200@200 : March - Peopling the Community
Date:
1660-1675
Title:
Jesuit Rings
Description:
Jesuit Rings-French

Some of the earliest European immigrants to present day Fort Wayne were French who arrived as fur trappers, explorers, and missionaries. Rather than conquer or displace native tribes, the French generally sought to befriend them in their attempt to gain their cooperation.

The French realized they needed to trade with tribes and hoped to win their support against the British. They also saw the Native Americans as potential converts to Christianity. French Jesuit missionaries distributed rings like this one to tribes throughout the Great Lakes Region in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
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