The natives differ from us too in the way they administer the law. They seem to recognize only four crimes, murder, theft, witchcraft and treason. Their punishments are very lenient by our standards. Even for murder they do not resort to capital punishment. Amazingly, verbal reprisals and repayment to the injured family is all that is often required. In New France we have often had a difficult time explaining to the Natives the execution of criminals, traitors, and the many other crimes for which we use the death penalty. I was confronted with a dilemma in this regard when on arriving at Tadoussace in 1618 I had to determine how to punish two Montagnais for the murder of two Frenchmen. Rather than risk alienating our allies, I dealt with them according to native custom. Theft in France is punished with branding and worse. I have heard of a woman who was hanged for stealing flaxen sheets and money from a house in Paris. Of course, debtors can expect to be imprisoned along with their family and heaven help them in the violence and cruelty they will find there. They will only survive well if they can bribe their jailers. But then how else can we maintain order and the rights and privileges of the possessing classes? Here the Natives take a most lenient attitude toward thieves. This is due to their putting so little value in personal possessions, living as they do in community longhouses. However, recently I have noticed some changes in their attitudes to property as they increasingly become more dependent on the materials they acquire through the fur trade. Law and Order - View
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