|
Hurons/Wyandots/Wendat
|
|
Wyandot
Indians
The
Wyandot Indians originally lived in southern Ontario.
They are related to the Iroquois
Indians, but were attacked by the Iroquois Confederacy
and driven from their homeland. Some came to live
in northern Ohio. They built their main villages in
Wyandot, Marion, and Crawford counties, but they lived
across northern Ohio as far south as Ross County.
The
Wyandots had a special friendship with the Shawnees.
They referred to the Shawnee tribe as their "nephew" or
"younger brother." Other Indian tribes could be allies
one day and enemies the next. Political alliances changed
with the times.
The
Wyandots were allies of the French until British traders
moved into the Ohio country around A.D. 1740. The
French pushed the British out of Ohio and the Wyandot
were forced to be allies of the French again until
the British victory in the French
and Indian War. But as French trading posts turned
into British forts the Ohio Indians banded together
to fight the British. During the American Revolution
the Wyandots fought with the British against the Americans.
When the British surrendered, the Indians were left
to fight the Americans on their own.
The
Wyandots were fierce warriors. Colonel William Crawford
led an expedition against the Wyandot town at Upper
Sandusky in 1782. His army was defeated and Colonel
Crawford was captured and burned at the stake.
General
Anthony Wayne once ordered Captain William Wells to
go to the Indian town at Upper Sandusky and bring
in a prisoner who could tell them about the Indian's
plans. Captain Wells replied that he "could bring
in a prisoner, but not from Sandusky, because there
were none but Wyandots at Sandusky and they would
not be taken alive."
General
Anthony Wayne finally defeated the Wyandots and other
Ohio Indians at the Battle
of Fallen Timbers in 1794. They surrendered most
of their lands in Ohio with the signing of the Treaty
of Greenville .
In
1842 the Wyandots gave up their claim to their reservation
at Upper Sandusky. In 1843 they were sent off to a
reservation in Kansas. They were the last Indian tribe
to leave Ohio.
Tarhe
the Crane and Leatherlips were the most famous chiefs
of the Wyandot Indians. Tarhe's Town later became
the city of Lancaster.
Text
from the Ohio
Historical Society Site
|
Hurons/Wyandots/Wendat
In
the early seventeenth century, the Hurons (or Wyandots),
allied in origin and language to the Iroquois,
dwelt in several large villages in a narrow district
on the high ground between Lake Simcoe and Georgian
Bay.
The
Hurons were divided into four tribes: the Bear (Attignaouantan),
the Cord (Attingueenongnahak), the Rock (Ahrendarrhonon)
and the Deer (Tahontaenrat). A few smaller Iroquoian
communities, and at least one Algonkian
community, united with them from time to time for
protection against the Iroquois.
The
real name of the confederacy was Wendat ("Islanders"
or "Dwellers on a Peninsula"), hence the name Wyandot,
adopted by the descendants of the Hurons in Oklahoma,
Michigan and Kansas.
The
Hurons built up a powerful trading enterprise in which
they acted as middlemen between the northern tribes
and the French. It was destroyed by the Iroquois in
1650. For their food supply, the Hurons depended principally
on maize, with beans and pumpkins as subsidiary crops.
(IC Indians of Canada"," D. Jenness; DCB Dictionary
of Canadian Biography"," G. Brown"," ed.)
Museum
of Civilization, Ottawa, Canada - Pictures
Native Trail
|
Hurons-Wendat
Language
The
Huron-Wendat language is part of the Iroquoian linguistic
group. This language, which played an historic role
in the development of relations between Aboriginal
peoples and the first Europeans to arrive in North
America, is no longer spoken. Learned by the explorers,
the missionaries, and the administrative representatives
of the European governments, Huron-Wendat was considered
the "lingua franca" of negotiations with the First
Peoples, and the source documents that remain from
this period have permitted researchers from the Nation
to begin working on a project to revive the language.
Total
Population
The
population of the Huron-Wendat Nation in Quebec is
estimated at 2,790 people, with almost 1,100 residents
on their territory.
Territories
Originally
occupying a vast territory south of Georgian Bay and
Lake Huron, in what is now Ontario, the Hurons-Wendat
had developed a trading empire that covered most of
Ontario, more than half of Quebec, and a good portion
of the United States. For the first Europeans, they
were known as "Hurons" and lived in "Huronie". They
called themselves "Wendat" (or "Ouendat") and their
territory "Wendake". Today they form one of the most
urbanized Nations in Quebec, and their community is
located on lands just outside of Quebec City.
Communities
Wendake
(also known as Village-des-Hurons) is the only community
in the Huron-Wendat Nation in Quebec or Canada. The
Wyandotte communities in the United States are related
to this nation.
Wendake
Location
The
Huron-Wendat community of Wendake, also known
as Village-des-Hurons, has, as its territory,
a reserve located on the eastern bank of the
St. Charles River, 8 km. north of Quebec City.
The surface area of Wendake is 112.12 hectares.
The Laurentian Autoroute, to the east, and Boulevard
Henri IV, followed by Highway 369, to the west,
are the main access routes to Wendake. A gravel
road network (2,090 meters), a paved road network
(7,510 meters), and more than 500 houses are
to be found within the territory.
Population
There
are close to 2,800 people in Wendake, with approximately
1,100 residents on the actual territory of the
reserve.
Presentation
Wendake
is the only Huron-Wendat community in Canada.
They have lived in their present location for
more than 300 years. Originally based in Southeastern
Ontario, near Georgian Bay, they had developed
a trading empire that covered most of Ontario,
more than half of Quebec, and a good portion
of the United States. Early in the 17th century,
after suffering casualties in war, and epidemics
amongst their people, a group of 300 Hurons-Wendat
took refuge with their French allies in Quebec
City. They settled on the Īle d'Orleans, until
1657, when further attacks from their enemies
forced them to retreat to the city. Involved
in the development of Jesuit missions, in and
around the Quebec City area, they moved seven
times before settling permanently in Wendake
in 1697. Originally known as "Jeune-Lorette",
as opposed to the neighboring non-aboriginal
community of Ancienne-Lorette, the reserve took
on many different names, including "Village-des-Hurons",
before finally adopting the name Wendake in
1986. Additional land parcels were added to
the territory by the Federal Government in 1958,
1961, 1973 and 1990.
The
principal language spoken in the community
is French (Huron is not spoken anymore).
|
Organizations
The
Conseil de la Nation Huronne-Wendat is the band council
which manages the affairs of the Nation.
First
People, Native Trail - please visit their site
for much more information!
|
-
return to index Native
Americans - -
to page top -
for pictures
see 'pictures'
|
