European Influence on the Diegueno
The biggest change to the Native American’s lives, which is the root to most of the other changes, was the exchanging of goods with the European traders and trappers. The Europeans wanted furs, leather, and other hides that could only be found in North America. And new plants not found in Europe (such as tobacco). The Diegueno would bring these goods to the trading posts. The furs were from animals such as beavers, deer, antelope and buffalo. They also brought along with them the desired crops. In exchange, the Native Americans were introduced to new goods such as wheat. flour, cloth, muskets, and rifles.
The use of Firearms, particularly the musket, completely changed hunting for the Diegueno tribe. They were able to hunt more effectively and in a fraction of the time. Before gunpowder was introduced, whoever was hunting would have to craft arrows and spears out of wood and stone, along with the bow itself, and then had to use the primitive weapon to hunt. The muskets made it so the hunter would not have to prepare much to go out hunting …show more content…
The Native Americans believed that the land could not be owned by anyone, and that everyone could take what was needed from it. Hunting grounds were shared and were moved to different parts of the country whenever it was necessary. The Europeans believed that an individual could own the land, this created conflict between the two people that caused the Diegueno tribe to lose the lands they lived and flourished on in North America. As the continent became more settled by colonist, the tribes were pushed back westward until finally several of the tribes were gathered up and sent to different reservations that were commonly on land that had little use to