French contact were the ("Ottawa River Men"; singular: ), whose village was located on an island in the
Ottawa River; the French called this group ''La Nation de l'Isle''. Algonquin first met Europeans when
Samuel de Champlain came upon a party led by the Chief
Tessouat at
Tadoussac, in eastern present-day Quebec, in the summer of 1603. They were celebrating a recent victory over the
Iroquois, with the allied
Montagnais and Etchemins (
Malecite). Champlain did not understand that Algonquins were socially united by a strong
totem/clan system rather than the European-styled political concept of nationhood. The several Algonquin bands each had its own chief. Within each band, the chief depended on political approval from each of the band's clan leaders. Champlain needed to cultivate relationships with numerous chiefs and clan leaders. From 1603, some of the Algonquins allied with the French under Champlain. This alliance proved useful to the Algonquin, who previously had little to no access to European firearms. Champlain made his first exploration of the Ottawa River during May 1613 and reached the fortified village at
Morrison Island. Unlike the other Algonquin communities, the did not change location with the seasons. They had chosen a strategic point astride the trade route between the
Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. They prospered through the collection of
beaver pelts from Indigenous traders passing through their territory. They also were proud of their corn fields. At first, the French used the term "Algonquin" only for a second group, the
Wàwàckeciriniwak. However, by 1615, they applied the name to all of the Algonquin bands living along the Ottawa River. Because of keen interest by tribes to gain control of the lower
Ottawa River, the and the came under fierce opposition. These two large groups allied together, under the leadership of
Sachem (Carolus) Charles Pachirini, to maintain the identity and territory.
French-Indian War/Seven Years' War The
Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee) drove Algonquins from their lands. The Haudenosaunee were aided by having been traded arms by the
Dutch, and later by the
English. The Haudenosaunee and the English defeated the French and Algonquins in the 1620s, and, led by
Sir David Kirke, occupied
New France. In 1623, having realized the occupation of New France demonstrated French colonial vulnerability, the French began to trade muskets to Algonquins and their allies. French
Jesuits began to seek Algonquin conversions to
Roman Catholicism. Through all of these years, the Haudenosaunee never attacked the fortress. But, in 1642, they made a surprise winter raid, attacking Algonquins while most of their warriors were absent, and causing severe casualties. On March 6, 1647 (
Ash Wednesday), a large Kanienkehaka (Mohawk) war party attacked the living near
Trois-Rivières and almost exterminated them. The were still at
Morrison Island in 1650 and inspired respect with their 400 warriors. When the French retreated from Wendat (
Huron) country that year, Tessouat was reported to have had the superior of the Jesuit mission suspended by his armpits because he refused to offer him the customary presents for being allowed to travel through Algonquin territory. Some joined the mission at Sillery, where they were mostly destroyed by an
infectious disease epidemic by 1676. Encouraged by the French, others remained at Trois-Rivières. Their settlement at nearby
Pointe-du-Lac continued until about 1830. That year the last 14 families, numbering about 50, moved to
Kanesatake near
Oka. (The families who stayed in Trois Rivieres can be found in the Algonquin census of Trois Rivieres in the mid-19th century).
18th century to present The
Lake of Two Mountains band of Algonquins were located just west of the Island of Montreal, and were signatories to the
Great Peace of Montreal in 1701. The
Sulpician Mission of the Mountain was founded at
Montreal in 1677. In 1717, the King of France granted the Mohawk in Quebec a tract of land 9 miles long by 9 miles wide about 40 miles to the northwest of Montreal, under the condition that they leave the island of Montreal.
Sulpician Missionaries set up a trading post at the village in 1721 and attracted a large number of
Haudenosaunee converts to Christianity to the area. The settlement of
Kanesatake was formally founded as a Catholic
mission, a
seigneury under the supervision of the
Sulpician Order for 300 Christian Mohawk, about 100 Algonquins, and approximately 250
Nipissing peoples "in their care". Over time the Sulpicians claimed total control of the land, gaining a deed that gave them legal title. But the Haudenosaunee (Mohawks), Algonquins, and Nipissing understood that this land was being held in trust for them. The Sulpician mission village of Lake of Two Mountains (Lac des Deux Montagnes), west of Montreal, became known both by its Algonquin language name
Oka (meaning "pickerel"), and the Mohawk language
Kanehsatà:ke ("sandy place"); however, Algonquin also called the village as
Ganashtaageng after the Mohawk language name. Algonquin warriors continued to fight in alliance with France until the British conquest of Quebec in 1760, during the Seven Years' War. After the British took over colonial rule of Canada, their officials sought to make allies of the First Nations, and the Algonquin, along with many other First Nations signed the
Royal Proclamation of 1763, which was then ratified in 1764 as the
Treaty of Niagara. Subsequently, fighting on behalf of the British Crown, Algonquins took part in the
Barry St Leger campaign during the
American Revolutionary War. Following the
American Revolutionary War, and later the
War of 1812, the Lake of Two Mountains Algonquins found their territory increasingly encroached on by
Loyalist settlers. Beginning in the 1820s and 1930s, the
lumber industry began to move up the
Ottawa valley. Algonquin became increasingly displaced as a result. Beginning in the 1820s, Algonquin Grand Chief
Constant Pinesi sent a series of letters petitioning the British Crown for Algonquin Territorial Recognition previously agreed upon in the Treaties of 1701 and 1764, ratified by Algonquins and the British Crown. No responses were forthcoming from the British, and the Algonquins began to be relegated to a string of small reserves beginning in the 1830s. Algonquins who agreed to move to these reserves or joined other historical bands were federally "recognized". Others maintained their attachment to the traditional territory and fur trading, and chose not to re-locate. These Algonquins were later called "stragglers" in the
Ottawa and Pontiac counties with some eventually settling in small towns such as
Renfrew,
Whitney, and
Eganville as the 19th Century progressed. Many of these Algonquins were not recognized as "Status Indians". The location of the former Lake of Two Mountains Band came to be known as Kahnesatake. As a large majority of the Algonquin population had left the area, with only the Christian Haudenosaunee and a few Algonquins remaining, it became recognized as a Mohawk reserve (though many in the community have at least partial Algonquin Ancestry). Algonquins living in the northern regions of Algonquin Territory gradually moved to towns such as present day
Témiscaming, and
Mattawa, amongst others in Ontario and Quebec, as territorial encroachment by settlers, and lumber and resource companies increased throughout the 19th and 20th centuries or various reserves set up in their traditional territories. In recent years, tensions with the lumber industry have flared up again among Algonquin communities, in response to the practice of clear-cutting. In Ontario, an Algonquin land claim has been ongoing since 1983, encompassing much of the southeastern part of the province, stretching from near
North Bay to near
Hawkesbury and including
Ottawa,
Pembroke, and most of
Algonquin Provincial Park. The Algonquins never relinquished title to this area. An agreement-in-principle between the Algonquins of Ontario, the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario was reached in 2015. Many Algonquins dispute both the validity of both this settlement and the organization of the Algonquins of Ontario as a whole. In 2000, Algonquins from
Timiskaming First Nation played a significant part in the local popular opposition to the plan to convert
Adams Mine into a garbage dump. ==Economy==