The Huron became early trading partners of the French. Samuel de Champlain, who founded New France in the early 1600s, established a lasting trade relationship with them. Jesuit missionaries also settled among them. Quebec City on the St. Lawrence River was originally a Huron village called Stadacona. Montreal, farther south on the St. Lawrence, was the Huron village of Hochelaga. The Huron traded their furs to the French for European goods. But their most important role in the fur trade was as middlemen between the French traders and other Indian tribes.
From 1616 to 1649, the Huron were the central tribe in a great trade empire resulting from the European demand for beaver pelts to make hats and coats. The Huron had a regular river and portage route over hundreds of miles, plus a fixed yearly schedule. At specific places and times, they traded their own agricultural products to other tribes in exchange for pelts; carried the furs to the French in Quebec City and Montreal, where they bartered them for European goods, such as glass beads, cloth, paints, kettles, knives, and hatchets; then returned to the tribes with these goods to trade for more
European-made tomahawk for trade with Indians
Pelts. The Huron dealt with many different tribes all over the Northeast: fellow Iroquoians, known as the ERIE, NEUTRAL, and TIONONTATI (living between Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and Lake Huron); Algonquians, such as the ALGONKIN, CHIPPEWA (ojibway), and OTTAWA (living north of Lake Huron); and Siouan-speaking tribes, such as the WINNEBAGO (ho-CHUNK) (living west of Lake Michigan).
But the days of the Great Huron Trade Circle came to a close with Iroquois invasions from the south in 1648—49. The tribes of the Iroquois League and the Huron had been traditional enemies for generations. The Iroquois also had become enemies of the French after several hostile encounters with Champlain and his forces, and had begun a trade relationship with the Dutch, who supplied them with firearms. When beaver became hard to find in their own country, the Iroquois looked to Huron country in the northern woods for a fresh supply so they could keep up their trade.
The well-armed and well-organized Iroquois launched many raids into Huron territory. The Huron burned their own villages as they scattered in retreat through the countryside. The Iroquois captured Jesuit missionaries who stayed behind, burning some at the stake. In the following years, the powerful Iroquois also attacked other tribes in the area, disrupting French fur trade and settlement.
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