Iroquoiens of the St. Lawrence

The Iroquoiens of the St. Lawrence lived, until the end of the 16th century, along the Fleuve the St. Lawrence with the Quebec and in Ontario, Canada, and in the State of New York, the United States. Our knowledge of Iroquoiens of the St. Lawrence comes from the writings of Jacques Cartier and from the recent studies in archeology and compared linguistics.

Voyages of Jacques Cartier

At the time of its second voyage in North America, in 1535-1536, the explorer Jacques Cartier saw several villages iroquoiens on northern bank of the river in the surroundings of the modern city of Quebec, of which villages of Stadaconé and Hochelaga, this last with the site of current the Montreal. The traces of other contemporary villages were discovered by archeologists in the West, close to the discharge system of the Lake Ontario. Iroquoiens of the St. Lawrence lived in villages located with a few kilometers of the banks of the river. A wood palisade protected each village whose population could reach 2.000 people. Jacques Cartier observed long houses with Hochelaga, but it did not leave us any description of the dwellings of the other villages iroquoiens in the surroundings of Quebec.

The dispersion of Iroquoiens

At the time of the arrival of Samuel de Champlain and establishment of the town of Quebec in 1608, it had there no more no trace of Iroquoiens of the St. Lawrence met by Cartier some 75 years before. Their disappearance gave rise to several assumptions: a war with the Iroquois or the Huron S, the impact of the contagious diseases of the Old World or their migration towards the area of the Big lakes.

The archaeological indices strongly suggest that there were wars with the tribes iroquoises and Huron with an aim of controlling trade route with Europeans. In the middle of XVIe century, the valley of the St. Lawrence had probably become a coveted zone and Iroquoiens of the St. Lawrence paid the price of them. Indices let believe that survivors would have found refuge at the Huron ones, Mohawk and Algonquins.

At the time of the arrival of Samuel de Champlain, Algonquins and Iroquois practiced hunting and fishing in the valley of the St. Lawrence, but neither one nor the other tribe had established permanent villages in the valley. The exact localization of the village of Hochelaga remains, in addition, unknown factor.

Language

See also: Laurentien (language)

Iroquoiens of the St. Lawrence probably spoke several dialects. Their language, often called the Laurentien by the linguists, fact part of the family of the Languages iroquoiennes which includes/understands in particular the Mohawk, the Huron and the Cherokee. Being made known our limited of the language of Iroquoiens of the St. Lawrence, knowledge which is summarized with a list of 200 words drawn up by Jacques Cartier at the time of his first voyages, it is quite possible that Iroquoiens of the valley of the St. Lawrence, whose territory extended on nearly 600 km, spoke several distinct languages.

A word of the language of Iroquoiens of the St. Lawrence east always of use: the word " canada" , which meant village in the language of the inhabitants of Stadaconé. Jacques Cartier wrote in the account of its second voyage qu'" ilz calls a canada" city;. Cartier employed also the name Canada to indicate the areas around the village of Stadaconé as well as the river, the " river of Canada". In addition, the Mohawk languages and Oneida have both a very similar word meaning village. In modern Mohawk, one writes kaná: da .

External bonds

Felix-Antoine Lorrain, Month of archeology - On the traces of Iroquoiens (the Duty of August 11th, 2006)
Canada Parks, historical Place Cartier-Brébeuf, in Quebec (Description of Iroquoiens of the St. Lawrence)
the Center of interpretation of the archeological site Droulers/Tsiionhiakwatha, in Saint-Anicet, Montérégie

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