FRENCH CRIMINAL-JUSTICE AND INDIANS IN MONTREAL, 1670-1760

Indians settled in several missions in the Montreal district exerted, during the colonial period, a powerful influence on the authorities of New France. Owing to their numbers, their proximity to French settlem ents, and the precarious political situation oi the colony, the domici lies achieved a surprising degree of independence. On the basis of cou rt records, Indians were largely excluded from French jurisdiction. Th ey were never sentenced in a regular procedure, and they never conside red the French system of justice a way to solve their internal problem s. Furthermore, some traditional Indian ways of conflict resolution we re accepted by the French magistrates and adopted into colonial judici al proceedings.