Contact between the southern Algonquians and the French initially occurred in the second half of the 17th century, as the French pursued their exploration of the interior of the continent. Merchants in the St. Lawrence Valley quickly established trading relationships with nations that could supply large quantities of fur and buffalo hides. The Potawatomi, who lived to the west of Lake Michigan, soon became important intermediaries in the fur trade. Like the Ottawa, the Wyandot and the Ojibway of the Lake Superior region, they transported goods back and forth between the French and the Indian villages located further south. 
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