Samuel de Champlain, Geographical Map of New France (1612)

Samuel de Champlain, a French explorer known for his  journeys through modern day Canada and his key role in establishing "New France," was a prolific cartographer who mapped the Atlantic coast of Canada, parts of the St. Lawrence River, and parts of the Great Lakes.  Following his expeditions through Canada and the establishment of Quebec City, Champlain returned to went to the royal court of France to present his plans for a North American colony to king. Among his offerings to the king were a porcupine hair belt, two small birds, a fish head, and this magnificent map of the country that he had traveled and the places he had visited. The map includes the coasts of Newfoundland and Acadia (present-day Nova Scotia), the Saint Lawrence River and its main tributaries,  and the Ottawa River (also known as the Algonquin River).  In the far west are two lakes, drawn based on the information gathered from Indigenous people, connected by what we now know as Niagara Falls.  The map also indicates the areas inhabited by different Indigenous tribes at the time: the Iroquois south of Lake Champlain, the Montagnais on the south bank of the Saint Lawrence River, the Algonquins on the Ottawa River, the Etchemin and Souriquois on the Atlantic coast, and the Hurons in the Great Lakes region. On the bottom border, as well as elsewhere on the map, are depictions of plants, fruit, vegetables and sea animals, used to demonstrate the riches of the land the French were claiming.