A half caste [metis] and his two wives
Peter Rindisbacher, A half caste [metis] and his two wives, ca. 1825-1826. Library and Archives Canada, 1973-84-1.
Marguerite Faffart was a métis, or mixed-race, daughter of the multicultural world of the western reaches of New France that centered around the settlement of Detroit. In this area, Indigenous inhabitants who had lived in the Great Lakes region for generations far outnumbered French settlers. The Haudenosaunee, Wendat, Myaamia, Ho Chunk, Odawa, Potawatomi, Illinois, Meskwaki, Sauk, and others all had unique cultures and lifeways, and the French had to make alliances with each in order to survive and participate in the fur trade.
The French traders who worked in the areas around Detroit were called voyageurs. One way they created alliances with Indigenous communities was through marriage. Marguerite was the daughter of one of these marriage alliances. Her father was a French voyageur who had traveled extensively in the area. He learned so many Indigenous languages during his travels that he became an official government interpreter. Her mother was a half-French and half-Algonquin woman. She may have been the sister of Madame Montour, an influential Indigenous interpreter, diplomat, and trader. Marguerite’s parents brought her with them on their travels. She learned the business of the fur trade and was formally integrated into the kinship and business networks that allowed her family to prosper.
In 1709 Marguerite was living in Detroit when she met Jean Baptiste Turpin. Jean Baptiste was also a voyageur. He had trade partners throughout the Great Lakes region and down the Mississippi River. When the two married in the Catholic Church that same year, they combined their business and kinship networks, improving their trade capabilities and creating an alliance that would enrich both their families. In 1710 Marguerite gave birth to their son.
Unfortunately, their marriage was not a happy one. Jean Baptiste abused his wife and child. One neighbor recalled witnessing two separate instances where Jean Baptiste tried to kill Marguerite: once with a gun, and once with an axe. Others testified that Jean Baptiste frequently beat both Marguerite and their son. The only way for Marguerite and her child to survive was to leave and start a new life elsewhere. But under French and Catholic law, divorce was only allowed when a wife could prove her husband was damaging their finances.
Fortunately for Marguerite she was raised in both French and Algonquin culture, and divorce in Algonquin society was much simpler. An Algonquin woman could divorce her husband by leaving him and setting up a new household somewhere else. In 1717 that is exactly what Marguerite did. An Indigenous man named Ouytaouikigik arrived in Detroit to try to convince local Indigenous communities to trade with the British instead of the French. When he left, Marguerite and her son went with him. The commander of Detroit said the man forced Marguerite to go with him, but it is possible that he did not know her personal feelings on the matter. For one thing, the man may have been connected to Marguerite’s aunt, Madame Montour, who was allied with the British. Perhaps Madame Montour had heard rumors of Marguerite’s situation and asked Ouytaouikigik to investigate. For another, Marguerite never returned to Detroit or Jean Baptiste, which indicates that she embraced the opportunity to start a new life.
Marguerite made her way to the Pennsylvania colony, where she reconnected with Madame Montour and her Algonquin family. Her new British neighbors called her “French Margaret.” She continued to use her kin and trade networks to support herself and her son by trading furs. At some point before 1735 she married Katarioniecha, a Mohawk man from the town Caughnawaga. With this marriage Marguerite became a member of another Indigenous community and extended her networks into the New York colony. Marguerite and Katarioniecha had four children.
Her life stands as a testament to the way métis women used their connections to the European and Indigenous communities to improve their lives and gain wealth and power.
Jean Baptiste died in New Orleans in 1737, nearly thirty years after he married Marguerite and a full twenty years after Marguerite had escaped from him. Jean Baptiste’s brother conducted an inventory of his possessions and the colonial court distributed them among his heirs. Marguerite did not receive any of his estate, which was her right as his wife under French law.
It is unclear whether Marguerite had any interest in getting her portion of Jean Baptiste’s estate, but her sister and brother-in-law, who still lived in the area, went to court on her behalf in 1740. Jean Baptiste’s brother argued that Marguerite had forfeited any right to her inheritance when she left his brother. Marguerite’s family argued that she had been forced to leave him to save her and her child’s lives. They brought numerous witnesses from Detroit to attest to Jean Baptiste’s violent behavior, and others who testified that Marguerite was an upstanding and honest woman who would never leave her husband without good reason. This court case is the reason so many details of Marguerite’s life are known today. Ultimately, the court decided that Marguerite’s Catholic marriage and her reasons for leaving her husband made her entitled to half of Jean Baptiste’s estate.
