The Fair People had expected to find the newly
discovered world uninhabited by mortals. They were
surprised, and somewhat disappointed, therefore, to
find that Native Tribespeople (whom they were never
so foolish as to call ”Indians” ) were already in resi-
dence from the northernmost coast, where the Scan-
dinavian Elves confronted the Innuit and Beothuk, to
the southern shores, where the Iberian Hadas were
greeted by the Timuca and Calusa.
But it soon became clear that the manners and
customs of the Natives had much in common with
Fairy ways, and bore little resemblance to the sav-
age behavior of Civilized Man in the Old World.
The Tribespeople, for instance, had deep respect
for earth, air, fire, and water, and this was much
appreciated by the Fair Folk, who are, as you know,
the natural children of those elements; and on the
whole, relations between the natives and the Fairy
newcomers were cordial.
There were, to be sure, some unfortunate con-
flicts and skirmishes. The Italian immigrant Falletti
and the indigenous Powhatan engaged, briefly, in a
sort of guerilla gang war over fishing rights off the
peninsula of what is now called New Jersey.
Difficulties between the newcomer Tree Spirits of
Africa and the native Caribees were resolved in their
mutual love of music; what was to have been a
winner-take-all drumming contest between the

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