Panis was a term used for slaves of the

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

descent in

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 tot ...

, a region 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 Spai ...

. First Nation slaves were generally called ''Panis'' (anglicized to

Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...

), with most slaves of First Nations descent having originated from Pawnee tribes. The term later became synonymous with "Indian slave" in the French colony, with a slave from any tribe being called ''Panis.''

Etymology

As early as 1670, a reference was recorded to a ''Panis'' in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. The term is widely described as a corruption of the name of the Panismahas, a sub-tribe of the Pawnee people encountered in the

Illinois Country The Illinois Country (french: Pays des Illinois ; , i.e. the Illinois people)—sometimes referred to as Upper Louisiana (french: Haute-Louisiane ; es, Alta Luisiana)—was a vast region of New France claimed in the 1600s in what is n ...

, then a remote part of

"In the middle of the 17th century the Pawnees were being savagely raided by eastern tribes that had obtained metal weapons from the French, which gave them a terrible advantage over Indians who had only weapons of wood, flint, and bone. The raiders carried off such great numbers of Pawnees into slavery, that in the country on and east of the upper Mississippi the name Pani developed a new meaning: ''slave''. The French adopted this meaning, and Indian slaves, no matter from which tribe they had been taken, were presently being termed ''Panis''. It was at this period, after the middle of the 17th century, that the name was introduced into
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
in the form ''Panana'' by bands of mounted
Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
s who brought large numbers of Pawnee slaves to trade to the
Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance peoples, Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of National and regional identity in Spain, national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex Hist ...
and
Pueblo Indians The Puebloans or Pueblo peoples, are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Currently 100 pueblos are actively inhabited, among which Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Zun ...
."^:24

Raiders primarily targeted women and children, to be sold as slaves. In 1694, Apaches brought a large number of captive children to the trading fair in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

, but for some reason there were not enough buyers, so the Apaches beheaded all their slaves in full view of the Spaniards.^:46

History

Slavery of First Nations in the colony of New France was formalized through colonial law in 1709, with the passage of the ''Ordinance Rendered on the Subject of the Negroes and the Indians called Panis''. Slaves of First Nations descent were only permitted to be enslaved while within the colony, although in practice enslaved individuals remained enslaved regardless of where they travelled. In 1747, the colonial administration proposed permitting the trade of First Nations slaves for slaves of African descent. However, these attempts were quashed by the French government, fearing it would jeopardize existing Franco-First Nations alliances. By 1757

Louis Antoine de Bougainville Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville (, , ; 12 November 1729 – August 1811) was a French admiral and explorer. A contemporary of the British explorer James Cook, he took part in the Seven Years' War in North America and the American Revolution ...

considered that the Panis nation "plays ... the same role in America that the Negroes do in Europe." However, the importation of slaves of First Nations descent began to decline in the decade prior to the

Conquest of New France Conquest is the act of military wiktionary:subjugation, subjugation of an enemy by force of Weapon, arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast area ...

in 1760. A number of New French institutions, including the enslavement of First Nations, continued to be legal as stipulated in the

Articles of Capitulation of Montreal The Articles of Capitulation of Montreal were agreed upon between the Governor General of New France, Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal, and Major-General Jeffery Amherst on behalf of the French and British crowns. They ...

. By the late-18th century, slaves of African descent began to make up a larger portion of slaves being imported into the region by European slave traders. Several court decisions, and legislative acts passed in

the Canadas The Canadas is the collective name for the provinces of Lower Canada and Upper Canada, two historical British colonies in present-day Canada. The two colonies were formed in 1791, when the British Parliament passed the '' Constitutional Act'', ...

during the late-18th and early 19th century resulted in the decline of the institution in the colonies. The last slave of First Nations descent in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

was recorded to have been donated to a Montreal hospital in 1821. The institution was abolished in 1834; at which time, the majority of the slaves in the region were of African descent.

Number enslaved

According to the

Canadian Museum of History The Canadian Museum of History (french: Musée canadien de l’histoire) is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of C ...

