Wyandotte or Wyandot, from Wendat, "islanders," or "People of the Peninsula," the self-designation of the Huron people. The Wyandottes are a successor tribe to the Huron Confederacy, which was destroyed in 1650 and which consisted of four or five tribes: Attignaouantan (People of the Bear), Attigneenongnahac (Barking Dogs or People of the Cord), Arendahronon (People of the Rock), Tohontaenrat (People of the Deer), and possibly Ataronchronon (People of the Marshes). The name Huron is taken from a French word meaning "boarlike" or "boorish" and refers to the roached hair style. Contemporary Canadian Hurons are known as Hurons-Wendat.
Location In the sixteenth century, Hurons lived in the St. Lawrence River Valley. By 1600 at the latest, they inhabited an area known as Huronia, which included land between Georgian Bay (Lake Huron) and Lake Ontario. Today, most Wyandottes live in Wyandotte County, Kansas; Ottawa County, Oklahoma; and near Quebec City, Canada.
Population From between 16,000 and 30,000 people in the early seventeenth century, the Huron population dropped to about 10,000 in the mid-seventeenth century and to fewer than 200 in Canada in the early nineteenth century. There were around 500 Wyandottes in the Great Lakes region in the mid- to late seventeenth century. In the mid-1990s, about 2,000 tribal members lived in Oklahoma and Kansas. About 2,700 live in Quebec, Canada.
Language Huron/Wyandottes spoke mutually intelligible dialects of a Northern Iroquoian language.
Historical Information
History The Huron probably originated with other Iroquoians in the Mississippi Valley. They encountered Jacques Cartier in 1534 and Samuel de Champlain in 1609. The Iroquois wars probably began sometime in the sixteenth century, if not earlier, when those people drove the Huron tribes out of the St. Lawrence Valley, lands that they may originally have taken by warfare from the Iroquois. Thereafter the Huron sided with the Algonquians against the Iroquois.
The people entered the fur trade in the early seventeenth century, mainly as intermediaries between the French and other tribes. Catholic missionaries soon followed the traders, as did venereal disease and alcohol. Until the late 1640s, the Huron dominated the French beaver pelt trade. The French, however, were reluctant to sell arms to unconverted Hurons, a policy that was to have disastrous consequences. Severe epidemics in the late 1630s were followed by more Christian conversions and increased factionalism.
The Iroquois, armed with Dutch firearms, launched their final invasion in 1648. These tribes were allied with the British and sought to expand their trapping area and their control over neighboring tribes. Within two years they had destroyed the Huron. Some Hurons escaped to Lorette, near Quebec City, where they were granted land. They continued to grow crops, hunt, and trap until the end of the nineteenth century, when craft sales and factory work became the most important economic activities. They also intermarried regularly with the French.
Other Hurons settled among tribes such as the Erie, who were themselves later destroyed by the Iroquois. Many were adopted by the victorious Iroquois nations. Some Hurons escaped to the west, where they joined with the Tionotati (Petun, or Tobacco Nation), a related tribe. Under continuing pressure from the Iroquois, they began wandering around the Michilimackinac-Green Bay region, where they hunted and remained active in the fur trade. Although never a large tribe, membership in various alliances allowed them to play an important role in regional affairs.
Jesuits continued to minister to these people, who migrated to Detroit around 1700. They split into pro-British (at Sandusky) and pro-French groups in the mid-eighteenth century. The latter group became known as the Wyandotte and claimed territory north of the Ohio River, where they allowed Shawnee and Lenape bands to settle. Wyandottes fought the British in Pontiac’s rebellion (1763).
Land cessions to non-natives began in 1745 and continued into the nineteenth century. Wyandottes sold their lands on the Canadian side of the Detroit River in 1790 in exchange for reserves, most of which were ceded in the early nineteenth century; the rest were allotted in severalty later in the century. These people sided with the British in the Revolutionary War and split their allegiance in the War of 1812.
Their land in Ohio and Michigan was recognized by the United States after the War of 1812, but the tribe ceded most of it by 1819. With the decline of the fur trade, many Wyandottes began farming and acculturating to non-native society. More land was ceded in 1832, and in 1842 the people had ceded all Ohio and Michigan lands and moved to the Indian Territory (Kansas), on land purchased from the Lenape and on individual sections. During this period, the question of slavery increased factionalism among tribal members; some were slaveholders, whereas others were adamant abolitionists.
