560 feEPoto— 1900. 



quite unprepared to tftke advantage or retain posseSsioii of such ail extent 

 of territory, especially in a region where arable land was rather scarce 

 and greatly in demand. They allowed themselves to be dispossessed 

 piecemeal of the land itself, and of the seigniorial dues attached to it as 

 well, and were left with holdings totally inadequate for their support and 

 advancement. 



In short, the system of property of tlie Hurons of Lorette is character- 

 ised by the absence of private holdings and the limitation of the collective 

 holdings. These conditions are the direct outcome of the forms of labour 

 which they retained or adopted under the combined influence of their own 

 traditions, of the physical features of the country around Quebec, and of 

 social environment and competition. 



These property conditions, in their turn, have had far-reaching effects 

 on the further social evolution of the Huron community. They permitted 

 its being closely surrounded and permeated in its home life by outside 

 (principally French Canadian) notions and manners. The village of 

 Lorette is inextensive, and so penetrated by the adjoining settlements, 

 that on its outskirts, at many points, Huron homes almost join those of 

 white neighbours, and it is often a difficult matter to say where the line 

 of demarcation passes. The consequences of this close neighbourhood will 

 appear presently. 



Family. 



The family group at Lorette is quite restricted. Each household, as a 

 rule, consists of a single family, comprising only a few persons ; for 

 instance, the husband, the wife, and two or three young children ; in other 

 cases an aged couple alone, or possibly assisted by a grown-up daughter or 

 son. When barely eight or ten years old the Huron boy or girl takes to 

 manufacturing fancy wai-es at home, and soon acquires a ti'aining in the 

 various arts. At twenty or twenty-two they marry, and take up house 

 separately from the parents. If they have decided to remain at Lorette, 

 and are not already provided with a lodging there, they apply for a lot 

 from the village council, and build a house for themselves. In recent 

 years the development of industry has induced several newly married 

 couples to take up their home in their native village ; a new street, or 

 rather lane, had to be opened, and still another will be opened soon. 



The restricted family group of the Hurons of Lorette is very unlike 

 the patriarchal household of their ancestors, wherein eight or ten, or even 

 as many as twenty-four, families lived under one roof.^ Apart from that 

 close material grouping into large households, there existed, among the 

 ancient Hurons, social groups much more comprehensive — clans founded 

 on consanguinity. At one time there were as many as twelve clans, 

 among which the Huron families were distributed. 



' The unit of the Wyandot social and political systems,' writes Mr. 

 W. E. Connelly, whose knowledge of the Wyandots settled in the Indian 

 Territory of the United States is most thorough, ' was not the family nor 

 the individual, but the clan. The child belonged to its clan first, to its 

 parents afterwards.' ^ 



The clans were not mere local organisations ; they were ramified 

 throughout the whole territory, throughout the whole nation ; so that 

 "while the people, for purposes of livelihood, were dispersed in distant 



' Champlain, vol. iv. p. 74. 



- Ontario Arch(Sological Jleport, 1899, p. 107. 



