Jean Nicolet, a French explorer living among the Huron, heads west into the Lake Michigan region to find new sources of furs. The first white man to arrive in the area, Nicolet comes into contact with many large Great Lakes tribes, such as the Menomonee and the Winnebago. At present-day Green Bay, Wisconsin—the future site of an important French trading center—Nicolet concludes a treaty with area Indians.
The Jesuits found a mission on Huron lands.
Three French Jesuit priests, accompanied by six servants, establish the mission of Saint Joseph in the Huron village of Ihonatiria. The Jesuits, who have been active in New France since 1626, target the Huron for conversion because they are France’s most loyal Indian allies and because their settled agricultural way of life makes them appear good candidates for “civilization.” Despite some tension, the Huron tolerate the Jesuits in their lands, although few are eager to adopt Catholicism. Nevertheless, the Jesuit mission system will grow steadily until the Huron tribe is decimated by Iroquois warfare (see entry for MARCH 1649).
November 1
The Pequot ally themselves to the Massachusetts colonists.
Desperate after a smallpox epidemic (see entry for 1633), the Pequot sign a treaty with the colonists of Massachusetts. The colonists offer to help the Pequot battle their Narragansett enemies. In return, the Pequot are required to pay the colony an enormous tribute of wampum (shell beads). The Pequot are also to surrender the murderers of a white trader, John Sloan, who most likely was killed by Indians of another tribe. The English add this provision possibly knowing that the Pequot will have difficulty fulfilling it, therefore giving the English an excuse to break the treaty when it proves convenient. (See also entry for AUGUST 25, 1636.)
World History
