 They were preceded by the Dakota, Fox, Menominee, Noquet and Gros Ventre peoples, whom they pushed out of the area.Already established as traders, after the arrival of Europeans, the Anishinaabe found a niche as the middlemen between the French fur traders and other Native peoples.They soon became the dominant Indian nation in the region, forcing out the Dakota Sioux and Fox and winning a victory against the Iroquois west of Sault Ste.