Hi friends,
I'd be interested in reading about the historical accounts of explorers, traders, and other people who have had the chance to establish first contact with an unfamiliar culture or indigenous people, how the encounters were conducted, how they became acclimated to one another, developed communication, etc., and what outcomes (friendly or otherwise) the encounters had.
Any historically sourced encounter is fair game. As for time period and culture groups involved, the more the merrier.
Is there a book or online resource where I can find a fair number of such accounts? Please be encouraged to share historical encounters of this kind you find especially interesting in the thread as well. Thanks.
Watkin Tench was a soldier in the 1788 First Fleet to Sydney, Australia
He kept a diary of the first four years of the colony, and encounters with the local Aboriginal tribes were a very prominent topic in his writings
The diaries are published in various ways. When i was at uni 20 years ago, they were in a book simply titled 1788
Here's a 1922 translation of some of the early Russian voyages to America. I'll also recommend the third voyage of Capt. Cook and the voyage of George Vancouver. Since you're interested in cultural contact, I'll also recommend the journal of Archibald Menzies, who was the natural scientist aboard Vancouver's voyage.
Here is an original text, an account by Cabeza De Vaca. Cabeza De Vaca was a conquistador that was stranded in North America and spent years wandering around the southwest of what is now the United States. His is an amazing story and this really is just a jumping off point as far as his story is concerned.
Samuel de Champlain's accounts of his voyages have been published in three volumes. They can be hard to find, but Google offers them as e-books. As the "father of New France", among other things, his memoirs chronicle his travels from eastern Canada to the Great Lakes in the early 1600s. He was the first European to make contact and establish on-going relations with a number of First Nations.
Check out Briefe and True Report of the Newfoundland of Virginia by Harriot (for the Central Eastern Seaboard of North America). Also look at books in the Hakluyt Society's collection.
I read Bernal Diaz' "The True History of the Conquest of New Spain" in a college class. It tells the story of Cortes' conquest of the Aztecs. It was a fascinating read. Diaz was there through the entire event, and wrote this book in response to the account published by Cortes' chaplain. He goes into great detail about their experiences and the battle.
Check out The Florida of the Inca for a detailed description of DeSoto's travels in the southeast US.