Panis was a term used for slaves of the First Nations descent in Canada, a region of New France. First Nation slaves were generally called Panis (anglicized to Pawnee), with most slaves of First Nations descent having originated from Pawnee tribes. The term later became synonymous with "Indian slave" in the French colony, with a slave from any tribe being called Panis. Etymology As early as 1670, a reference was recorded to a Panis in Montreal. The term is widely described as a corruption of the name of the Panismahas, a sub-tribe of the Pawnee people encountered in the Illinois Country, then a remote part of New France."In the middle of the 17th century the Pawnees were being savagely raided by eastern tribes that had obtained metal weapons from the French, which gave them a terrible advantage over Indians who had only weapons of wood, flint, and bone. The raiders carried off such great numbers of Pawnees into slavery, that in the country on and east of the upper Mississippi the name Pani developed a new meaning: slave. The French adopted this meaning, and Indian slaves, no matter from which tribe they had been taken, were presently being termed Panis. It was at this period, after the middle of the 17th century, that the name was introduced into New Mexico in the form Panana by bands of mounted Apaches who brought large numbers of Pawnee slaves to trade to the Spaniards and Pueblo Indians.":24Raiders primarily targeted women and children, to be sold as slaves. In 1694, Apaches brought a large number of captive children to the trading fair in New Mexico, but for some reason there were not enough buyers, so the Apaches beheaded all their slaves in full view of the Spaniards.:46 History Slavery of First Nations in the colony of New France was formalized through colonial law in 1709, with the passage of the Ordinance Rendered on the Subject of the Negroes and the Indians called Panis. Slaves of First Nations descent were only permitted to be enslaved while within the colony, although in practice enslaved individuals remained enslaved regardless of where they travelled. In 1747, the colonial administration proposed permitting the trade of First Nations slaves for slaves of African descent. However, these attempts were quashed by the French government, fearing it would jeopardize existing Franco-First Nations alliances. By 1757 Louis Antoine de Bougainville considered that the