How were Indian lifeways threatened by the French?
As with Marie Rouensa, some Native Americans
gave up their belief system for Christianity. This is only one
of the ways in which the French came to dominate the Illinois
Indians. Between 1700 and 1763, the number of Illinois dropped
from about 6,000 to 2,000 persons. This dramatic decline in the
Illinois Indian population can be attributed to their exposure
to European diseases (against which the Indians had no
immunity), abuse of alcohol (which was first introduced by the
French), and the constant raiding and warfare waged upon the
Illinois by other Indian tribes who were anti-French. While the
Illinois population declined, the French population grew.
Moreover, the French dominated the Illinois through certain
technological advancements: guns, canons, metallurgy, farming
techniques and implements, a written language, and means of
mass-producing that language--the printing press.
Image: Courtesy of the Edward E. Ayer Collection, The
Newberry Library
© Illinois State Museum
31-Dec-96