35 individuals were held as slaves in Canada from the establishment of New France to 1699. Most of these individuals were slaves of First Nations origin. From 1700 to 1760 the museum estimated 2,000 slaves were held in Canada; two-thirds of whom were First Nations people. The museum reported most slaves were very young, that the average age of First Nations slaves was just 14 years old. Their mortality was high, as most came from the interior, and lacked immunity to European diseases. From the mid-17th century to the

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

in 1833, there were approximately 2,683 slaves of First Nations descent; making up nearly two-thirds of all slaves in New France during the period of French colonial rule. Monette (fl. 1760s), described as a Panis, was enslaved by fur trader

John Askin John Askin (1739–1815) was an Irish fur trader, merchant, and colonial official. He was instrumental in the establishment of British rule in Upper Canada. Early years He was born in Aughnacloy, Ireland in 1739; his ancestors are believed to ...

and was the mother to John Askin Jr.;

Catherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

, the wife of Robert Hamilton, founder of

Queenston Queenston is a compact rural community and unincorporated place north of Niagara Falls in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is bordered by Highway 405 to the south and the Niagara River to the east; its location at the eponym ...

; and

Madeline ''Madeline'' is a media franchise that originated as a series of children's books written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans, an Austrian-American author. The books have been adapted into numerous formats, spawning telefilms, television series ...

, the wife of Dr. Robert Richardson of the

Queen's Rangers The Queen's Rangers, also known as the Queen's American Rangers, and later Simcoe's Rangers, were a Loyalist military unit of the American Revolutionary War. Formed in 1776, they were named for Queen Charlotte, consort of George III. The Queen' ...

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite web , url = https://www.historymuseum.ca/virtual-museum-of-new-france/population/slavery/ , title = Population: Slavery , work =

, accessdate = 2019-06-15 , url-status = live , quote = In Canada, the majority of slaves were not of African, but rather of Aboriginal origin. Native populations customarily subjugated war captives before the arrival of the French, but this practice acquired new meanings and unprecedented proportions in the context of western expansion. Beginning in the 1670s, the French began to receive captives from their Aboriginal partners as tokens of friendship during commercial and diplomatic exchanges. The Illinois were notorious for the raids which they led against nations to the southeast and from which they brought back captives. By the early eighteenth century, the practice of buying and selling these captives like merchandise was established. , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190324211315/https://www.historymuseum.ca/virtual-museum-of-new-france/population/slavery/ , archive-date = 2019-03-24 {{cite news , url = https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/200-years-a-slave-the-dark-history-of-captivity-in-canada/article17178374/ , title = 200 years a slave: the dark history of captivity in Canada , work =

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

, author = Robert Everett-Green , date = 2014-02-28 , accessdate = 2019-06-15 , url-status = live , quote = Many in Quebec had to be content with captives stolen or bought from indigenous peoples, some of whom practiced slavery before the Europeans arrived. About two-thirds of the slaves in Quebec were native people, mostly from the Pawnee nations of modern-day Nebraska, whose French Canadian name – Panis – became a synonym for an indigenous slave of any origin. , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190615044938/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/200-years-a-slave-the-dark-history-of-captivity-in-canada/article17178374/ , archive-date = 2019-06-15 {{cite book , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xA9Tt5LxS2sC&q=slave , title = The Pawnee Indians , author = George E. Hyde , publisher =

University of Oklahoma Press The University of Oklahoma Press (OU Press) is the publishing arm of the University of Oklahoma. Founded in 1929 by the fifth president of the University of Oklahoma, William Bennett Bizzell, it was the first university press to be established i ...

, year = 1988 , page = 24 , isbn = 9780806120942 , accessdate = 2019-06-15 , url-status = live , quote = The raiders carried off such great numbers of Pawnees into slavery that in the country on and east of the upper Mississippi the name Pani developed a new meaning: ''slave''. The French adopted this meaning, and Indian slaves, no matter from which tribe they had been taken, were presently being termed ''Panis.'' {{cite news , url = https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=3572&context=scholarly_works , title = A Story of Marguerite: A Tale about Panis, Case Comment, and Social History , work =

Native Studies Review Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

, volume = 22 , issue = 1 , year = 2013 , author = Signa A. Daum Shanks , accessdate = 2019-06-15 , url-status = live , quote = As typically experienced by other slaves in the New World, panis were not considered persons with respect to legal rights, but they could still be evaluated under the law in criminal matters.

External links

Slavery - Virtual Museum of New France
Slavery in Canada First Nations history in Quebec Slavery of Native Americans Pawnee History of New France

Etymology

History

Number enslaved

See also

References

External links