The Native Ground: Indians and Colonists in the Heart of the Continent

Introduction

Introduction In the summer of 1673, a Quapaw Indian spotted two canoes full of Frenchmen descending the broad, brown waterway that Algonquian speakers named the Mississippi, the “Big River.” When the people of Kappa, the northernmost Quapaw town, heard the news, they prepared to welcome the newcomers. Several Quapaws paddled their own canoes into the river, and one held aloft a calumet, a peace pipe. As the Quapaws hoped, this sign of peaceful intentions, recognized by native peoples across North America, allayed the fears of their French visitors—Quebec merchant Louis Jolliet, Jesuit priest Jacques Marquette, and their handful of companions. As his canoe pulled up beside the Frenchmen, the man holding the calumet sang a song of welcome. He handed them the pipe, with some cornbread and sagamité, corn porridge. After the visitors had smoked and eaten, the Quapaws led them to Kappa, on the banks of the Mississippi some twenty-five miles north of the mouth of the Arkansas River. There, under persimmon and plum trees, the women prepared a place for the visitors to sit among the town’s elders, on fine rush mats, surrounded by the warriors. The rest of the men and women of Kappa sat in an outer circle. One of the young men of the town translated for Marquette through an Algonquian language that both of them knew.1 The Quapaws’ message was clear. They wanted an alliance with the French. From neighbors to the east, the Quapaws had learned of Europeans and the powerful munitions that they traded and gave to their Indian allies. But, as the Quapaw elders explained to their visitors, enemies had “prevented them from becoming acquainted with the Europeans, and from carrying on any trade with them.” The Quapaws hoped that Jolliet and Marquette would be the first of many French visitors who would prove steady allies and provide useful goods. The Quapaws were purposefully shaping the newcomers’ understandings of the North American mid-continent and the people who lived there. While the Quapaws demonstrated that they were generous and friendly, they portrayed their enemies as aggressive and dangerous. When the visitors 0 0 100 200 Kilometers 100 200 Miles T E X A S O K L A H O M A A R K A N S A S M I S S O U R I K A N S A S K E N T U C K Y I L L I N O I S I N D I A N A O H I O V I R G I N I A T E N N E S S E E A L A B A M A G E O R G I A F L O R I D A N O R T H C A R O L I N A S O U T H C A R O L I N A MISSISSIPPI L O U I S I A N A G u l f o f M e x i c o A T L A N T I C O C E A N R i o G r a n d e N u e c e s R . Colorado R. B r a z o s R . S a b i n e R . Red R. O u a chita R . Arkansas R. Arkansas R. M issouri R. C a nadian R. S t . F r a n c i s R . M i s s i s s i p p i R . M i s s i s s i p p i R . Y a z o o R . P e a r l R . T o m b i g b e e R . Tennessee R. C o o s a R . O c m u l g e e R . M E X I C O Ohio R. A R K A N S A S V A L L E Y Map 1. The heart of the continent. mentioned that they intended to continue following the Mississippi to the sea, the Quapaws knew that such a trip would give their rivals, the Tunicas, Yazoos, and Koroas, the opportunity to influence French perceptions and to forge their own exclusive alliance with the visitors. Therefore, the Quapaws warned their guests that the trip would be extremely dangerous because the Indians to the...