Dr. Robert Owens Chronicles the History of the Future

Canada and Iriquoia January 16, 2025

While the Spanish claimed all North America their practical power did not extend far north of what is today the border between Florida and Georgia.  In Europe the power of Spain forced the English and the French to diplomatically deny for some time that they were in fact seeking to found colonies in the Americas.  The first colonies of both powers were strategically placed in the interior close to but off the coast to avoid detection and destruction.  As the Sixteenth Century progressed the power of Spain waned as the power of England, France, and the Netherlands expanded.  By 1541the King of Spain decided not to attempt to stop the French from founding a colony along the St. Lawrence.  This opened the flood gates and soon all these secondary powers began working to establish their own empires in North America.

The Spanish gave the coldness of the climate and the poverty of the land as their reasons for allowing others to build colonies in lands they claimed as their own.  And the lack of ready plunder from defenseless natives and of easy to exploit precious metals did make the first expeditions of the newcomers unprofitable since those two things were what they were seeking.  However, as time went on the French took the lead in the fur trade quickly followed by the English and the Dutch.  Then the English discovered that they could make fortunes growing tobacco for export to a rapidly growing European market. 

The French, English and Dutch did not conquer the Native Americans as the Spanish did, they instead began by entering into alliances and trading agreements.  The many tribes of the eastern portion of North America’s vast woodland were divided into two distinct groups roughly founded on language, the Algonquians and the Iroquoian.  Both groups were often rivals within their respective divisions and often between each other.  The alignment of these groups came to play a very important part in the shape of the growing colonies.

The fur trade quickly rose to become the greatest source of financial gain for the Europeans and the greatest source of trade goods for the Indians.  And both sides soon came to depend upon the other in more ways than either could have ever imagined.  As the Indians spread out further and further seeking the furs and skins the European desired, they began to neglect their traditional sources of strength as they depleted their own lands and lusted for the lands of others.  In addition, as they became more dependent on manufactured goods, they began to lose the skills they had developed over centuries to live off the land.  It even reached the point that if trade goods were cut-off the Indians faced starvation.  This became so pronounced that the Indians came to consider a cut-off of trade as a declaration of war.

Tribes who lived closest to a source of trade goods began to conquer and plunder tribes that lived further away using their monopoly on firearms to their advantage.  These disruptions spread the influence and impact of the European settlements to Native Americans who never saw a colonist.  The destruction of the beaver also had a dramatic impact on the environment as the previously ubiquitous lakes and ponds formed by beaver dams disappeared.   These ponds and lakes had been an important source of water and habitat for other animals and as they dried up the patterns of wildlife changed forever.

In addition, the diseases of the Europeans decimated the native population in some places creating the wilderness the Europeans have always said was there.  It weakened many tribes so much they merged with others and their independent history ended often after many generations of existence.   And there was also alcohol.  Indians had always brewed a type of beer, but they had never distilled hard liquor.  The impact of this import had a debilitating effect on individuals and cultures that was often purposefully exploited by the Europeans.

The French were the early leaders.  They followed the St. Lawrence River more than 1,000 miles into the interior of the continent opening trade with hitherto untouched regions.  They made fortunes exporting a huge volume of furs and pelts.  At first it was so lucrative a trade that they did not even want to establish permanent colonies for fear of disrupting the natives and the gathering of furs.  However, in 1608 Quebec was founded and soon some permanent settlers began to fan out through the vast area France claimed as their own.  France soon became embroiled in the many wars of their Indian allies.  They were allied with the Algonquians and Huron making enemies of the Five Nation Iroquois.  The introduction of firearms into the traditional Indian warfare led to radical changes in tactics.  They went from massed formations to hit and run styles.  It also convinced the tribes that they needed above all to attain firearms or face defeat.

The Five Nation Iroquois

Unfortunately for the French they had aligned themselves with the first people they met which can easily be understood as a means of gaming furs fast and easy but when looked at from a strategic standpoint it made little sense.  The Northern Algonquians and the Montagnais were hunter gatherers with no permanent settlements and little surplus of any kind.  The Huron, an Iroquoian speaking people were possessors of advanced horticulture and lived in large well-fortified villages.  But all of them together were no match for the unified might of the Five Nation Iroquois.  This confederation of tribes possessed the strongest military and the most advanced social system in North America since the demise of the ancient races of the Southwest and the Mound Builders of the Mississippi basin. 

The tribes of the Northeast had long histories of warfare and the introduction of the Europeans into the mix merely changed the weapons and the tactics.  The strategy remained the same gain land and captives which could be adopted into the tribe thereby making it bigger and its enemies smaller.  The Five Nations were the best organized and the largest.  They had been the most powerful and stable of all the Indian alliances in the area before the Europeans came and they remained so for centuries after.

Shortly after the first French intervention in the wars between the Huron and the Iroquois the Dutch arrived.  They soon established themselves along the Hudson River and began supplying the Five Nations with arms.  This leveled the playing field and soon the French and their Indian allies were in full retreat as the Five Nations flexed their muscles to the north.  The long-lasting enmity between the French and the Five Nations would not be extinguished until the final fall of New France.

The Jesuits followed the French as the religious order that made the strongest inroads amongst the Indians, especially the Huron.  Many Huron villages became Christian as did large numbers of the people.   This made for many disagreements and disputes among the tribe.  Many wanted to retain their traditional beliefs and lifestyles while others seeing the power of the Europeans wanted to adapt to the changing circumstances.  This dissension led to aggressive actions on the part of the Five Nations.  Seeing the opportunity to crush their ancient enemies and to obtain many captives they mounted sustained attacks eventually leading to the complete destruction of the Huron nation.