[JAMES] THE DOWNFALL OF THE HURON NATION 317 



The Hurons proper occupied the five townships lying between 

 Matchedash Bay, Nottawasaga Bay and Lakes Simcoe and Couchiching. 

 The eastern entrance by land was across " The Narrows " between the 

 two lakes, where the town oi Orillia now stands. 



They were a settled nation living in fixed towns. The villages on 

 the frontier next to their enemies were strongly fortified by walls of 

 palisades similar to those erected by the Iroquois. The sites of these 

 towns would naturally be selected with a view to protection. Wood and 

 water supply would also have to be considered. The records of the French 

 give us a population varying fnom 15,000 to 45,000. These variations in 

 number can readily be accounted for but taking the numbei at 30,000 

 we see that the district carried a heavy population, as Indian popula- 

 tion was usually distributed. The to^Tis occupied at that time were all 

 crowded into the townships of Tiny, Flos, Medonte and the southern 

 part of Orillia, with one here and there in Oro and the northern part of 

 Orillia. 



The latest census population of these townships was 26,371. If to 

 this we add the three towns Orillia, (4,907), Midland, (3,174), and 

 Penetanguishene, (2,422), we get a total population of 36,874. It may 

 assist us to form some idea of the population of the Huron ISTation, 

 when we say that, in the days before the war of extermination began, 

 the Indian population of the district about equalled that of the presei}t 

 day even including the three towns mentioned. The next point that 

 suggests itself is that with such a heavy population, game could noU 

 have been very plentiful. If they wished to hunt they must go north 

 into the Algonquin Park, or south into the Neutral Country. 



But the Hurons were ra/ther farmers, fishermen and traders. 

 They did not maintain themselves by hunting — they were on a 

 higher level than the Algonquins, the white Indians of the 

 northern forest. They lived in towns and they raised crops. Com, 

 beans, pumpkins, sunflowers and hemp were their principal crops. The 

 corn, which was their main article of food, was doubtless similar to. that 

 which may still be found in the reserve on the G-rand River, — small 

 ears of hard flinty com with bluish kernels. It was grown in the same 

 hills year after year until the soil became exhausted. Traces of old com 

 fields of the Indians can still be seen in the woods along Lake Erie and 

 in Nottawasaga Township. The sunflowers were grown mainly for oil 

 with which they anointed or smeared their bodies and hair and for 

 sacrificial purposes. Oil for food was got from fish. The hemp was 

 grown for fishing nets and for the many uses of cord. 



When the supply of wood gave out or the soil became exhausted, 

 the town was moved to a new site. This accounts for the very large 

 number of old village sites in Simcoe County and, taken in connection 



