Beaver Wars
The Beaver Wars (), also known as the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars (), encompass a series of conflicts fought intermittently during the 17th century in North America. They were battles for economic dominance throughout the Saint Lawrence River valley in Canada and the lower Great Lakes region which pitted the Iroquois against the northern Algonquians and the Algonquians' French allies. From medieval times, Europeans had obtained furs from Muscovy and Scandinavia. American pelts came on the European market during the 16th century, decades before the French, English, and Dutch established permanent settlements and trading posts on the continent. Basque fishermen chasing cod off Newfoundland's Grand Banks bartered with local Indigenous peoples for beaver robes to help fend off the Atlantic chill. By virtue of their location, the tribes wielded considerable influence in European–Indian relations from the early seventeenth century onwards.

The Iroquois sought to expand their territory into the Ohio Country and to monopolize the fur trade with European markets. They originally were a confederacy of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca tribes inhabiting the lands in Upstate New York along the shores of Lake Ontario east to Lake Champlain and Lake George on the Hudson river, and the lower-estuary of the Saint Lawrence River. The Iroquois Confederation led by the Mohawks mobilized against the largely Algonquian-speaking tribes and Iroquoian-speaking Huron and related tribes of the Great Lakes region. The Iroquois were supplied with arms by their Dutch and English trading partners; the Algonquians and Hurons were backed by the French, their chief trading partner.

The Iroquois effectively destroyed several large tribal confederacies, including the Mahicans, Huron (Wyandot), Neutral, Erie, Susquehannock (Conestoga), and northern Algonquins. They became dominant in the region and enlarged their territory, realigning the American tribal geography. The Iroquois gained control of the New England frontier and Ohio River valley lands as hunting ground from about 1670 onward.

Both Algonquian and Iroquoian societies were greatly disrupted by these wars. The conflict subsided when the Iroquois lost their Dutch allies in the colony of New Netherland after the English took it over in 1664, along with Fort Amsterdam and the town of New Amsterdam on the island of Manhattan. The French then attempted to gain the Iroquois as an ally against the English, but the Iroquois refused to break their alliance, and frequently fought against the French in the 18th-century. The Anglo-Iroquois alliance would reach its zenith during the French and Indian War of 1754, which saw the French being largely expelled from North America.

The wars and subsequent killings of beavers were devastating for the local beaver population. The natural ecosystems that came to rely on the beavers for dams, water and other vital needs were also devastated leading to ecological destruction, environmental change, and drought in certain areas. Following this beaver populations in North America would take centuries to recover in some areas, while others would never recover.
Q134750
Saint Lawrence River
LOC
Q7347
Great Lakes
MEDIA
Q68518
Iroquois
Concept
Q1621197
Algonquians
MEDIA
Q126756
Basque
MEDIA
Q913793
Grand Banks
MEDIA
Q47542
beaver
Concept
Q2016453
Ohio Country
LOC
Q116971
Mohawk
Concept
Q1572875
Oneida
Concept
Q21056
Onondaga
Concept
Q210334
Cayuga
Concept
Q213422
Seneca
Concept
Q2018923
Upstate New York
PER
Q1062
Lake Ontario
LOC
Q68467
Lake Champlain
LOC
Q1495651
Lake George
LOC
Q3140
Hudson river
LOC
Q134750
Saint Lawrence River
LOC
Q68518
Iroquois Confederation
Concept
Q33392
Algonquian
Concept
Q33623
Iroquoian
Concept
Q1185119
Huron
MEDIA
Q776280
Mahicans
Concept
Q213396
Wyandot
Concept
Q1816665
Neutral
MEDIA
Q258571
Erie
Concept
Q1279673
Susquehannock
MEDIA
Q135863
Algonquins
Concept
Q18389
New England
LOC
Q4915
Ohio River
LOC
Q382593
colony of New Netherland
LOC
Q633264
Fort Amsterdam
LOC
Q223308
New Amsterdam
LOC
Q11299
the island of Manhattan
LOC
Q154697
French and Indian War
EVE
Q37813
ecosystem
Concept
Q12323
dams
Concept
Q2982731
ecological destruction
Concept
Q81056
beaver populations in North America
Concept
Q856216
Beaver Wars
EVE
1670-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1670
DATE
1664-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1664
DATE
1754-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1754
DATE
+17^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
17
NUMBER
+16^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
16
NUMBER
+18^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
18
NUMBER
named after
part of
lake outflow
country
country
start time