Beaver Wars

The Beaver Wars—also known as the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars—encompass a series of conflicts fought in the mid-17th century in eastern North America.

During the seventeenth century, the Beaver Wars was a battle for economic welfare throughout the St. Lawrence and the lower Great Lakes region. The war was between the Iroquois trying to control of the fur trade from the Hurons, the northern Algonquians, and their French allies. From medieval times, Europeans had obtained furs from Russia and Scandinavia. American pelts began coming on the market during the 16th century—decades before the French, English and Dutch established permanent settlements and trading posts on the continent—after Basque fishermen chasing cod off Newfoundland's Grand Banks bartered with local Indians for beaver robes to help fend off the numbing Atlantic chill. By virtue of their location, military might, and diplomatic skill, these tribes wielded tremendous influence in European–Indian relations from the early seventeenth century through the late eighteenth century. The Iroquois sought to expand their territory and monopolize the fur trade and the trade between European markets and the tribes of the western Great Lakes region. . Ever since the late eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth century, they were 6 different nations- Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Tuscarora, and Seneca. Each of these Native American Nations has beliefs in tribal sovereignty and a collective body called a league. The 6 nations had a supra level affirmation in the sovereignty of the two leagues between Onondaga and New York. Government officials in Washington DC and Ottawa recognize the Iroquois sovereignty only in existence of individual tribal governments. The Iroquois Confederation, led by the dominant Mohawk, mobilized against the largely Algonquian-speaking tribes of the Great Lakes region. The Iroquois were armed by their Dutch and English trading partners; the Algonquian were backed by the French, their chief trading partner.