C'est durant cette période terrible pour son peuple que naquit Marie-Angélique, alors baptisée d'un nom mesquakie que nous ne connaîtrons jamais.
As we previously said our heroine comes from one Native American Nation, the Mesquakie,
named "Renards" in French and "Fox" in English.
We are inviting you to join us to learn a little bit more about this Native Nation
who was living in the current Wisconsina and Michigan US States, in South-West of the
Great Lakes.
This Nation is mostly known for the War that was underway by 1712
and ended in 1730 between them and the French Army.
Although one of the upper Fox leader tried to negociate with
the French local army leader Commandant Dubuisson and Mr Vaudreuil,
the local French gouvernor, no agreement has been signed between the belligerents
and war did not stop.
During the 18th Century, relationships between the French emigrants
and Natives Nations of the Iroquois (defeated during the 17th Century), the
Outaouais or the Illinois were globally peaceful and some business was
dealt. However the Foxes were strongly fighting with the Frenchs and
blocked the access to the Fox River. This access was important for the
Frenchs as it would have allow them to transport by boat goods and people
from the Saint Laurent colony in North to the Louisianne in South thanks to
the Mississippi River without using road of see boat along the English Colony coasts.
An other Native Nation, the Mascoutens, were allied to the Mesquakies for a
long time and were together frequently in war with other neighboring Native Nations and
especially the Outaouais who were allied to the Frenchs.
This situation and a serie of events we will discuss further later was the cause of the
massacre of the Fox camp by the Frenchs, the Outaouais and the Poteouatamis.
A Mesquakie child was born in the middle of this period. We will
never know how she was initially called but she is known in the History Book
by the name that some Europeans gave to her later: Marie-Angélique!