Occupation is not complete with the ritual of possession. Colonial powers fueled and militarized indigenous warfare in a failed attempt to establish total control over the Portage. This remained a contested area well after the defeat of France by Britain in the Seven Year War. British techniques of war-making and possession introduced boundary lines separating “whites” from “indians”. This continues in the ongoing historical project of producing a contained and shrinking “Indian Country” a project that defined the United States from its inception.