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The Franco-Indigenous Alliance was an alliance between North American indigenous nations and the French, centered on the
Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
and the
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...
country during the
French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the st ...
(1754–1763). The alliance involved French settlers on the one side, and indigenous peoples such as the
Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pre ...
,
Odawa The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ), said to mean "traders", are an Indigenous American ethnic group who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, commonly known as the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. They h ...
, Menominee, Winnebago,
Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popu ...
,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...
,
Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota: /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations peoples in North America. The modern Sioux consist of two major divisions based on language divisions: the Dakota and ...
,
Huron Huron may refer to: People * Wyandot people (or Wendat), indigenous to North America * Wyandot language, spoken by them * Huron-Wendat Nation, a Huron-Wendat First Nation with a community in Wendake, Quebec * Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawato ...
,
Petun The Petun (from french: pétun), also known as the Tobacco people or Tionontati ("People Among the Hills/Mountains"), were an indigenous Iroquoian people of the woodlands of eastern North America. Their last known traditional homeland was sou ...
, and
Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...
on the other. It allowed the French and the natives to form a haven in the middle-Ohio valley before the open conflict between the European powers erupted.


Background

France had a long presence in Northern America, starting with the establishment of
New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...
in 1534. Acculturation and conversion were promoted, especially through the activities of the Jesuit missions in North America. But unlike the other colonial powers, France, under the guidance of
Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crow ...
and
Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...
, encouraged a peaceful coexistence in New France between Natives and Colonists. Indigenous persons, converted to Catholicism, were considered as "natural Frenchmen" by the
Ordonnance In French politics, an ''ordonnance'' (, "order") is a statutory instrument issued by the Council of Ministers in an area of law normally reserved for primary legislation enacted by the French Parliament. They function as temporary statutes pend ...
of 1627: According to the 19th-century historian
Francis Parkman Francis Parkman Jr. (September 16, 1823 – November 8, 1893) was an American historian, best known as author of '' The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life'' and his monumental seven-volume '' France and England in North Am ...
: In many instance, French officials adopted Indian habits in order to gain their support. The French government officials and tribal sovereignty had an exchange program between Native children and French children that helped build diplomacy among the two groups, known as "metis". The Baron de Saint-Castin was adopted by an
Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pre ...
tribe and married a native girl. Governor Frontenac danced and sang war songs at an Indian council, while
Daniel Liénard de Beaujeu Daniel Hyacinthe Liénard de Beaujeu (9 or 19 August 1711 – 9 July 1755) was a French officer during King George's War and the French and Indian War. He participated in the Battle of Grand Pre (1747). He also organized the force that attacked G ...
fought bare-chested and covered with war paints at the battle against Braddock. Natives also adopted French habits, like chief
Kondiaronk Kondiaronk (c. 1649–1701) (Gaspar Soiaga, Souojas, Sastaretsi), known as ''Le Rat'' (The Rat), was Chief of the Native American Wendat people at Michilimackinac in New France. As a result of an Iroquois attack and dispersal of the Hurons in 16 ...
who wanted to be buried in his uniform of captain or
Kateri Tekakwitha Kateri Tekakwitha ( in Mohawk), given the name Tekakwitha, baptized as Catherine and informally known as Lily of the Mohawks (1656 – April 17, 1680), is a Catholic saint and virgin who was an Algonquin– Mohawk. Born in the Mohawk village ...
who became a Catholic Saint. French settlers and natives were allied in every conflict preceding the Seven Years' War:
Father Rale's War Dummer's War (1722–1725) is also known as Father Rale's War, Lovewell's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the Wabanaki-New England War, or the Fourth Anglo-Abenaki War. It was a series of battles between the New England Colonies and the ...
,
King George's War King George's War (1744–1748) is the name given to the military operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in t ...
,
Father Le Loutre's War Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755), also known as the Indian War, the Mi'kmaq War and the Anglo-Mi'kmaq War, took place between King George's War and the French and Indian War in Acadia and Nova Scotia. On one side of the conflict, the Br ...
. Intermarriages were also frequent in New France, giving rise to the Métis people.


