In accordance with international law principles the French generally considered indigenous peoples to be independent allies in North Eastern America, unless they converted to Catholicismin which case they fell into a special category. Colonial authorities never negotiated land cessions, since the French kings gave them the power to unilaterally grant lands located in indigenous territories. Hence, the pre-Columbian origin of family territories has been hotly debated in the 20 th century, as has been the possibility that Algonquian peoples have themselves devised conservation measures. French observers, however, experienced no difficulties in identifying territories controlled by indigenous nations. Colonial officials worked hard to convince peoples that they should consider each other "brothers" and accord one another a reciprocal hunting right over their lands. In addition, one or more chiefs acting in a concerted fashion managed hunting "districts". Normally members from a different band needed permission to hunt outside their own district, though occasional forays were accepted without protest. While conservation measures had been reported in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain area as early as 1660, they appear to have been unknown to the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River in the 18 th century. Overall, it seems highly unlikely that indigenous peoples would not have had sufficient knowledge to devise such measures by themselves.Brazilian landscape perception through literary sources (16th-18th centuries)