New France's western expansion was opposed by the Iroquois confederacy, a fierce and highly organized group of eastern tribes. From the 1640s they reacted to their exclusion from the fur trade by terrorizing the French and their Amerindian allies. By 1650 the Hurons had been destroyed, the waterways between the settled heartland of New France and the beaver country virtually closed, and the French trade was at a standstill.
This warrior carries weapons produced by Old and New World technology. The highly decorated ball-headed club, the iron-headed tomahawk and the flintlock musket made him a formidable enemy. His mobility in winter was significantly increased by the use of snowshoes. Note the enemy scalp draped over the flintlock
Courtesy: New York Historical Society, New York City
