The main modes of transportation had not changed between 1500 and 1745: the Iroquoians still travelled mostly on foot, by canoe or on snowshoes, depending on the season. Lakes and rivers continued to be the most important communication routes.

The French who were settling in the colony quickly saw the benefits of using canoes and snowshoes and started to adopt them. But because they did not know how to make them, Indigenous Peoples became the suppliers of canoes and snowshoes to French and Canadian colonists.

What was new for the Iroquoians was the introduction of the horse in the colony. By 1745, a few Indigenous people had horses and would harness them to a carriage or a sleigh to travel to Montréal or Québec City to sell their handicrafts, for example.

  

Author:  Service national du Récit de l’univers social

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