Note: Indigenous Peoples and Europeans did not make war the same way. Soldiers from Europe usually stood in line, divided into two columns. While one line loaded their guns, which could take 1 or 2 minutes, the next row fired. The enemy camp, which stood just a few metres in front of them, did the same thing. In contrast, Indigenous warriors were much more mobile. They hid behind trees, shot and fled, then attacked again from elsewhere. The Europeans considered this approach to be cowardly, while Indigenous People thought the European techniques were completely senseless. Which tactic do you prefer?

Excerpts:

“Their way of doing battle is quite different from that of Europe. The woods are their retreats where they fight with an advantage.” “They sneak up like foxes in the woods, which hide them and which serve as an impregnable fort. They attack like lions, and since they take you by surprise when you least expect it, they encounter little resistance; then they flee like birds.”

Authors:

1) Bacqueville de LA POTHERIE cited in Alain BEAULIEU and Roland VIAU. La Grande Paix: Chronique d’une saga diplomatique, Montréal, Libre Expression, 2001, p. 25.

2) Les Relations des Jésuites (1660) cited in HÉROUX, Denis, Robert LAHAISE and Noel VALLERAND. La Nouvelle-France, Montréal, Kébékédit, 1974, p. 46.