<P> Green Bay is an industrial city with several meatpacking plants, paper mills, and a port on Green Bay, an arm of Lake Michigan known locally as "the Bay of Green Bay". Green Bay hosts the Neville Public Museum, with exhibitions of art, history, and science; the Children's Museum; and the University of Wisconsin--Green Bay . </P> <P> Samuel de Champlain, the founder of New France, commissioned Jean Nicolet to form a peaceful alliance with Native Americans in the western areas, whose unrest interfered with French fur trade, and to search for a shorter trade route to China through Canada . Nicolet and others had learned from other First Nations of the Ho - Chunk (Winnebago) people, who identified as "People of the Sea", and believed they must reside on or near the Pacific Ocean . Champlain had also heard about natural resources in the area, including fertile soil, forests, and animals . Nicolet began his journey for this new land shortly before winter in 1634 . In what later became a French fur - trading route, he sailed up the Ottawa River, through Lake Nipissing and down the French River to Lake Huron, then through the straits of Michilimackinac into Lake Michigan . He is believed to have landed at Red Banks, near the site of the modern - day city of Green Bay, Wisconsin . </P> <P> Nicolet founded a small trading post here in 1634, originally named La Baye or La Baie des Puants (French for "the Bay of Stinking Waters"). Nicolet's settlement was one of the oldest European permanent settlements in America . </P> <P> When Nicolet arrived in the Green Bay area, he encountered the Menominee, as this was their territory . He also met the Ho - Chunk, also known as the Winnebago, a people who spoke a Sioux language . The Winnebago hunted, fished, and cultivated corn, bean, squash, and tobacco . Wild rice, which they had incorporated as a dietary staple, grew in abundance along the riverbanks . They regularly harvested and cooked this, along with a wide variety of nuts, berries, and edible roots of the woods . The tribe had clearly distinguished gender roles . The men typically hunted and fished for food, and the women processed game and other foods in cooking . They prepared and made clothing from the furs as well as using other parts of animals for tools, cord, etc . Women also had a role in the political process, as no action could be taken without agreement of half of the women . Nicolet stayed with this tribe for about a year, becoming an ally . He helped open up opportunities for trade and commerce with them before returning to Quebec . </P>

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