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entrances and exits of lakes on the main waterways. Tadoussac was 
freciuented by the Indians long; before Champlaiivs time because it 
was a strategic point at the junction of two waterways, the St. 
Lawrence and the Saguenay, and because cod were abundant in the 
adjacent sea. Hochelaga (Montreal) was another strategic point at 
the foot of the Lachine rapids, the meeting-point of trade-routes 
down the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers; the fertile land below 
mount Royal was eminently suited for the cultivation of maize, and 
the summit of the hill offered a wide view up and down the river. 
An early Jesuit missionary, Lafitau, makes a very pertinent remark 
on sites like Hochelaga that were occupied by Iroquoiaii tribes: 
“ They locate them, as far as possible, in tlie centre of fertile soil on 
a small rise that gives them a view of the surrounding landscape — 
this to prevent surprise — and on the bank of a stream which, if 
possible, winds around the place, adding a kind of natural moat to 
the fortifications which art can supply to a site already well defended 
by nature.”- The prairie Indians, when following the buffalo during 
the summer months, camped near fords in the rivers, in hollow 
valleys near commanding hill-tops, and on the hill-tops themselves; 
while in British Columbia the aborigines built their houses near good 
fishing-grounds or clam-beds and on the rivers that the salmon 
ascended— -especially near the mouths of these rivers, at their exits 
from the lakes, and at rapids and canyons in their courses where 
obstructions in the channels facilitated the use of weirs and fish- 
traps.^ 
Let us now consider the various regions more in detail. The 
typical dwelling in eastern Canada was the lodge or wigwam, which 
consisted of a framework of poles covered with rolls of bark, rushes, 
or skin. For winter most tribes preferred a conical form that could 
be erected in about an hour. “ The women go to the woods and bring 
back some poles which are stuck into the ground in a circle around 
the fire, and at the top are interlaced, in the form of a pyramid, so 
that they come together directly over the fire, for there is the chimney. 
1 For similar rpasons one would expect to find (lie remains of prehistoric settlements at Ottawa, 
where the Rideau and Ottawa rivers join. Some Indian implements have been found in the vicinity, 
mainly around lake Deschenes and on the north shore of the river below the Chaudiere falls, but very 
few' traces of any villace .site. .See Twenty-ninth .'\nn. Arch. Rept., 1917, Iteing part of .‘Appendix to 
the Report of the Minister of Education, Ontario, pp. 78-85 (Toronto, 1917). 
2 Lafitau, J. F. : Moeurs des Sauvages Ameriquains, vol. ii, p. 3 (Paris, 1724). 
tt Sproat says of Nootktx villages: “The village sites are generally well chosen, and, though not 
selected for any other reason than nearness to firewood and w'ater, and safety against a surprise, are 
often beautiful.'' But fish abounded in every fiord occupied by the Nootka on the west coast of 
Vancouver island. Cf. Dawson, G. M. : Ceol. Hurv., Canada, Rept. of Prog. 1878-79, pt. B, fx 116, 
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