Indigenous Women's trade through the 18th century Adirondacks

When Agnese, a Kahnawà:ke Mohawk woman, traveled through the Adirondacks in the summer of 1742, she connected two colonial centers of trade across imperial borders and through traditional Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) territories. Agnese carried a pack of beaver pelts down from Montreal and returned with red fabric and fine laces. This trade was illegal for Agnese's trade partners—one a French widow, the other a future mayor of Albany--but for Agnese, that colonial border between Canada and New York and the colonial jurisdiction that attempted to regulate it simply did not exist. This talk will discuss the Indigenous women who conducted trade between Albany, Montreal, and Haudenosaunee territories, the things they bought and carried, and what it means for Haudenosaunee sovereignty and the right to free travel in the 21st century. Presented by Dr. Maeve Kane. Free admission for Adirondack History Museum members/$8 for non-members.