The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650 - 1815

Chapter 4 focuses on the dynamics of the French-Algonquian alliance during the 18th century. This alliance stemmed from their joint victory over the Iroquois and was defined by the eastern and western fronts into two parts. The French again sought to restructure their relationship with the Algonquians to favor their imperial structure. This was exacerbated by the French losing control in the pays d’en haut following the victory over the Iroquois and the subsequent migrations of the Algonquians. In 1701, they presented a new version of the alliance. With the death of an old and prominent chief, Kondiaronk, they used his memory to change chieftainships by emphasizing his alignment with the French powers. What followed was a political tension between French and Algonquian ideas of mediation and power.

The Algonquians continued to view Onontio as a “paternal” figure due to their reliance on French mediation, especially when the refugee centers dissolved and gave way to regional village blocs. White describes the six blocs: the first covered the area from Saint Joseph and Chicago to the Mississippi, the second centered on the Illinois country and included the Illinois confederation, the third surrounded Detroit and was the most unstable, the fourth bloc centered on Michilimackinac, the fifth emerged when Chippewas from western Lake Superior broke away to form a separate group, and the sixth bloc was in the Ohio Valley and stretched from Lake Erie south to the Appalachians. White notes the difference of this final bloc in that it brought in migrants from other blocs and from outside the pays d'en haut. While the blocs could mediate internally, they often came into conflict with each other. The absence of French intervention due to the lack of resources or political reach across the pays d’en haut required for mediation caused breaches in the alliance here. The Algonquians turned to stealing from the French left in the region. The French could not stop the attacks, and their increased absence led to warfare in the area, particularly with the Fox tribe.

These wars began around Detroit, strategically located in the western part of the pays d’en haut. Cadillac wanted to use its position to intimidate the Iroquois into keeping the peace. However, the French left relations in the west to deteriorate, focusing on the Iroquois to the east during the War of the Spanish Succession. This centered around the Fox, who moved into Detroit and claimed the area which was their territory before the Iroquois wars. Rivalries, violence, and misunderstandings ensued and the French became participants in the resulting carnage rather than intermediaries. The results were twofold. First, the Fox that survived sought revenge for their betrayal by the French. Second, it forced the French to return to an active role to save the alliance. The belief that the Fox were working with the British justified the resumption of the expensive mediation system. The Fox wars continued, coinciding with the Chickasaw wars to the south. Despite victories against the Fox in 1730, the enthusiasm among the Algonquians for the French dwindled. By this point, the force used by the French posed a bigger concern to them than the Fox did.

In the 1730s and beyond, the French tried to balance their desire for dominance with the necessity for mediation to maintain the alliance. Despite French advantages in the region’s warfare, it was not enough to intimidate the Algonquians. The British attempts at courting alliances with the Algonquians also jeopardized New France’s safety. This meant both sides needed to create a mutual, if uneasy, alliance structure focused on chiefs. However, this renewed attempt at mediation caused cultural discomfort on both sides. The mediation and temperance necessary for the relationship went against French beliefs regarding political strength. At the same time, the symbolic subordination by the Algonquians to Onontio was also a foreign concept to them. While the renewed alliance lasted for a time, the instability caused by the cultural clash eventually led to its collapse in the 1750s.

Chapter 5 covers the rise of the so-called “Indian republics,” which resulted from discontented villagers rebelling across the pays d’en haut. Migration was pivotal in creating the republics, drawing people into the upper Ohio Valley. The republics encompassed a mix of people from various nations living together out of necessity and seeking safety in diversity. They disrupted existing regional politics and were distrusted by both the British and the French. Republics, in their view, destroyed order, and these villages existed outside of their control. Efforts by both the French and British to change this dynamic shifted their area of focus to the pays d’en haut’s borders. The competition in the region existed on both a macro and micro scale: between both empires and villages. This led to the rise of people considered minor previously into positions of power.

Peter Chartier, a Métis trader, represented this new type of leader. Chartier’s changing alliances led to distrust from the British and the French, as he focused more on his ends than on theirs. His opportunism resulted in his evolution from a marginalized trader into a factional leader. Chartier leveraged his access to goods to recruit followers from the Shawnee, whom he led south into Creek country. By 1750, Chartier legitimized his position. White also provides context for the risk these figures posed to the alliance through another figure, Orontony. Orontony and his followers, the group of Huron-Petuns who renamed themselves the Wyandots, broke away from both the old village hierarchy and the alliance. The influence of figures like Chartier and Orontony shifted the political dynamics in the region.

The impact of imperial wars, particularly King George's War and the Seven Years’ War, prompted the British and French to attempt to secure Indigenous American allies. The French had some success in the Ohio country, including with Shawnees led by Chartier. However, by 1747, the alliance was in disarray. Traders and French posts were attacked. The French blamed the British, but economic discontent fueled by the French’s own actions was the root cause. They had reduced their own gift giving and leased out posts to men who raised the prices of goods. The reactions to these changes went beyond economic grievances. Orontony and his allies called out the exploitation of the French alliance. To break with them, they appealed to the British, drawing them into the larger imperial conflict. The result was scattered attacks on French traders in hopes of British trade. Following King George’s War, the alliance further deteriorated as a result of French mishandling. Lacking experience in policy formulation, the French governors attempted to substitute force for mediation without understanding the significance of the changes they demanded. The governors' focus on punishment, refusal of customary pardons, and demand for the surrender of murderers led to confusion among the Algonquians, who were accustomed to the flexibility of the middle ground. As a result, the discontented began to break from the alliance and ally themselves with the British. Although later attempts at conciliatory policy stopped rebellion around the great lakes, it continued on the Ohio.

White shifts his focus to this rebellion on the Ohio, which was led by La Demoiselle, another figure whose motivations initially focused on village politics before he was forced to larger ambitions. He rose to power as a result of complicated Miami politics, internal village struggles, and a rejection of French influence. By the 1750s, his rebellions began to pose a serious threat to the French and the existing political structure of the pays d’en haut.