Antoine Cadillac and Pierre Liette, are two French officers who lived peaceably with the Algonquian tribes in the upper Mississippi. Both writers made observations after living for decades among people who still retained hunting/gathering lifestyles untrammeled by European immigrants.
Cadillac was one of the brilliant fighting and trading officials Governor Frontenac brought in during the desparate war of 1690-97 against the British colonies. In 1701, he founded Detroit, which more recently became the foremost industrial city of the world, although it is now in decline.
Pierre Liette wrote his Memoirs after 40 years serving as either a trader or officer, chiefly among the Illinois, and the Miami at Chicago, until his death in 1729. His first-hand description of the native inhabitants at the close of the 17th century is one of the best we have.