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Since they lived too far north for agriculture, most Algonkin were loosely organized into small, semi-nomadic bands of hunter/gatherers. In this, they resembled the closely related Ojibwe. Although a few southern bands were just beginning to grow corn in 1608, the Algonkin relied heavily on hunting for their food which made them excellent hunters and trappers. These were skills which quickly attracted the attention of French fur traders. The Algonkin also made good use of their birch-bark canoes to travel great distances for trade, and their strategic location of the Ottawa River became the preferred route between the French on the St. Lawrence River and the tribes of the western Great Lakes. Groups of Algonkin would gather during the summer for fishing and socializing. But at the approach of winter, they separated into small hunting camps of extended families. The climate was harsh, with starvation not uncommon. For this reason, the Algonkin could not afford for someone to become a burden, and were known to kill their sick, crippled, or badly wounded. The Algonkin were formidable warriors who used their advantages in transportation and woodland skills to dominate other tribes.

By 1630, the Algonkin?s were engaged in fighting with the Mohawks, and Iroquois. They tried to enlist the help of the French, but were unsuccessful. The Iroquois offensives during 1636 and 1637 drove the Algonkin further north into the upper Ottawa Valley. A small pox epidemic slowed the fighting, but a real escalation occurred in 1640. The British traders on the Connecticut River attempted to lure the Mohawk from the Dutch with offers of guns. The Dutch responded to this threat by providing Mohawks with as many of the latest firearms as they wanted. The Iroquois were also armed. The effect was immediate and devastating. The Algonkin were pushed from the upper St. Lawrence and lower Ottawa Rivers.

Algonkin warriors fought beside the British during the War of 1812, and helped defeat the Americans at the Battle of Chateauguay. Their reward for this service was the continued loss of their land to individual land sales and encroachment by American Loyalists and British immigrants moving into the valley. The worse blow occurred when the British (in 1822) were able to induce the Mississauga near Kingston, Ontario to sell most of what remained of the Algonkin holdings in the Ottawa Valley. However, no one bothered to consult the Algonkins who had never surrendered their claim to the area but still received nothing from its sale. Further losses occurred during the 1840?s as lumber interests moved into the Upper Ottawa Valley. Treaties and purchases by the Canadian government eventually established ten reserves that permitted the Algonkin to remain in the area, but like most Native Americans in both Canada and the United States, they were allowed to keep only a tiny portion of what once had been their original homeland.

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