Simon-François Daumont de Saint-Lusson
Encyclopedia
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
and deputy of Jean Talon
Jean Talon
Jean Talon, Comte d'Orsainville was a French colonial administrator who was the first and most highly regarded Intendant of New France under King Louis XIV...
. Saint-Lusson was sent to Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Sault Ste. Marie is a city on the St. Marys River in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay, with a population of 74,948. The community was founded as a French religious mission: Sault either means "jump" or "rapids" in...
by Talon to claim Lakes Huron and Superior and all of the vast region "contiguous and adjacent there-unto, as well as discovered as to be discovered" which was "bounded on the one side by the Northern and Western Seas and on the other side by the South Sea including all its length and breadth" for Louis XIV at what was called "The Pageant of the Sault". Records indicate that about 2000 Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
; principal chiefs of the Sauks, Menomonees, Pottawattamies, Winnebagoes and thirteen other tribes were present. He symbolically raised his sword and a handful of dirt after the Te Deum
Te Deum
The Te Deum is an early Christian hymn of praise. The title is taken from its opening Latin words, Te Deum laudamus, rendered literally as "Thee, O God, we praise"....
was chanted while a huge cross with the escutcheon of France was erected followed by prayers and cried "Vive le roi." French gifts were exchanged for fur pelts. It could be safe to assume that the Indians viewed the official claim of land and that all the people within its bounds now subjects of the king of France as an elaborate fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
ritual.