Brina Ward
English 327
Dr. Coronado
The
Friendlier Side: Daniel Duluth’s Moments in the New World
Early stories told of the New World, describe the
settlers view and opinion of the Native Americans. Many of these accounts
depict the friction between the Native Americans and the settlers. However,
it’s important to the American Canon to see other versions of interactions
between the two parties. Daniel Greysolon Duluth provides these moments of
friendliness through writing about his interactions between his crew and the
Native Americans. In his accounts, entitled, “Memoir of Duluth on the Sioux
Country, 1679-1682”, Duluth provides many moments from his time in the New
World of friendly encounters with the Natives. Duluth talks about his significance
to France, which is important because it shows the historical background of
France in the New World. Duluth’s position in American literature is
significant because he was one of the leading men in establishing trade and
peace with the Natives around Lake Superior. Without the background of his
story and his memoirs, there would be missing information about the development
of the New World. He provides important information about the Natives,
especially the structure of their relationship to the settlers and the geographical
nature of Lake Superior and the Midwest. Duluth’s Memoir is important for the
American Canon because it highlights the moments in his travels that are
pivotal to America development, and readers should be exposed to these moments
in history where settlers use friendlier tactics to intertwine with the
Natives, gain land, and improve trade and travel.
Daniel Greysolon Duluth, originally from France, traveled
to the new world under the influence of King Louis XIV; both men hoping to
discover something extraordinary in the New World. Duluth was a part of the
French royal court, and when he arrived in the New World in 1674, he became the
commander of the French Marines (“Greysolon,
Daniel, Sieur du Lhut”). King Louis’s plan entailed spreading French influence
and control among the Natives, which Duluth chose to use friendlier tactics
rather than abrupt force, unlike many commanders around him. Duluth traveled to
North America near Lake Superior, especially near the Dakota lands. His main
task was to create peace among the existing settlers and Natives, since
conflict was predominate in the Dakota lands. In one moment of his account, he
establishes the kind of relationship he gained with the Natives. Duluth states,
“they [the natives] all appeared there, where I had the good fortune to gain
their esteem and their friendship, to bring them together, and in order that
peace might last longer among them…I caused them to hold meetings in the
forest, in order to hunt together, feast, and thus draw closers the bonds of
friendship” (Duluth 330-331). Duluth highlights the ways he brings the Natives
and settlers together, such as establishing meetings, which allowed the bond
between the two to grow stronger. It’s
important for readers to understand that through Duluth’s peace-making skills,
there was an increase in wealth and trade for the settlers. Duluth released
some of the tension between the settlers and the Natives, creating strong
pathways for trading and gaining the control that King Louis wanted.
Another important aspect of Duluth’s account pertains to
the history of France in the New World. Duluth begins this excerpt discussing
his relation to other Frenchmen and to royalty in France. Duluth states, “my
affairs having obligated me to come back here, whence, after having made the
campaign of Franche Comte, and of the battle of Senef, where I had the honor to
be a gendarme of the guard of his Majesty and squire of Monsieur de Lassay”
(Duluth 329). Duluth’s ability in the military shows the importance of
connections to royalty, especially to the ability to travel to the New World. Duluth’s
connection to royalty provided him the ability to travel to the New World which
he proves in the first paragraph of this excerpt. Duluth “fought against the
Dutch under the Great Conde in 1674, by which time he had already made two
voyages to New France” which proves his
dedication to France and his interest to the New World (“Greysolon, Daniel,
Sieur du Lhut”). Establishing that he
is returning to the New World illustrates his successfulness in the New World
and in France. Considering Franche Comte accepted Duluth’s campaign shows his
responsibility and capability in the New World. His importance as a solider and
part of the Majesty’s guard shows how the royalty trusted him, which is
important in terms of legitimacy of his word and of his travels. If the French
were trusting enough to send him to create peace and gain land in the New
World, he must have been a significant figure in the French history as well as
American History.
