by Dr. Blair A. Rudes. ABSTRACT: It is widely accepted that the first documented encounter between Europeans and the Iroquois occurred in 1534 when the French explorer Jacques Cartier encountered the Laurentians. The Iroqouis, however, say that they had met Spaniards before the French arrived. A re-examination of a document pertaining to early Spanish explorations of North America in the context of the history of the League of the Iroquois shows that both the Western and Native views of history are correct.
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The First Description of an Iroquoian People: Spaniards Among the Tuscaroras before 1522