AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE HURON INDIANS, 



1615-1649 



By Elisabeth Tooke;r 



INTRODUCTION 



Our knowledge of the Huron for the period beginning with their 

 first extensively described contact with the French and ending with 

 their defeat and dispersal by the Iroquois in 1649-50 rests on three 

 primary documents: Samuel de Champlain's account of the winter 

 (1615-16) he spent in Huronia; Gabriel Sagard's account of his win- 

 ter visit in 1623-24 ; and the yearly Relations of the Jesuits who began 

 intensive work among the Huron in 1634. These accounts, however, 

 are not the earliest on an Iroquoian group : Jacques Cartier in 1535 

 had met some Iroquoian speakers living along the St. Lawrence, a 

 group which perhaps joined the Huron between the time of Cartier's 

 visit and that of Champlain.^ 



1 The two Huron tribes, Arendahronon and Tohontaenrat, which joined the Huron 

 about 1590 and 1610, respectively, may have been the Laurentian Iroquois, the Iroquoian- 

 speaking peoples Cartier found living along the St. Lawrence in an area Champlain later 

 found to be inhabited only by Algonquian tribes (Hewitt 1907 c: 585; Wilson 18S5 : 58- 

 60). Other students of the Iroquoians, however, have suggested that the Laurentian 

 Iroquois in whole (Bailey 1933: 97-102) or in part (see Fenton 1940 d: 167-177; of. 

 Morgan 1901(2) : 188-191) joined the Iroquois. It also is possible that the St. Lawrence 

 valley was occupied by the Iroquois after the Laurentian Iroquois had left (Hale 1894 : 10). 



Various reasons have been suggested for the migration of the Laurentian Iroquois out 

 of the St. Lawrence valley. Wars with the Huron (Lighthall 1899: 207), the Iroquois 

 (Hale 1894: 10-11; Hewitt 1907 c: 584; Connelley 1899 c: 95), or the eastern Algon- 

 quians (Fenton 1940 d : 174) have been cited as the cause for the abandonment of the 

 valley. Another suggestion is that Iroquoian agriculture was hazardous at best in the 

 St. Lawrence valley (the northern limit for maize agriculture) and that climatic condi- 

 tions forced the Laurentian Iroquois to move south, to an area where the growing season 

 was longer (Barbeau 1949: 228-229). European-introduced diseases and abandonment 

 of hilltop strongholds for more vulnerable positions near the river, after first contact, 

 have also been suggested as factors contributing to the disappearance of the Laurentian 

 Iroquois (Fenton 1940 d : 175). 



The migration of these Iroquoian peoples out of the St. Lawrence valley and the wars 

 that were the cause of these migrations may have led to the formation, or at least the 

 strengthening, of the Huron and Iroquois Leagues. The addition of two tribes, perhaps 

 the Laurentian Iroquois from the St. Lawrence, to the Huron League about 1590 and 1610 

 probably influenced the character of that league and may have been the actual, time of its 

 founding. The Iroquois League also may have been founded about the same time. Al- 

 though both Morgan (1871 : 151 ; 1881 : 26; 1901(1) : 7; 1901(2) : 190) and Hale (1881 : 

 5 ; 1883 : 178-180) thought that the Iroquois League was founded about 1460 or not later 

 than 1459, Hewitt (1894: 67; 1944: 80; cf. Morgan 1901(2) : 189-190) disagreed and 



(Footnote continued at bottom of next page.) 



