ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Jacques Cartier, who made crown-sponsored voyages to North America in 1534, 1535, and 1541, describes his initial encounter with an Iroquoian village occupying an island in the St. Lawrence River. The St. Lawrence River proved an important discovery for the French, giving them access to a network of rivers and lakes linking the Atlantic to the continental interior and the Native people controlling it. The Samuel de Champlain describes a 1609 battle on Lake Champlain in which the French sided with their Montagnais, Algonkin, and Huron allies against a group of 200 Mohawk warriors. Between 1632 and 1673, French Catholic missionaries from the Jesuit order published reports called Relations of their activities in North America, including many detailed descriptions of the Indians with whom they lived. From the Relation of 1635, Jesuit missionary Jean de Brbeuf relates his understanding of some Huron beliefs and religious practices.
