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Wikipedia / Wendat Nation

The Wendat Nation (or Huron-Wendat First Nation) is an Indigenous First Nation of Wendat people in Quebec, established in the 17th century. Their Wendat language is a Northern Iroquoian language, and they primarily speak French. The First Nation now has two communities and Indian reserves, Wendake 7 and Wendake 7A, at Wendake, within Quebec City in Canada.

The nation's historical territory was between Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay, known as Wendake (Huronia). The 17th-century Beaver Wars, drove surviving Wendats east to Quebec, under French protection.

Name

In the French language, used by most members of the First Nation, they are known as the . The French gave the nickname to the Wendat (from the French word , meaning "boar's head") because of the hairstyle of Huron men, who had their hair standing in bristles on their heads. Wendat (Quendat) was their confederacy name, meaning 'people of the island' or 'dwellers on a peninsula'.

Territory

The Wendat Nation have two urban reserves in Quebec City, Quebec: Wendake 7 and Wendake 7A.

The 1760 Huron–British North American Peace Treaty, lost in 1824 but rediscovered in the 1990s, showed that a large chunk of land named (now part of Quebec City) was sold to the Hurons in 1760 by the Jesuits. Therefore, the Wendats have a contemporary claim to this valuable land.

History

In the late 16th century, the Wendat Confederacy was formed to defend against their common enemy, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The Wendat Confederacy consisted of four allied nations, including Attinniaoenten (Bear), Atingeennonniahak (Cords), Arendaenronnon (Rock), Atahontaenrat (Deer) and Ataronchronon (Bog). However, the last group, Ataronchronon (Bog) may have been a division of the Attinniaoenten (Bear) since they may have not attained full membership. Due to diseases introduced by the Europeans and a lack of firearms, in 1648 to 1650, the Wendat Confederacy was defeated by the Haudenosaunee. After that, many Wendat refugees were adopted by the neighbouring Tionontati, they would eventually become the Wyandotte Nation in Oklahoma. At the same time some fled to Quebec and became the Wendat Nation in Quebec.

On August 27, 1999, Wendat Confederacy was reaffirmed by signing a document with their mothers blood: The Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma (United States), Wyandot Nation of Kansas (United States), the Wyandot of Anderdon Nation (Michigan, United States) and the Wendat Nation (Quebec, Canada).

Government

Village, tribe, and confederacy made up the basic level of government system in the Wendat Nation. At the village level, there were several chiefs to represent different clans, and each chief had different status (e.g.: civil or war chief). Most of their status were inherited, but they could fight for that or being appointed by older women of the lineage. The chief organized a council meeting to discuss about current issues within the village, and men and women were welcomed to give opinions. The meeting for the Wendat Confederacy happened once a year.

Jesuit Father Lallemant, noted of the Wendat in 1644:

Social organization

The Wendats were a matrilineal society in which status and property were inherited through the women's line. Property, clan membership and position could potentially be passed down.

Clan system

Similar to other Iroquois nations, Wendat society used a matrilineal clan system which has clans named after certain animals. There are eight matrilineal clans: Turtle, Wolf, Bear, Beaver, Deer, Hawk, Porcupine, and Snake. In order to unify, each person in each clan, no matter their nation or village, was seen as related. Thus, people would have to marry a person outside of their clan.

Economy

Today, cultural tourism is the main economic driver, and includes a developed historic sector, a residential district, and an industrial zone. As of April 2022, registered members of the Wendat Nation in Wendake, Quebec consists of 4,578 members.

About 70% of the area north and west of Lake Simcoe and south and east of Georgian Bay, where the Wendat nation occupied, was agricultural land. Because of this, historically most Wendat were farmers, and their economy was based on horticulture by growing maize, beans, and squash.

The Huron (Wyandotte) lived in Ontario near the northern limit of where agriculture was feasible and had less fertile soils than many other regions to the south and west. Nevertheless, with polyculture (practiced predominantly with the Three Sisters), they produced surpluses for trading with nearby non-agricultural peoples.

As Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands did not historically plow their land, a team of scholars (Mt. Pleasant and Burt) concluded that their lands retained more organic matter and thus were higher in yields of maize than early Euro-American farms in North America.

Culture

Language

The Wendat language, spoken by the Wendat people, is considered extinct. The language was closely related to the Iroquois languages of the Haudenosaunee.

Around the second half of the 19th century, Wendat died out because there were no living speakers. However, in the 1970s and 1980s, attempts were being made to revive the dormant language by using historical dictionaries and manuscripts from Recollet and Jesuit missionaries. In 2010, the Wendat Community of Quebec and the Wyandot Nation of Oklahoma have been teaching Wendat and Wyandot (the dialect of Wendat) to their community members, respectively.

Housing

Historically, Huron built in longhouses that had a rectangular shape with rounded roofs that were covered by bark panels. These houses were built to serve as homes for extended families.

Artifacts

Wendat societies were village-based and to support their farming efforts, produced utilitarian ceramics that served functional purposes within their lifestyles, while also featuring aesthetic considerations relating to their design and form. Traditional crafts of the Wendat community continued in 19th century Quebec, despite colonization. The practices included canoe building, embroidery, basketry, and snowshoe making.

Clothing

Historically, Wendat clothing was mostly made from deer and beaver hides. Their clothes were very decorative by using porcupine quills, feathers, and wampum, and red was the most favourite colour in their culture.

Men wore loincloths and moccasins on their feet, and in the winter, they wore sleeves and a cloak made of fur. On their backs, they wore fire pouches, also called bandolier bags, so that they could carry tobacco pipes, charms, and personal belongings. Wendat men tended to smoke, so it was common for them to carry a pipe. Women wore the same thing as men, but instead of loincloths, they wore skirts.

Demographics

As of April 2022, the number of registered citizens of the Wendat Nation in Wendake, Quebec consists of 4,578 people.

Before the 16th century, the Wendat population was approximately 20,000 to 25,000 people. However, Europeans introduced new diseases, such as measles, influenza, and smallpox, beginning in 1634 to 1642, which reduced the Wendat population significantly to about 9,000 people.

See also

Further reading

  • Thomas Peace, Revisiting 1759 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012

References