HIE301
The Purpose for Conflicts
Aboriginal Peoples in Canada: Short Essay
Work presented to Dr. Daigle-Hau
by
NCdt Labrecque, M
February 12, 2016
Royal Military College of Canada
Discuss the military alliance between European powers and Aboriginals in Canada.
Was one side “using” the other or not?
This paper will argue that the military alliance between European powers and Aboriginals in Canada was a diplomatic strategy to take advantage of one another’s strengths. In order to prove the thesis this paper will examine how the different European powers took advantage of the different Native tribes for land, resources, trade and for warriors. As well as, how the different Aboriginal tribes used the diverse European powers to their advantage for resources, trade, and weapons to defend their lands. Finally, how each individual group would use counter-techniques in order to pit their enemies against one another and take advantage of their enemy’s weaknesses and alliances. The discovery of the New World was supposed to be an expedition to find a new trading route to Asia but ended up discovering new land with an abundance of natural resources. However, the Europeans soon found out that they were not alone, and that the land was inhabited by Natives. The Europeans quickly realised that exploring North America and settling in tactical locations would be impossible without the help of the Aboriginal nations, and therefore required alliances to be made. Alliances became essential in order to successfully explore the continent. Without the agreement from a First Nation the explorers would not be permitted to travel through their territory and therefore make fewer discoveries. These alliances were also required for trade. In fact, the alliances that the French made, Champlain, with the Montagnais, the Algonquins and the Etchemins gave them access to a massive trading network spread out from the St. Lawrence Valley to Upper Canada. For the Natives, trading had a symbolic meaning. Trading represented political mutuality between the groups whereas the absence of trade turned into war. Trading alliances inevitably led to military alliances. …show more content…
The Natives demanded that the French provide them with protection and take part in their wars. As the French expanded their territory with the assistance from their Native allies (Hurons, Algonquins, Micmac, and Innu) the Iroquois felt threatened and feared they would be cut off from trade resources. In the early 17th century, the French came out victorious with their Native allies against the Iroquois in defending the St. Lawrence Valley. However, later on, in the 1640s, the Iroquois become a formidable enemy and went on to exterminate the Hurons and harass small French settlements with raids. These events became known as the Iroquois Wars. The French and the Iroquois were eventually able to create peace in 1667, but relations remained tense as the Iroquois sought to protect their territory and hunting resources from the French and their Native allies. War would breakout again in 1682, where the French struggled to defeat the Iroquois, and in 1689, the French would lose a small town called Lachine near Montreal as 1,500 Iroquois warriors launched a surprise invasion near the heart of the colony. The French only made peace with the Iroquois once the treaty called the “Great Peace of Montreal” was signed in 1701. The French would continue to make allies, as well as enemies, as they pushed further west and south to claim more territory and expand their fur trading resource capabilities. However, they soon encountered trouble when in the late 1730s one of France’s loyal allies, the Choctaw nation, turned on them to join the Chickasaw and the English. While the French were occupied with the defiant Natives disrupting their colonies and trading routes, France was more intensely engaged with the English in Europe at these times. Although the colonies were still on alert, it wasn’t until the end of the 17th century that the French and English rivalries would affect North America. The French would build a network of forts and attempted to motivate the Natives to fight against the British trading colonies. With tensions rising, the threat of the English invading the French colonies grew worse. Ultimately, in 1710,
The Purpose for Conflicts
Aboriginal Peoples in Canada: Short Essay
Work presented to Dr. Daigle-Hau
by
NCdt Labrecque, M
February 12, 2016
Royal Military College of Canada
Discuss the military alliance between European powers and Aboriginals in Canada.
Was one side “using” the other or not?
This paper will argue that the military alliance between European powers and Aboriginals in Canada was a diplomatic strategy to take advantage of one another’s strengths. In order to prove the thesis this paper will examine how the different European powers took advantage of the different Native tribes for land, resources, trade and for warriors. As well as, how the different Aboriginal tribes used the diverse European powers to their advantage for resources, trade, and weapons to defend their lands. Finally, how each individual group would use counter-techniques in order to pit their enemies against one another and take advantage of their enemy’s weaknesses and alliances. The discovery of the New World was supposed to be an expedition to find a new trading route to Asia but ended up discovering new land with an abundance of natural resources. However, the Europeans soon found out that they were not alone, and that the land was inhabited by Natives. The Europeans quickly realised that exploring North America and settling in tactical locations would be impossible without the help of the Aboriginal nations, and therefore required alliances to be made. Alliances became essential in order to successfully explore the continent. Without the agreement from a First Nation the explorers would not be permitted to travel through their territory and therefore make fewer discoveries. These alliances were also required for trade. In fact, the alliances that the French made, Champlain, with the Montagnais, the Algonquins and the Etchemins gave them access to a massive trading network spread out from the St. Lawrence Valley to Upper Canada. For the Natives, trading had a symbolic meaning. Trading represented political mutuality between the groups whereas the absence of trade turned into war. Trading alliances inevitably led to military alliances. …show more content…
The Natives demanded that the French provide them with protection and take part in their wars. As the French expanded their territory with the assistance from their Native allies (Hurons, Algonquins, Micmac, and Innu) the Iroquois felt threatened and feared they would be cut off from trade resources. In the early 17th century, the French came out victorious with their Native allies against the Iroquois in defending the St. Lawrence Valley. However, later on, in the 1640s, the Iroquois become a formidable enemy and went on to exterminate the Hurons and harass small French settlements with raids. These events became known as the Iroquois Wars. The French and the Iroquois were eventually able to create peace in 1667, but relations remained tense as the Iroquois sought to protect their territory and hunting resources from the French and their Native allies. War would breakout again in 1682, where the French struggled to defeat the Iroquois, and in 1689, the French would lose a small town called Lachine near Montreal as 1,500 Iroquois warriors launched a surprise invasion near the heart of the colony. The French only made peace with the Iroquois once the treaty called the “Great Peace of Montreal” was signed in 1701. The French would continue to make allies, as well as enemies, as they pushed further west and south to claim more territory and expand their fur trading resource capabilities. However, they soon encountered trouble when in the late 1730s one of France’s loyal allies, the Choctaw nation, turned on them to join the Chickasaw and the English. While the French were occupied with the defiant Natives disrupting their colonies and trading routes, France was more intensely engaged with the English in Europe at these times. Although the colonies were still on alert, it wasn’t until the end of the 17th century that the French and English rivalries would affect North America. The French would build a network of forts and attempted to motivate the Natives to fight against the British trading colonies. With tensions rising, the threat of the English invading the French colonies grew worse. Ultimately, in 1710,