Kyle Wells
Dr. Mark A. Eifler
HST-210
27 February 2015
Cross-cultural Alliance: The Only Way Humans are innately a combative species who thrive on conflict. However, it is sometimes more important to dismiss differences and work together to become successful. In the early days of the New World, fur trade linked two fundamentally different groups of people. The first were the Natives to the land who believed in utilizing every resource they had available to them. The newcomers to the land, Europeans, were coming to ravish the land for its precious metals and luxurious furs. A full time settlement soon became necessary to extract the maximum amount of wealth from the land. The Europeans first colony, Roanoke, served as a test of whether or not this was a realistic goal. Roanoke was first established in 1585 with little provisions leading to an exodus back to England just one year later. A second wave of brave men was sent back in 1587 under the direction of John White. White soon left the colonists to fend for themselves and returned to England and the 110 brave men were never heard from again. When the settlement was checked on three years later only writings of problems with supplies and threats from the natives were found. Many things could have caused the colony to fail but there was one certain way to prevent that end was to learn from those who had lived there for thousands of years and respect their wishes. Although, there was a large cultural barrier between Colonists and Native Americans, peaceful interactions were necessary because both parties would benefit from sharing skills for utilizing land and resources for day-to-day purposes, increasing political power within America, and establishment of rich cross cultural commerce. Everyday skills and techniques differed greatly between the Natives and Europeans. If the two groups were to have an open