(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Indians 101: American Indians and French explorers 350 years ago, 1673 [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-14 In his chapter in North American Exploration. Volume 2: A Continent Defined, Conrad Heidenreich writes: “Whether or not the immediate aim of an expedition was narrowly defined—such as a military expedition into hostile lands or the establishment of trading and diplomatic relations with a remote native group—all French exploration had at its roots four general aims: (1) staking territorial claims against other European powers, (2) discovering major passages to the west, north, and south across the continent, (3) missionizing native groups, and (4) searching for exploitable natural resources, especially furs and minerals.” In 1673. fur trader Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette, together with five others, journeyed down the great river called Michissipi by the Indians. The French believed that the river would flow into the Sea of California. They set out from Michilimackinac (the area between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan) in two canoes. Their first stop was among the Menominee who tried to talk them out of making the trip. The Menominee told them of warlike people, dangerous waters on the river, and excessive heat in the lands through which they would travel. The Frenchmen then visited the Mascouten who told them similar stories. In their encounters with the Miami, Mascoutin, and Kickapoo, the French explorers were exposed to the calumet or sacred pipe which was found among most of the people of the Great Lakes area. They noted that the calumet was used to seal alliances and treaties. Father Marquette wrote of the calumet: “It has but to be carried upon one’s person, and displayed, to enable one to walk safely through the midst of enemies—who, in the hottest of the Fight, lay down their arms when it is shown.” The party next encountered three Illinois villages on the northern side of the Des Moines River. Once again, the Indians tried to convince them that their proposed journey was too dangerous. Near the steep banks close to present-day Alton, Illinois, they observed some very large rock paintings. They felt that the paintings – each about 8 feet by 5 feet – were too well done to have been produced by Indians. In his book America as Seen by Its First Explorers: The Eyes of Discovery, historian John Bakeless writes about this rock art: “They commemorated the slaying, by the hero Wassatogo and his warriors, of an enormous mythological animal, half-beast, half-bird which lived on human flesh—a legend which may have some remote kind of basis in fact, since a cave filled several feet deep with human bones was discovered far up the cliff in the latter nineteenth century.” At Chickasaw Bluffs, near present-day Memphis, Tennessee, the French had their first encounter with the Chickasaws. In her book Slavery in Indian Country: The Changing Face of Captivity in Early America, Christina Snyder reports: “The Chickasaws eased French anxiety by offering the travelers a meal of grilled buffalo and bear meat as well as fresh plums.” Father Marquette noticed that the Chickasaw were carrying many European manufactured goods, including guns, knives, glass beads, and glass bottles. At the convergence of the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers, the French encountered the Quapaw who came out in canoes to greet them. The Quapaw told them that they were only 10 days from the sea, but the French feared that they would encounter the Spanish. According to William Goetzmann and Glyndwr Williams, in their book The Atlas of North American Exploration From the Norse Voyages to the Race to the Pole: “The explorers had found no precious metals, no furs, no wealthy Indian nations.” At this time, the Quapaw were living in four modern-sized villages. Father Marquette observed that the Quapaw traveled in wooden canoes, that their lodges were covered with bark, that they raised three crops of corn each year, and that they measured their wealth in buffalo robes (which he described as the skins of wild cattle). More 17th Century American Indian Histories Indians 101: The French and American Indians in the 17th century Indians 101: French missionaries and American Indians in the 17th century Indians 101: Jesuit Relations in New France, 1632-1635 Indians 101: The Dutch and American Indians in the 17th century Indians 101: New Amsterdam and the Indians Indians 101: The English and Indian land in the 17th century Indians 101: The English right to rule Indians in the 17th century Indians 101: The Spanish and the Indians in the Seventeenth century [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/14/2152335/-Indians-101-American-Indians-and-French-explorers-350-years-ago-1673 Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/