NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
The Algonquin was a northern tribe that settled in Canada some time around the 1400 s, and now have settled in Quebec and nearby Ontario. The Algonquians history was not exactly a pleasant one they suffered many hardships and obstacles to over come. Samuel de Champlain established the first permanent French settlement on the St. Lawrence at Tadoussac in 1603.
Champlain was so impressed with the Algonquin's furs that he explored the St. Lawrence as far west as the Lachine Rapids. Champlain left for France shortly afterwards, but upon his return in 1608, he immediately moved his fur trade upstream to a new post at Quebec to shorten the distance that the Algonquin were required to travel for trade. He soon discovered that Algonquin victories over the Iroquois were not that common, and it was the Mohawk, not the Algonquin, who dominated the upper river. So Samuel usually did not help the Algonquian fight. The Algonquin usually avoided the river because of the threat of Mohawk war parties.
The Algonquin fought with the French and helped them when times where ruff, but it wasnt long until the French that they needed to get rid of them and move them away from there villages, so the French turned against the Algonquians. In 1649 French and Indian refugees streamed down the Ottawa Valley to the relative safety of Montreal. During 1650 the remaining Algonquin in the upper Ottawa Valley were attacked and overrun. The survivors retreated, either far to headwaters of the rivers feeding the Upper Ottawa River where the Cree afforded a certain amount of support and protection. During the next twenty years, the Algonquin pretty much dropped out of sight so far as the French were concerned. Learning from their earlier mistakes, the French insisted that this agreement also include their allies and trading partners.
This not only allowed French traders and missionaries to travel to the western Great Lakes, but also permitted the Algonquin to begin a slow return to northern part of the Ottawa Valley. Conquest and returning had been hard on them, and not many were left maybe only 2000. The epidemics which struck Sillery in 1676 and 1679 had reduced the Christian Algonquin survivors to only a handful, most of whom were subsequently absorbed by the Abenaki at St. Francois after the closure of the Sillery mission in 1685. During the 20 -year absence of the Algonquin from the Ottawa Valley, the Ottawa had come to dominate the French fur trade with the western Great Lakes. So much so that any native fur trader visiting Montreal during this period was routinely referred to as an Ottawa even though many were Algonquin and Ojibwe.
The Algonquians went through many hard ships only to settle between Quebec and Ontario. When the French drove them away and other tribe it changed there lifes forever, a once thought friend was then there enemy and they could not be beaten.
Free research essays on topics related to: great lakes, fur trade, algonquin, ottawa, valley
Research essay sample on Fur Trade Great Lakes