Marguerite never returned to New France, choosing instead to nurture her networks in Pennsylvania, where she became a respected member of the Indigenous and trading communities. In 1744 she was listed as a witness for a treaty between the Haudenosaunee and the colonies of Virginia and Maryland, which implies that both parties wanted her there to ensure the treaty was upheld. In 1753 she moved to a settlement close to Madame Montour. She became a leader in this settlement, which was eventually called French Margaret’s Town in her honor. Her life stands as a testament to the way métis women used their connections to the European and Indigenous communities to improve their lives and gain wealth and power.
Vocabulary
- Algonquin: The name of an Indigenous community who originally lived in northern Michigan, southern Quebec, and eastern Ontario. Today, there are Algonquin communities in Ontario and Quebec, Canada.
- Detroit: A French settlement founded in 1701. Today, Detroit is a major city in Michigan.
- diplomat: A person who represents the interest of their people when negotiating with other communities or countries.
- estate: All of the money and property owned by a person.
- Haudenosaunee: Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy or Six Nations, refers to an alliance of Indigenous communities traditionally located in the northeastern region of North America, primarily in present-day New York State. There were five communities in the original Haudenosaunee alliance: Mohawk, Onondauga, Oneida, Cayuga, and Seneca. The Tuscarora joined the alliance in 1722.
- Ho Chunk: The preferred name of the people previously known as the Winnebago. The Ho Chunk originally lived in the Green Bay area of Lake Michigan. Today, there are Ho Chunk communities in Wisconsin and Nebraska.
- Illinois: The name of a tribal confederacy of twelve tribes who originally lived in a triangle of land between modern-day Iowa, Arkansas, and the shores of Lake Michigan. Today, there is an Illinois community in Oklahoma.
- kinship: Family relationship.
- Meskwaki: The preferred name of the people previously known as the Fox. The Meskwaki originally lived in the Saint Lawrence River valley. Today, there is a Meskwaki community in Iowa.
- métis: French term for a person of mixed Indigenous and European ancestry.
- Mohawk: The easternmost nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (also known as the Iroquois Confederacy). The Mohawk historically lived in the northeastern United States and southern Canada, particularly in the Mohawk River valley and St. Lawrence region. Today, there are Mohawk communities in northern New York State and southeastern Canada.
- Myaamia: The preferred name of the people previously known as the Miami. The Myaamia originally lived in the Wabash River Valley in modern-day Indiana and Ohio. Today, there are Myaamia communities in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Indiana.
- Odawa: The preferred name of the people previously known as the Ottawa. The Odawa originally lived on the northern shores of Lake Huron and along the Ottawa River. Today, there are Odawa communities in Michigan, Oklahoma, and Ontario, Canada.
- Potawatomi: A tribe that originally lived in the upper Mississippi River and Great Lakes region. Today, there are Potawatomi communities in Michigan, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Kansas, Indiana, and Ontario, Canada.
- Sauk: The name of a community that originally lived in the Green Bay area. Today, there are Sauk communities in Oklahoma, Iowa, and Kansas.
- voyageurs: French fur traders who operated in the Great Lakes region.
- Wendat: The preferred name of the people the French called the Huron. The Wendat originally lived around the north shore of Lake Ontario. Today, there are Wendat communities in Oklahoma, Michigan, Kansas, and Quebec, Canada.
Discussion Questions
- Why did French voyageurs marry Indigenous women? Why were Indigenous women interested in these marriages?
- How did Marguerite Faffart use her status as both a French and an Indigenous woman to shape her life?
- What does this life story reveal about the importance of kinship networks in New France?
Suggested Activities
- Compare Marguerite Faffart’s life story with that of other New France women in trade: Madame Montour, Charlotte-Françoise Juchereau de Saint-Denis, and Marie-Thérèse Bourgeois Chouteau. What similarities do these women share? How did race and class affect the trajectories of their lives?
- To consider the importance of familial power networks with your students, pair this life story with any or all of the following:
- For a larger discussion about interracial marriage in the development of the colonies, consider this life story alongside any or all of the following:
Themes
WORK, LABOR, AND ECONOMY; DOMESTICITY AND FAMILY
