As kind of a disclaimer, I want to mention that reactions varied a lot. Cultural differences and world views shaped a lot of these interactions, as well as the simple fact that humans just do things at times for their own reasons. But we do have some accounts of Europeans meeting with Native Americans and how these interactions went down.

I am not as familiar with the coasts, but we see similar meetings in the interior portion of North America. In 'Archaeology of the Soul' by Robert Hall, we see a few accounts of French explorers interacting with cultures near the Great Lakes and down along the Mississippi River. To be fair, this book focuses more on spiritual beliefs of Native Americans, but it has many examples of how encounters went between Europeans and Native Americans.

One account is off a few explorers looking for routes into the interior of North America. They have no real issues with tribes along the upper Mississippi tributaries, in fact they are even assisted with finding routes further south. In this, the tribes they are with warn them of more warlike tribes to the south, and offer to assist them with safe passage. This is done by giving them a pipe, which is often a stone base with a long stem that has artistic elements on it. The base is often made of catlinite, a material that is red colored and was quarried at a few spots across the Midwest. They were told to show this pipe to the tribes they encountered and that they would be allowed safe passage. Their accounts later state that these gifts did in fact help them avoid conflict, they were attacked at one point and in a last ditch effort they showed this pipe to their attackers, who then stopped attacking them.

Stories like that could be fake, but we do know that many groups had ceremonies for meeting new people that incorporated pipes, both literal usage as well as strictly ceremonial usage of the pipe. Many of these centered on ideas of adoption into the group, basically taking on these new members and assigning them a group in the community. One account mentions a French explorer being given the name of a member of the community who had recently passed away. These adoptions often were intended to secure trade interactions, but it is interesting to note that newcomers were often welcomed into the communities they encountered.

On the other hand, we also see instances of conflict breaking out when Europeans met with Native Americans. These often occured due to the agreements formed when Europeans arrived, and then modifications occuring over time that strained relationships. Another account Hall lists is between French settlers and Native Americans along the Middle to Lower Mississippi. Essentially the initial settlers arrive and are allowed to live near the existing community. Over time, more Europeans arrive and bring with them things like livestock, and with this comes soldiers and so on. At this point the local tribe is kind of upset, to them the French are competition for the resources in the area, and much of the frustration also stems from the Native Americans feeling insulted by the French abusing their kindness in allowing them in the area. I cannot recall what steps were made to fix this strain, but eventually the local tribal community raided the French community in the area. Again, my memory is fuzzy and I do not have my copy of this text with me, but the French would move out and eventually later come back with more protection. But I do recall that the local tribe was waiting for retaliation after the raid as this was seen as part of the politics of raiding. A raid was often in response to another raid, and so on, with raiding being less an act of war and more a way to allow individuals to seek revenge against neighbors who wronged them. They were less formal battles sanctioned by leadership, and more actions taken on by members of the community.

I think the raiding example really shows how big of an impact cultural differences had on early interactions. Europeans assumed that they were being given this "empty" land, and Native Americans often felt they were bringing in new members to their communities or simply welcoming strangers who may be useful later. Conflicts arose when these assumptions proved to be false, and both sides decided to settle it in the ways they were used to.

Kwe,

I write here as an Indigenous person (Anishinabe/Mi'gmaw).

The Mi'gmaq were in contact with Europeans fishers (mainly Basque) for some time before the explorers came. We had friendly contact. We traded, learned techniques (like building a type of whaling boat), borrowed some words and even created a Mi'gmaw-Basque language. I don't think intermariage was common though, as trade as sea fisheries were more of a masculine task. I heard sometimes that Europeans were smelly. We did not kill the fishers because we reduce war to the necessary and we are a trading people. We same trade opportunities. Exchanging furs for metal tools was a great deal for both peoples. We had access to tools to facilitate our life and the Basques had more money when they sold the furs in Europe.

Later, with Jacques Cartier (c. 1534), we saw him and his crew plant a cross on the coast. We thaught he was here for fish and trade, like the Basque. We could communicate because some of his crew could speak Basque, at is was an important language for sailors. We asked why the cross (we had no idea of the meaning, as the fishers were not proselitizing). He was claiming the land for God and the King of France, but he lied and said to us that it was a geographical marker for the sailors. We belived him, because we had previous friendly relationships with fishers. Later, he went to what is now Québec City. He met with the St Lawrence Iroquoians (who no longer exist). The relationship was cordial. The Iroquoains saw a trading opportuinity, and tried to stop Cartier from going further in the St Lawrence to keep their tribe as the only intermediaries. They even helped Cartier and his crew when they were sick with scurvy. Cartier thanked them by kidnapping people who died in France.

When Champlain visited the region around 1608, he expectec to meet with the St Lawrence Iroquoians. There were no longer there and met Algonquian peoples instead (Innus in that case). They eventually made an alliance, with a banquet and all. Why ? Trade and... war ! Chmaplain, with his musquet, went with a war party fight against the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy. We won the battle and it proved the stregth of the Europeans.

So, I would say that for the Mi'gmaq, the Innus and the St Lawrence Iroquoians, the first contacts were friendly, because we saw an opportunity for trade and war. Furthermore, Algonquian peoples have a prophecy which told us that Pale Faced People would be coming from the Eastern Sea. But, there would come as friends or as foes, the prophet warned. I guessed we took the chance and thought they were all friends. In fact, some were friends, some were foes.