Iroquois-Dutch Trade Established: 1614

The Dutch founded the colony of New Netherlands in 1613. One year later, they constructed Fort Nassau on the Hudson River, near the site of present-day Albany, New York. At the same time, the Dutch established trade relations with the Iroquois Confederacy (the Five Nations-Mohawk, Seneca, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Oneida). The Iroquois were eager to acquire firearms as well as other European goods such as knives, metal cooking pots, steel axe-heads, and arrowheads. As a consequence, the Dutch became a major supplier of firearms to the Iroquois. In addition, their settlements would become the targets of raids conducted by traditional Iroquois enemies, particularly the Algonquin.