ABSTRACT
The Native inhabitants of North America have always held great fascination for the Europeans, forming a target of their curiosity and study ever since the discovery of America. Perception of the “New World” and the strange creatures that were to be found here-denying them the status of legitimate dwellers in that land-was for many centuries identified with discovery of the alien, the other, and, as such, was felt to threaten disruption of the established certainties of man and medieval society.
