PKEFACE 



In the first half of the 17th century, the Iroquoian-speaking Huron 

 lived in an area at the southern end of Georgian Bay in the present 

 Province of Ontario, Canada. It was there that the French visited 

 them, some recording what they saw and thus providing much of 

 what we know of Huron culture — for in 1649 the Huron were driven 

 from their homeland by the Iroquois and dispersed. 



The body of this work, a compilation of the ethnographic data 

 contained in 17th-century descriptions, is intended to be a more con- 

 venient general introduction and index to Huron culture than is 

 presently available. It is also to be hoped that it will prove useful to 

 students of Iroquoian culture change, for this body of data offers an 

 almost unique vantage point from which to view such change. Tem- 

 porally close to the archeological data, it affords both a point from 

 which to look backward in time and, close to pre-Columbian times, a 

 view of an Iroquoian culture little affected by Western civilization 

 and a point from which to look forward in time. 



The ethnography may be read either with or without reference to 

 the notes which, in addition to serving their usual function as a 

 vehicle for editorial comment (both mine and that which various 

 students of the Iroquoians have previously made) , also serve as a ve- 

 hicle for indicating the cultural similarities and differences between 

 the Huron and other Northern Iroquoian cultures, particularly those 

 of the 19th- and 20th-century Wyandot and Iroquois cultures, and for 

 indicating evidence of culture change. A brief history of the Huron 

 after their defeat also is included. 



For these notes, much, but by no means all, of the important ma- 

 terials on the Iroquoians published in the 19th and 20th centuries was 

 consulted. Unfortunately, while the material on the Iroquois is quite 

 full, that on the descendants of the 17th-century Huron is, at best, 

 spotty. As a result, not all the comparisons that ought to be made 

 can be. Although a few references that occur in the later literature 

 have been included, the 18th-century data was not consulted and is 

 probably best considered separately. 



An American Indian would say that fo^ir things are necessary for 

 the successful completion of a task. In this case, the four are the 

 following individuals : Marian E. Wliite, Wallace L. Chafe, William 



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