We Were Not the Savages
We Were Not the Savages (1993 and later editions) is a history of the Mi'kmaq people during the period of European colonization written by Daniel N. Paul. It has been published in three editions. The first, subtitled "A Micmac Perspective on the Collision of Aboriginal and European Civilizations," was published by Nimbus, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Fernwood Publishing, also of Halifax, published an updated edition in 2000; and in 2006 Paul expanded and revised the book, publishing it through Fernwood, with the simple subtitle, "Collision Between European and Native American Civilizations." The 2006 edition  has fourteen chapters, ranging from "Mi'kmaq Social Values and Economy" to "Twentieth-Century Racism and Centralization" and "The Struggle for Freedom." It delineates seven independent Mi'kmaq Districts, which cover all of the Canadian Provinces of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, north of the Saint John River, Quebec, the Gaspe region, and the Northern part of the State of Maine, USA. It argues that pre-contact Mi'kmaq people enjoyed what was probably the highest standard of living in the world, without poverty or hunger, and with a social environment that valued community well-being. The book's middle  chapters trace the wars with European nations during the period of colonization, and the major Indian treaties of the eighteenth century. In the final chapters, Paul describes Mi'kmaq communities and land bases as dramatically reduced and impoverished by less than two centuries of European colonization. Reception. One reviewer has described the book as "a Canadian version of Dee Brown's best seller "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee"", a seminal work published in 1971. Critic Tasha Hubbard says that "Paul is not afraid to stray from the typical 'objective' tone found in most historical texts." American scholar Michael Mullin has  written that the book is "a call for help. . .[written] for other Micmacs and their allies in the larger Canadian community." Edition history. Each new edition is revised with new information added.