"In respect of us they are a people poor, and for want of skill and judgment in the knowledge and use of our things - Hariot's view on the indigenous people in respect to his observation and comparison to his own homeland produced a negative view on the lifestyle of the Algonquin people.
This negative view grew as he discovered that their religion was against the teachings of his own. The belief of polytheism was against the doctrine of Hariot's own Christian upbringing. "Some religion they have already, which although it be far from the truth, yet being as it is, there is hope it may be the easier and sooner reformed."" (Norton, 904) Hariot believes that the religion in which the Algonquin Indians believed in was silly and they should be converted to his religion in order to correct their misuse of religion. Hariot in comparing his own lifestyle to the Indians has a biased opinion because the common teaching he had been taught was not the same in comparison to the inhabitants. Although he did attempt to understand their religion, he viewed the Algonquin's as people of a lesser stature. His attempt to educate them was only natural to Hariot because he felt he needed to teach the truth, or what he believed to be the truth, to them in order to better their lives. This is seen throughout history, in respect to the exploration of new territories, and thus the explorers encountering the indigenous people felt the need to teach their common religion in order to convince the natives that they were wrong. This clash of religions caused problems with the tribes when death became common to the towns that Hariot and his men had visited. .
The death of numerous people in the tribes caused much worriment and torment amongst the people of the land. They believed that the explorers caused these deaths because of their religion. They believed that the God of the European travelers was causing this plague of death onto the Algonquin Indians.
