32 



DICTIONARY OP INDIANS. 



Wyandot. — Contin iied. 



here, in 1665, AUouez founded the 

 mission of Sainte Esprit. About 

 1670, again in consequence of the 

 hostility of the Sioux, the place was 

 abandoned, the Ottawas going to 

 Manitoulin island, while the Hurons 

 returned to Mackinaw, where they 

 numbered about 500 in 1677. Some 

 Ottawas settled near them in another 

 village, and the mission of St. Ignace 

 was established among them under 

 Marquette. In 1702 the Hurons re- 

 moved to Detroit in lower Michigan, 

 leaving the Ottawas at Mackinaw. In 

 1723, under the name of Necariages, 

 they were formally received by the 

 Iroquois as the seventh nation of the 

 confederacy, but this alliance was 

 brought about through the negotia- 

 tions of the English and never had 

 any practical result. In 1728 the mis- 

 sion of Assumption was established 

 among the Hurons at Detroit. In 

 1751a part of them removed to a new 

 village at Sandusky, Ohio. About 

 this time they began to be known as 

 Wyandots, and all distinction be- 

 tween Hurons and Tionontatis was 

 lost. As those killed and incapaci- 

 tated by the Iroquois during and after 

 the final war were chiefly Hurons, 

 while the Tionontatis had fled 

 almost at the first attack, it seems 

 probable that the modern Wyandots 

 were mainly from the latter tribe. 

 That those who fled west in 1650 

 were but a small part of the Hu- 

 rons then existing is shown by the 

 fact that in 1656 those among the 

 Senecas were so numerous as to form 

 a distinct village of their own, while 

 in 1653 Le Moyne found 1000 among 

 the dnondagas. In 1656, also, the 

 Mohawks carried off nearly 100 of the 

 Hurons, then near Quebec; while 

 soon after the majority of that party 

 joined the Iroquois, and the descen- 

 dants of those who remained near 

 Quebec still number nearly 300, con- 

 siderably more than the whole num- 

 ber of Wyandots now in Indian 

 Territory. 



After settling at Detroit and San- 

 dusky, the Wyandots spread along 

 the whole southern and western shore 

 of Lake Erie and gradually acquired 

 a paramount influence among the 

 tribes of the Ohio valley and lake 

 region, so that, although one of the 

 smallest tribes in point of numbers, 

 they exercised the right to light the 

 council fire at all general gatherings. 

 They claimed authority over the 

 greater part of Ohio, and the settle- 

 ment of the Shawnees and Delawares 



in that region was effected by their 

 permission. They took a prominent 

 part in all the Indian moveiuents in 

 the Ohio region down to the close of 

 the war of 181 2, taking sides with the 

 French until the close of Pontiac's 

 war, and afterward supporting the 

 British against the Americans. After 

 the treaty of peace in 1815 they were 

 . confirmed in the possession of a large 

 territory in Ohio and Michigan, most 

 of which, however, they sold in 18 18, 

 reserving only a portion near Upper 

 Sandusky, Ohio, and a smaller tract 

 on Huron river, near Detroit, Michi- 

 gan. These were sold in 1842 and the 

 tribe reinoved to Kansas, where they 

 settled on a tract between the Mis- 

 souri and Kansas rivers, the present 

 Wyandotte county. In 1855 they 

 were declared citizens, but the result 

 was so unsatisfactory that in 1867 

 their tribal organization was restored 

 and they were removed to a small 

 tract in the northeastern corner of 

 the Indian Territory, where they now 

 are. 



The population of the Wyandots 

 has been variously estimated, bvtt 

 with them, as with other tribes, the 

 lowest estimates are generally most 

 reliable. Their former iinportance as 

 a tribe was altogether disproportion- 

 ate to their numbers, and in 1794 it 

 was said that they never had more 

 than 150 warriors in battle. The old 

 estimates of Huron population have 

 been previously noted, and from 

 1650 down to their settlement at De- 

 troit they seem never to have had 

 more than about 500 in one body. 

 Later estimates are 1000, with 300 

 more at Lorette (1736); 500 (1748); 

 850(1748); 1250(1765); 1500(1794- 

 95); 1000 (1812); 1250 (1812). 

 Only the first of these estimates in- 

 cludes the "Hurons of Lorette," 

 Quebec, who were estimated at 300 in 

 1736, and were officially reported in 

 1900 at 448. They have a large ad- 

 mixture of white blood. There is 

 another band known as " Wyandottes 

 of Anderdon" in Essex county, On- 

 tario, which nutnbered 98 in 1884, 

 but these are now reduced to about 

 half a dozen, the remainder possibly 

 having joined their kindred at Lor- 

 ette. Those in the Indian TeiTitory 

 numbered 251 in 1885 and 342 in 1901, 

 making the whole number of Wyan- 

 dots, or Hurons, now officially known 

 in the United States and Canada 

 about 800. Those in the Indian Ter- 

 ritory have hardly a full-blood among 

 them. There are probably a few in 

 Kansas, who left the main body in 



