The Huron Wendat

Trade Relations

� The Huron tribe had relations with several other first nations people such as the Innu, Mowhawk Petén, Neutral, Odawa, Nipissing and the Algonquin, nations of Georgian bay and the Ottawa Valley. These peoples traded surplus corn, beans and tobacco in exchange for Indian copper, seashells and wampum.

Alliances

� The Huron wendat was a confederacy made up of many different tribes. This was formed due to a mutual benefit in trading and military security from tribes from across lake Ontario which the Huron regularly fought with. In 1609 they joined the military/trading alliance that the Innu (then known as the Montagnais) and Algonquin had forged with the French by participating in a raid against the Mohawk, a member of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

Food

� First nation people did some farming as they farmed for potatoes, tobacco, pumpkins, maize, beans, and squash. The Huron also gathered berries and hunted for bison, fish, caribou, and deer. The Huron were one of the very few natives peoples to begin growing their own food and move away from the hunter/gatherer traditions.

� Food was preserved through the use of salt and freezing processes depending on the season.

Currency

� Wampum was used as currency for the first nations people. Wampum was kept on strings like Chinese currency and was also used by Europeans but due to the more proficient way in making wampum because of this Europeans caused inflation of the currency and caused it to become obsolete.

Politics� The Huron were a confederacy of several different tribes with very similar

backgrounds and cultures. Each of these tribes had its own leader who would commune with each other to make decisions for the clan.

� For individual clans a council of respected elders and leaders in the community would commune and make the decisions for the tribe. Women had no say in any of the matters put forth.

� A chief of a clan segment initiated tribal councils. Before travelling to the meeting, each clan would choose their position on the matter to be discussed. All clan segment chiefs would attend an annual confederacy council. They would discuss common war and defense plans, and renew and strengthen ties between nations.

General info� The Huron held a feast on thanks giving to celebrate good

fortune.� Women in the tribe were expected to look after children

and attend to all house and domestic work.� Men worked in the field or hunted and fished.� The bear tribe of the Huron was the largest accounting for

almost half of the tribes number 6500 people.� New born babies were only named after having their ears

pierced.� The Huron had 4 types of shaman those able to heal the

sick, those able to control wind and fire, those able to find lost things, and those able to predict the future.

� Dogs were kept as pets in Huron Wendat society.� Beavers in the area of the Huron Wendat were almost

driven to extinction because of over hunting.

Social Life

� Tradition roles for Huron men included

� Cleaning new fields

� Hunting

� Fishing and storing the fish

� Making stone and wooden tools and utensils

� Repairing village structures

� Making canoes, pipes, snowshoes and sleds

� Peace negotiations with the outside world

Social Life� Tradition roles for Huron woman included

� Cooking, sewing and tanning leather� Child care� Cleaning out cooking fires and hearths� Gathering food� Making baskets and pots� Weaving mats and fishing nets� Farming� Caring for family and guests�

Children roles� There was little formal training for children, but they learned skills from

their games. Girls helped their mothers with their work. Boys were expected to be hardy, brave and self-reliant. From an early age, boys would cut and burn themselves, to prepare for future tests of their courage and manhood.

Spiritual beliefs

� Spiritual Beliefs and Marriage� Huron Wendat clan members believed that they were descended from a common mythical ancestor.

� Bear, Deer, Turtle, Beaver, Wolf, Loon/Sturgeon, Hawk or Fox were not permitted to marry within their clan.

� Clan membership was matrilineal; a child could not marry a member of their mother’s clan, but could marry a member of the clan of their father. The strength of the clan system was that members of a clan, no matter in what village or nation they lived, were obliged to help each other in time of need or war.

Spiritual beliefs

� Village affairs were run by two councils, one in charge of civil affairs, and the other of war. All men over 30 were members. In theory, matters were decided by consensus, but in reality the old men and elected chiefs of large families tended to dominate because of their community standing and powers of oratory. Unlike the older female members of the Haudenosaunee tribe, Wendat women had little or no say in councils.

� Feasts were part of Wendat spirituality, with Singing Feasts the largest and most popular. A man would hold a Singing Feast if he wished to gain status. Thanksgiving Feasts were held to celebrate good fortune.Societies who dealt with both physical and mental disorders carried out curing feasts. Each society had a unique mask or symbol. A dying person gave farewell feasts when death was imminent.

Medicine

� Illnesses and medicinal technologies

� The Huron knew of three different types of illnesses

� Natural causes which were healed by herbs, drugs, poultices or sweating

� Un-natural social behaviour thought to be witchcraft, healed by Shamans

� Psycho-illness that manifested itself in dreams. The Huron Wendat considered dreams to be the language of the soul. If dreamed desires remained unfulfilled, harm or even death could befall a person. Dreams and desires had to be interpreted by a Shaman

Housing

� When the Huron Wendat found a place to live, they would build longhouse. Long houses were meant to be permanent and as such they were built out of strong materials such as maple, elm, birch and cedar. Long houses had no windows and very low doors.

� The Huron Wendat chose were to build villages wisely, they were commonly near the following four places, near a source of water,near a huge space of land for farming, near a source of wood or near a hill for defence.

Transportation

� Transportation was very important to the Huron tribe. It was so important in this clan because they had to chase animals to get food and they also had to travel to go to Quebec when the Iroquois tribe flushed them out of their homes.

� One of the most important forms of transportation for the Huron was canoes. The Huron had four types of Canoes. The Einer-flachwasser, the Tandem-flachwasser, the Wildwasser-einer and the Wilchwasser-zweir.

� The Huron also used sleds (pulled by dogs commonly) and snowshoes for transportation.

Two enemies

� The Huron Wendat Tribe and the Iroquois Tribe were one tribe altogether. One Day the tribe got into a fight so the people split up and became two tribes. The two tribes remained enemies and hated each other a lot. One tribe was called Huron Wendat Tribe while another tribe was called Iroquois Tribe.