An 1855 treaty provided for land allotment (most allotments were soon alienated) and divided the tribe into citizens and noncitizens. Three years later, roughly 200 Wyandottes settled on the Seneca Reservation. The more traditional group (noncitizen) relocated to the new Indian Territory (Oklahoma) in 1867, after the Seneca-Cayuga agreed to donate part of their reservation there. This reservation was allotted in 1893. The Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma was created in 1937. It was terminated in the 1950s but was rerecognized in 1978. The "citizen" group remained in Kansas, incorporating as the Wyandot Nation of Kansas in 1959.
Religion The Huron recognized an almost unlimited number of spirits and deities, the most powerful of which were the sun and sky. Dreams were considered important as foreshadowing good or evil. There were four types of annual religious feasts: prewar singing, the departure of a dying man, thanksgiving, and healing. Of these, the last were related to medicine societies. Women participated in several formal dances.
Disease was caused by wounds and other obvious causes as well as by witches and soul loss (psychological disturbance). Dreams were important in curing problems of the latter type; otherwise, curers used magic, dancing, and other spiritual methods. Every winter, a three-day ceremony in which people feigned madness was held. There were also three types of shamans: conjurers, who were associated with the weather; diviners, who foretold the future and found lost objects; and healers.
The Dance of the Fire, which involved physical contact with boiling water and hot stones or coals, was meant to attract the assistance of a curing spirit. The most important celebration was the Feast of the Dead, held every ten years or so. Relatives cleaned, rewrapped, and buried bones in a common tribal grave. Then they feasted and honored their ancestors’ lives in story. This ceremony was accompanied by games, contests, and gift giving.
Government The tribes of the Huron Confederacy were led by a council of chiefs from each tribe. This council had no jurisdiction in purely local matters. The position of chief was inherited matrilineally, but within that context it was subject to merit criteria and a confirmation process.
Large villages were governed by clan civil and war chiefs. The chiefs’ male relatives acted as their councilors. Decisions were taken by consensus and were not, strictly speaking, binding on individuals or, if a tribal-level decision, on villages.
Customs Generosity was highly valued: Stinginess could leave one open to charges of witchcraft, a capital offense. Constituent clan families were led by the senior mother. These women also selected the chiefs from within the appropriate families. Certain lineages within clans were more important than others; holding feasts was a means to achieve status.
Crimes against the body politic, such as witchcraft or treason, were punishable by death, but serious crimes like murder were subject to settlement, including compensation. Popular diversions included lacrosse and gambling games.
Premarital sexual relations, beginning shortly after puberty, were common and accepted, within certain clan restrictions. A couple need not marry in the eyes of society, but if they chose to, marriages were apparently monogamous. Both the couple and their parents had to approve a marriage. Divorce was unusual after children had been born. In such cases, the children probably remained with the mother.
Corpses, wrapped in furs, lay in state for several days, during which time people gave speeches and feasted. The body was then laid on a scaffold and a small hut built over it. Gifts (food and tools) were placed near the body to help the spirit in the afterworld, which was regarded as similar to the world of the living. A mourning period lasted a year, during which time a surviving spouse could not remarry. Every ten years or so the tribe held a feast of the dead (see "Religion").
Dwellings There were at least 18 villages in the early seventeenth century. Villages were located on high ground near waterways and woods. The larger ones were often palisaded with up to five rows of sharpened stakes. Public spaces were located between the longhouses. Larger villages had up to 100 longhouses and 2,000 people or more; the average size was perhaps 800 people. Villages were moved every 10 to 20 years, after the soil and/or firewood was exhausted.
The people built pole-frame, bark (elm, cedar, or ash) houses, 25-30 feet wide and high and about 100-150 (even up to 240) feet long. Roofs were vaulted with closable smoke holes. A center passageway divided the house. Sleeping platforms ran along the sides, but people slept on the floor near the fire in winter. Rush mats served as doors and floors.
There were both large central hearths and smaller cooking fires.
Each longhouse was home to 8-24 families, with an average of about six people per family. The longhouses tended to be smoky, and fleas and mice were particular pests. The larger house of chiefs also served as council/ceremonial houses. Villages were economically self-sufficient.
Diet Women grew corn, beans, squash, and sunflowers. Men may have grown some tobacco. Corn, the staple food, was eaten mainly as soup with some added foods. Women also gathered blueberries, nuts, and fruits as well as acorns in times of famine.
