is a voice we, the people of Canada, can no longer ignore. There is little to be gained by dwelling on the past. Nevertheless, there is much to be realized by accepting what has passed, with all of its mistakes and dust we might otherwise wish to hide under the carpets. English literature, since at least the sixteenth century, has a firm grounding in Canadian history. As a white Anglo Saxon Protestant, we can see where we came from, who we are, what we are and, maybe most importantly, why we are the people that comprise this enigmatic Canadian continent. But what if you aren't one of those fortunate enough to be of European Christian descent?
ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ Abstract: Christianity is one of the most profound influences this world has ever known. Almost every facet of Canadian life, past or present, is manifest with it.
White Anglo Saxon Protestants came to this country with adventure in their hearts and spreading the word of God on their minds. The new settlers soon found that they were not alone in the country they proclaimed as their own. They found a people, different from themselves and with no loyalty to the Almighty God. This untamed, human was called 'savage' and, ignorantly, despised for their commitment to no one but themselves. With Christianity as their guide, the European settler managed to almost destroy that culture for no other reason than it was different than its own. The historical record of the literature of those two cultures serves as the proof that Christianity was at the center of the cruel treatment the European showed the Native Canadian.
ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ Systematically, through war, genocide, legislation and 'wayward Indian camps' the people were broken,