Nearly 400 years have passed since the first encounter between Native Americans and the French in the Great Lakes region. Neither culture was ever the same again.
The early “exchange” was mutually beneficial and cordial. The Native people did not feel threatened by the Europeans nor did the Europeans fear the indigenous people. Each had a commodity the other needed: trade goods for the Native Americans, furs and fish for the Europeans.
The two cultures often blended with intermarriage, for the French population was made up primarily of trappers, missionaries and soldiers. It was not until a third ingredient was added, the British, that conflict occurred in the French and Indian War.
This Study Group for those 50 and over will be held on September 26 from 10:00 to 12:00 noon.