after Samuel de Champlain's arrival in 1608. The Anishinaabe used these relations to trade indirectly with the French. The French were the first Europeans to explore the area, beginning in 1612. After the fall of Huronia in the Beaver Wars, the Anishinaabe began to trade directly with the French and started inviting French settlers to Michilimackinac.

In 1654, a large Iroquois force