.png){kind=icon}
- Describe one example of how the Haudenosaunee played the French against the English in negotiating peace.
Answer: In 1701, the Five Nations signed a peace treaty with the French despite the objections of the English. In the same year, they also ceded lands in the south to the English in Albany to cement their alliance with them via the Nanfan Treaty. The English did not know that that the Haudenosaunee had lost that territory to the Ojibwe in the 1690s. They also did not know that the Haudenosaunee had already negotiated hunting and fishing rights in that area with the French. Furthermore, the Haudenosaunee had protected their access to the markets in Albany, which served them well with western expansion.
- Name and briefly describe the three major Indigenous wars described in this chapter.
Answer: This chapter looks at the Haudenosaunee War also called the Mourning Wars (1609–1701), the Fox Wars (1710–38), and the Mi’kmaq War (1713–61). The Haudenosaunee War was cyclical in nature and partially continued because of the belief that killed warriors could only enter the spirit world if their deaths were avenged. This conflict was also characterized by the use of guerilla tactics. It ended with the signing of a peace between the Haudenosaunee and the French in 1701. The Mesquakie (Fox) wars were between the Mesquakie and the French in the northern regions also called the pays d’en haut. The war was triggered by the establishment of a fort at Detroit aimed at moving trade westward and by Mesquakie rivalry with the Ojibwe and Odaawaa, allies of the French. The Mesquakie were disturbed by encroachment, and fighting ensued. The Mi’kmaq War (1713–61) was different in that it was fought at sea, and it involved the Mi’kmaq fighting to protect their own territory. This was a precursor to events that would involve similar instances in the United States. Some Mi’kmaq descendants still live on these lands although their territory has been greatly diminished.
- Explain three major factors that eventually limited the expansion of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.
Answer: Severe population losses due to both war and disease seriously affected the power held by the Haudenosaunee. The exact nature of the toll lost in war is unknown. When they were hit by epidemics in the 1640s, they attempted to compensate for their losses by adopting captives from the people they defeated, but replacements continued to run out. It is estimated that between 1689 and 1698, they may have lost up to half of their fighting forces, and mass defections related to Jesuit efforts played a major role. During the 1690s, two-thirds of the Kanien’keha:ka defected to two French missions near Montreal as a result of the mass absorption of Christianized conquered peoples that had followed the dispersion of Wendake, and of the work of the Jesuits.