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History 17th Century

The History and Archaeology of the Iroquois du Nord

edited by Ronald F. Williamson & Robert von Bitter

series edited by Pierre Desrosiers

contributions by Martin S. Cooper, William E. Engelbrecht, Neal Ferris, William A. Fox, Nick Grimoff, David Harris, April Hawkins, Richard W. Hill, Sr., Kurt A. Jordan, Victor Konrad, Chrisopher Menary, Dana Poulton, David Robertson & Gary A. Warrick

other Canadian Museum of History

Publisher
Les Presses de l'Université d'Ottawa/University of Ottawa Press
Initial publish date
Mar 2023
Category
17th Century, Pre-Confederation (to 1867), Archaeology
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780776639802
    Publish Date
    Mar 2023
    List Price
    $52.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780776639826
    Publish Date
    Mar 2023
    List Price
    $41.99

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Description

In the mid-to late 1660s and early 1670s, the Haudenosaunee established a series of settlements at strategic locations along the trade routes inland at short distances from the north shore of Lake Ontario. From east to west, these communities consisted of Ganneious, on Napanee or Hay Bay, on the Bay of Quinte; Kenté, near the isthmus of the Quinte Peninsula; Ganaraské, at the mouth of the Ganaraska River; Quintio, on Rice Lake; Ganatsekwyagon, near the mouth of the Rouge River; Teiaiagon, near the mouth of the Humber River; and Qutinaouatoua, inland from the western end of Lake Ontario. All of these settlements likely contained people from several Haudenosaunee nations as well as former Ontario Iroquoians who had been adopted by the Haudenosaunee.
These self-sufficient places acted as bases for their own inhabitants but also served as stopovers for south shore Haudenosaunee on their way to and from the beaver hunt beyond the lower Great Lakes. The Cayuga village of Kenté was where, in 1668, the Sulpicians established a mission by the same name, which became the basis for the region’s later name of Quinte. In 1676, a short-lived subsidiary mission was established at Teiaiagon. It appears that most of the north shore villages were abandoned by 1688.
This volume brings together traditional Indigenous knowledge as well as documentary and recent archaeological evidence of this period and focuses on describing the historical context and efforts to find the settlements and presents examinations of the unique material culture found at them and at similar communities in the Haudenosaunee homeland.
Available formats: trade paperback and accessible PDF

About the authors

Ronald F. Williamson is the co-editor of Taming the Taxonomy: Towards a New Understanding of Great Lakes Archaeology and president and chief archaeologist, Archaeological Services Inc.

Ronald F. Williamson's profile page

Robert von Bitter's profile page

Pierre Desrosiers' profile page

Martin S. Cooper's profile page

William E. Engelbrecht's profile page

Neal Ferris' profile page

William A. Fox's profile page

Nick Grimoff's profile page

David Harris is one of Canada’s authorities on workplace law, having practiced in the field of rights and responsibilities of employers and employees for decades. He is a senior lawyer practicing in Toronto. A renowned lawyer in the area of wrongful dismissal and employment law. As well as wrongful dismissal, David's practice also includes human rights, workers' compensation, post-employment competition, restraint of trade, fiduciary obligations, labor law, sexual harassment, employment contracts and various related areas of employment law litigation.

David Harris' profile page

April Hawkins' profile page

Richard W. Hill, Sr.'s profile page

Kurt A. Jordan's profile page

Victor Konrad, co-director of Borders in Globalization, teaches at Carleton University. Author of more than 100 publications, he is past president of both the Associations of Borderlands Studies and Canadian Studies in the United States.

 

Victor Konrad's profile page

Chrisopher Menary's profile page

Dana Poulton's profile page

David Robertson's profile page

Gary A. Warrick's profile page

Canadian Museum of History's profile page

Excerpt: The History and Archaeology of the Iroquois du Nord (edited by Ronald F. Williamson & Robert von Bitter; series edited by Pierre Desrosiers; contributions by Martin S. Cooper, William E. Engelbrecht, Neal Ferris, William A. Fox, Nick Grimoff, David Harris, April Hawkins, Richard W. Hill, Sr., Kurt A. Jordan, Victor Konrad, Chrisopher Menary, Dana Poulton, David Robertson & Gary A. Warrick; other Canadian Museum of History)

Who were the Iroquois du Nord?
Between the mid- to late 1660s and early 1670s, the Haudenosaunee (Five Nations Iroquois) established a series of settlements at strategic locations along the trade routes inland, a short distance from the north shore of Lake Ontario. Collectively, these sites have become known as Iroquois du Nord (IDN) settlements (Konrad 1981:130). This is a period of Great Lakes Indigenous and early colonial-period history about which little has been written, with the exception of publications by Percy Robinson (1933); Preston and Lamontagne (1958); James Pritchard (1973a, b), Victor Konrad (1981); and Nick Adams (1986); there are no published articles on the archaeology of these sites. We hope to remedy that with this volume, which is based on the presentations given at a session held on November 2 at the 2019 Ontario Archaeological Society Annual Symposium, entitled “The Seventeenth Century Iroquois du Nord: History, Archaeology, and the Search for the Villages.”
From east to west, these Haudenosaunee settlements consisted of Ganneious, on Napanee Bay, an arm of the Bay of Quinte; Kenté, near the isthmus of the Quinte Peninsula; Ganaraské, near the mouth of the Ganaraska River; Quintio, at the mouth of the Otonabee River, on the north shore of Rice Lake; Ganatsekwyagon, near the mouth of the Rouge River; Teiaiagon, near the mouth of the Humber River; and Outinaouatoua, on the portage between the western end of Lake Ontario and the Grand River (Figures 1.1–1.4). While Outinaouatoua appears not to have had a primary affiliation (Ferris, this volume), Ganatsekwyagon and Teiaiagon, were primarily Seneca; Ganaraské, Kenté, and Quintio were likely Cayuga; and Ganneious was Oneida (Konrad 1981:136). Judging from accounts about Teiaiagon, however, all these places may have contained people from several Haudenosaunee constituencies. Konrad (1981) suggested that these villages probably contained about 20 to 30 structures with populations of about 500 to 800 people although Quintio may have been smaller.