Men hunted deer, bear, numerous other large and small game, and fowl. Deer were hunted in part by driving them into rivers or enclosures where they were shot with the bow and arrow. Bear were occasionally trapped and then fattened for a year or two before being eaten for special feasts. Dog was also eaten. The people fished throughout the year for whitefish, catfish, pike, and other species. Other aquatic foods included clams, crabs, and turtles.
Key Technology The digging stick and an antler or bone hoe were the primary agricultural tools. Men hunted with bows and arrows, snares, and spears. Fishing equipment included bone hooks and harpoons as well as large (up to 1,200 feet long) nets woven from nettles. Women wove mats, baskets, and nets of Indian hemp, reeds, bark, and corn husks. They also made leather bags; these and the baskets were painted or decorated with porcupine quills. Men made wooden items such as utensils, bowls, and shields as well as stone or clay pipes and heavy stone tools such as axes. Pottery and wooden mortars were related to food preparation.
Trade Most people traded to acquire goods to give away and thus acquire status. The Huron were important traders even before the French arrived. They had a monopoly on corn and tobacco. They also dealt in furs and chert, wampum beads, dried berries, mats, fish, and hemp. Important trading partners included the Petun (tobacco) and northern Algonquian people. The Nipissing were also important trade partners; they traded fish and furs for Huron corn. Extensive trade routes took the Huron all over much of the eastern Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River region and kept their society rich and stable.
Trade routes were owned or controlled by the people who had made them as well as by other members of their lineage. Intratribal use of the trails entailed payment of a fee. Intertribal use was prohibited. June through September was the main trading season, during which time most men were away from the villages. The people also imported gourds.
Notable Arts Pottery and twined bags were two important arts. The people also wove belts and other items from native fibers. Designs were mostly geometric. Moccasins and other items were embroidered or appliqued with moose hair.
Transportation Rivers were navigated via birch-bark canoe. Most intervillage communication was overland.
Dress Women made clothing from buckskin. It consisted generally of shirts, breechclouts, leggings, skirts, and moccasins. Fur capes were added in winter. Clothing was decorated with fringe and brightly painted designs. Face painting and tattooing were popular, especially among men.
War and Weapons Hurons never achieved the kind of unity of purpose and command essential for defeating or even realistically engaging an enemy as powerful as the Iroquois. People fought mainly for blood revenge as well as to gain personal status. War chiefs usually organized and led raiding parties, which might include up to 600 men.
Most fighting was practiced by surprise attacks on small groups. The main Huron enemies were the Iroquois, especially the Seneca. Hurons were allied with local Algonquian groups, especially the Ottawa, as well as the Susquehannock. Weapons included the bow and arrow, war clubs, wooden shield, and rod armor. Captives were often ritually tortured and sometimes eaten. Some, especially women and children, might be adopted.
Contemporary Information
Government/Reservations The Wyandotte Tribe, Ottawa County, Oklahoma, is governed under a constitution that calls for a chief, elected officers, and a tribal council. The land base consists of 192 acres of land in addition to individual allotments.
The Wyandot Nation of Kansas (1959), formerly the "citizen" or "absentee" Wyandottes, is located near Kansas City.
Huron Village (Wendake), Quebec, Canada, consists of 67 hectares. There were about 1,000 residents in the mid-1990s, of a total population of about 2,600. The community is governed by a band council.
Economy A casino is planned in Kansas. Many people are integrated into the local economy.
In Canada, many people still make and sell crafts such as snowshoes, moccasins, and canoes. One Huron group operates a bed-and-breakfast. A museum draws tourists in summer. The local economy is extensive and provides jobs for hundreds of non-natives.
Legal Status The Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma is a federally recognized tribal entity. The Wyandot Nation of Kansas is state recognized and has petitioned for federal recognition. Quebec Hurons-Wendats are provincially and federally recognized.
Daily Life The tribe in Oklahoma provides several important services, including student scholarships and meals for the elderly. Facilities include housing, a tribal center, and a preschool. A museum and cultural center are planned. The people are working on identifying and preserving aspects of their cultural traditions.
Hurons of Lorette (Quebec) are all Catholic and part French. The Canadian National Railway bisects the reserve. Most Indians own property. Children attend school on the reserve through grade four. The reserve is similar to neighboring towns in Quebec. There is some effort to revive the native language. The artistic custom of moose-hair applique persisted here longer than in the south.