Coming from a military background, many of the tasks
Duluth had in the New World were creating peace in the battles between the Natives
and the French. He was a great negotiator, which was one of his most
predominate jobs in the New World. According to the Columbia Electronic
Encyclopedia, Duluth was able to use his negotiation skills to “claim the upper
Mississippi region for France” (“Daniel Greysolon Duluth, Sieur" 2). His
ability to negotiate between the Natives and the French provides his reliability
as a solider. In his memoir, Duluth discusses some of the negotiations he
conducted in the New World. Duluth states, “I had the honor to set up the arms
of his Majesty in the great village of the Nadouecioux” where he continues to
talk about the land he claimed and established villages for Frenchmen in conjunction
with the Natives (Duluth 330). Duluth, who is writing to his Lord, provides
these moments of negotiation and claiming of land to prove he’s accomplishing
the tasks that were set to him when he left to come to the New World. Duluth
proves that his job as a negotiator is accomplished in this memoir, and through
the narratives of his negotiations, the reader learns the importance of Duluth
in America’s history. Without his negotiations, there could have been a lack of
French presence in the Midwest. He established villages that allowed Frenchmen to
colonize and live among the Natives. Duluth’s negotiation narratives should be
included in the canon for this exact reason, since he was able to gain land for
settlers.
In addition to his narratives of negotiation, Duluth’s description
of the Midwest and Lake Superior proves important in the reading and canonizing
of his memoirs. Throughout his memoir and many of the bibliographies about him
mention the idea that Duluth was interested in the land and being able to see
as much of the New World as possible. In his memoir, Duluth provides
descriptions of the land while he is traveling with a Native who was interpreting
for him and some of his crew. Duluth states, “I entered into a river which has
its mouth eight leagues from the extremity of Lake Superior on the south side….then
made a carry of half a league to reach a lake which emptied into a fine river,
which brought me to the Mississippi” where Duluth met with other Natives and Frenchmen
(331). Duluth details out many of his travels, providing a narrative map of the
land, which would help further readers if they were to travel the same land and
waterway that he traveled. Also, his descriptions provide a further look into
the land that he is helping take over. Since he is writing to his Lord and to
other men in France, his descriptions help further young men travel the New
World. Duluth helped “raise the French standard at Lzatys” which is in the Nadouecioux
tribe, and from there, Duluth traveled and “hoped to find a northwest passage
to the Pacific Ocean” (Greysolon, Daniel, Sieur du Lhut”). Once Duluth
accomplished his task at peace making, he attempted to find more land and ways
to make it easier to travel and trade in the New World. Duluth’s initiative to
expand the land shows the importance of his memoirs because it helps establish,
in writing, the land and his importance to the discovery of part of the New
World.
In this particular account, Duluth narrates a moment
where his peace making and negotiating were used in conjunction with each
other. In this narrative, Duluth discusses a situation where the Nadouecioux take
captive two Frenchmen. Duluth becomes a mediator between the two parties,
allowing for a friendly re-connection with the Nadouecioux tribe and the
Frenchmen. Duluth uses his negotiating skills to get the Natives to release the
Frenchmen, without violence or fighting. He uses his abilities to communicate
with the Natives and understand their culture, he sent “two calumets to be
given back to them in recognition of the insult they had done us, these being
the things most esteemed among them for pacifying affairs” (Duluth 332). According
to the Oxford English Dictionary, a calumet is a pipe used among Natives as a
symbol of peace or friendship (OED, “calumet”). Duluth was able to take
something from the Natives’ culture and provide a way of peace exchange to
pacify the conflict between the Natives and the Frenchmen. Duluth negotiated
with the Natives, accomplishing peace among the two parties, which is what
Duluth is notorious for. It’s important to read moments in history where the
settlers use peaceful exchange in order to achieve what they wanted, contrasting
to the force and destruction that is normal in the reading of American history.
In most cases, Natives and settlers were at war and
conflict among land, trade, and the simple taking over the settlers were doing
to the Natives and their culture. Duluth took a different approach with the Natives
and provided peaceful encounters with the Natives, by being a strong negotiator
and solider of the French military. His ability to focus on the Natives culture
allowed him to provide peace between the Natives and the French. He was able to
claim land and strengthen trade, which were his two top priorities coming to
the New World from France. It’s important for Duluth’s memoir and story to be
told in American canon because it sheds light on a side of Native/Settler interaction
that isn’t as common as many of the other narratives. Duluth provides a side of
French exploration that should be commonly read in the American canon, since he
negotiated and created peace in the Midwest, which is important in the historical
narrative of how the New World was discovered and in the overall development of
America.
Works
Cited
"calumet, n."
OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2016. Web. 28 March 2016.
"Daniel
Greysolon Duluth, Sieur." Columbia
Electronic Encyclopedia. History Reference Center, 2005. Web.
Duluth,
Daniel Greysolon. "Memoir on the Sioux Country, 1678-1682." American Journeys. Wisconsin Historical
Society, 2003. Web.
"Greysolon,
Daniel, Sieur du Lhut (c.1639–1710)." MNopedia.
Minnesota Historical Society, 2013. Web.
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