Seven Years' War

In North America in the 18th century, the British outnumbered the French 20 to 1, a situation that urged France to ally with the majority of the First Nations. According to one French observer: At the beginning of the conflict, despite the disproportion of the forces involved, the French and their allies managed to inflict defeats to the British, such as the
Battle of Fort Necessity The Battle of Fort Necessity, also known as the Battle of the Great Meadows, took place on July 3, 1754, in what is now Farmington in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The engagement, along with the May 28 skirmish known as the Battle of Jumonvill ...
or the Battle of the Monongahela. Following the capture of Fort William Henry, the
Marquis de Montcalm Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Grozon, Marquis de Montcalm de Saint-Veran (28 February 1712 – 14 September 1759) was a French soldier best known as the commander of the forces in North America during the Seven Years' War (whose North American th ...
agreed to let the British withdraw with full honours of war - a civility that was not understood by some natives who massacred the British and their camp followers on their way to Fort Edward. Facing major defeats in the hands of Britain's allies on the European theater of the war and with its navy unable to match the Royal Navy, France was unable to properly supply and support the Canadiens and their indigenous allies. Britain had a string of successes, especially with the Battle of Fort Niagara, and the Franco-Indian alliance started to unravel. At the same time, the British were making promises of support and protection to the natives. Finally, Quebec fell in September following the
Battle of the Plains of Abraham The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec (french: Bataille des Plaines d'Abraham, Première bataille de Québec), was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years' War (referred to as the French and Indian War to describe ...
. At the conclusion of the Seven Years' War in 1763, New France was divided with
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
going to the British and
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...
to the Spaniards.


Later history

Long after the extinction of
New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...
in 1763, Franco-Indian communities would persist, practicing the Catholic faith, speaking French and using French names. From the
Saint Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman ...
to the
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
, cosmopolitan French communities accommodated Indians and Blacks. During the
American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
and the onset of the
Franco-American alliance The Franco-American alliance was the 1778 alliance between the Kingdom of France and the United States during the American Revolutionary War. Formalized in the 1778 Treaty of Alliance, it was a military pact in which the French provided many s ...
, the French would again combine with Indian troops, as in the Battle of Kiekonga in 1780 under
Augustin de La Balme Augustin Mottin de La Balme (28 August 1733 - 5 November 1780) was a French cavalry officer who served in Europe during the Seven Years' War and in the United States during the American Revolution. His attempt to capture Fort Detroit in 1780 end ...
.''The American Revolution in Indian country'' by Colin G. Calloway p.4

/ref> In 1869 and 1885,
Louis Riel Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first ...
led two
Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United State ...
revolts against the
Canadian government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in ...
, known as the
Red River Rebellion The Red River Rebellion (french: Rébellion de la rivière Rouge), also known as the Red River Resistance, Red River uprising, or First Riel Rebellion, was the sequence of events that led up to the 1869 establishment of a provisional government by ...
and the
North-West Rebellion The North-West Rebellion (french: Rébellion du Nord-Ouest), also known as the North-West Resistance, was a Resistance movement, resistance by the Métis people (Canada), Métis people under Louis Riel and an associated uprising by First Natio ...
. The revolts were suppressed and Riel executed.


See also

*
Foreign alliances of France The foreign alliances of France have a long and complex history spanning more than a millennium. One traditional characteristic of the French diplomacy of alliances has been the ''"Alliance de revers"'' (i.e. "Rear alliance"), aiming at allying w ...
*
French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the st ...
*
Kahnawake surnames The Mohawk Nation reserve of Kahnawake, south of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, includes residents with surnames of Mohawk, French, Scots and English ancestry, reflecting its multicultural history. This included the adoption of European children into ...


Notes


References

* Alfred A. Cave ''The French and Indian War'' 2004 Greenwood Press {{ISBN, 0-313-32168-X * Van Zandt, Cynthia. Brothers Among Nations: The Pursuit of Intercultural Alliances in Early America, 1580-1660. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. French and Indian War Military alliances involving France First Nations history Native American history