The Most Formidable Tribe in the New World

In this episode we discuss the main fighting force of the French during the French and Indian War: The Abenaki. Often described as a peaceful people who were merely traders and recent Christian converts in the mid 17th century, the reality and truth of the matter is far more complex. The French used their religious fervor and propaganda to instill hatred in the hearts of the Abenaki against English Colonists. Furthermore, because of the aggressive Ulster-Irish migration into their traditional hunting grounds, the Abenaki were plagued by disease and war for nearly a century and weren't going to back down easily. Ultimately, Robert Rogers and his rangers would penetrate deep behind enemy lines to give the Abenaki the final coup de grâce, executing a raid agains their Jesuit village known as Odanak aka St. Francis towards the end of the war in 1759.