Unlike the English and Spanish, the French did not attempt to permanently settle in North America until the 17th century, putting them at a disadvantage. Due to low interest, the only French presence from 1500-1600 were temporary fishing and trading posts. With no government support, French traders had to ally closely with local tribes like the Montagnais, Algonquin, and Huron, and go to war with the Iroquois. The rising fur trade assisted Jesuit missionaries, who were more willing than other orders to learn native languages and cultures. In the late 1600s and 1700s, the French began establishing permanent colonies in Canada and Louisiana to contain English expansion, but many colonists and African slaves died from