We will expand on the idea of the Atlantic World (a creation of the transatlantic exchange of ideas, peoples, goods, and institutions) during this class. Also, we will consider the "Native New World": Native spaces connected to empire through trade and alliances but still distinctly (and often demographically) Native and politically autonomous from empire. While many places were affected by European diseases and indirectly by goods and ideas, they were part of a larger continent where the Atlantic World did not always reach. Here we will think about what the concepts of an Atlantic New World and Native New World bring to our study of this history.    

Richter's  and Perrot's document continue discussions from the last class session's material. Since the members of the Iroquois Confederacy were no longer fighting each other, they were able to expand their territory and often negotiated with Europeans from a position of strength. Perrot discusses the warfare between the Iroquois and other Indian nations, such as the Huron, Illinois, and Anishinaabe peoples (such as the Ojibweg and Odawaag). This document also discusses the importance of trade and the alliances between the French and Great Lakes Indian groups. 

Study Questions

1. How did Iroquoian warfare differ from European warfare? What was its purpose?
2. How were Iroquois politics and economics affected by the Europeans? How did the conflict between the French and English affect Iroquoian mourning wars? How did the mourning wars and other cultural rituals help the Iroquois navigate the changing landscapes?
3. What role did the Iroquois play in French relations with other Indians, especially Algonquian-speaking groups around the Great Lakes and Hudson's Bay? What kind of alliances did the French have with the people of these areas? What does this tell us about their relationships with the missionaries? In other words, how might they have viewed French missionaries who talked about the Iroquois and Onontio (this term was given to the governor of New France who was known as father in the alliance system)?
4. How did the Indians react to the Jesuit missionary? How do we see the institutions of the Atlantic World moving through this part of North America--what effects did these institutions and goods have on the Native New World? 
5. What is the importance of trade in intertribal warfare? What types of trading relationships are being established and maintained in these texts, especially in Perrot's Memoir?