The document discusses the history of French colonialism in North America between the 16th and 18th centuries. It describes how the French established trading posts in Canada and the Great Lakes region to participate in the lucrative fur trade with local Algonquian and Iroquoian peoples. The French formed an alliance of equal partnership, or "middle ground," with these indigenous groups. However, maintaining the colonial forts and trading relationships was costly for France. Both the French and native peoples became dependent on one another for economic and security reasons.