 Contagion, Dispersion and Distancing in the Early Eighteenth Century 
From 1732 to 1734, an epidemic of smallpox (variola) spread through the main communication routes of New France. While the disease claimed many lives among Europeans, it was devastating among the Indigenous Peoples. The Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy and of the Great Lakes region appear to have been the most affected by smallpox. To counter this epidemic, Indigenous Peoples adopted different strategies. In Acadia, they set up a form of distancing and avoided all contact with Europeans. In the Great Lakes region, they divided and dispersed over the land. These strategies allow them to limit the spread of the disease and demonstrated how these Peoples adapted to this crisis. The smallpox epidemic at the beginning of the 18th century had serious consequences for the demography of the Indigenous Nations of New France, but also on the spiritual, military and political life of these communities.