it was the job of the military to maintain good relations with frontier indigenous north americans in order to preserve french interests in the colony. in fact, preserving a positive relationship between the french and native peoples was the most important of the duties that were given to the military. throughout the years the french developed ties with several native tribes, those allies consisted mainly of the abenakis, algonquin, huron, montagnais, and outaouais and through their partnership they taught the french much more than just military strategy. they taught them how to hunt, fish and dress their catches and they taught them how to navigate and essentially survive in the unforgiving canadian wilderness. the french soldiers relied heavily on the native warriors but their allegiance came at a cost. the natives were "self interested and attached themselves only to the one who gives them the most… and if they failed to be rewarded one single time, the good that was done for them before counts for nothing". in addition, the natives as tribes provided knowledge of the wilderness but the tribes themselves were not active in their wars as a whole. native warriors participated in the french battles if they chose to do so usually under the arrangement that they would be compensated for their participation. falling short on these agreements sometimes caused great discourse amongst the natives and sometimes damaged french-native relationships.