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The St. Lawrence Iroquoians were a prehistoric First Nations/Native American indigenous people who lived from the 14th century until about 1580 CE along the shores of the St. Lawrence River in present-day Quebec and Ontario, Canada, and New York State, United States. They spoke Laurentian languages, a branch of the Iroquoian family. It is likely they disappeared because of late 16th century warfare by the Mohawk nation of the Haudenosaunee, who wanted to control fur trade in the valley.[1]
Knowledge about the St. Lawrence Iroquoians has been constructed from the studies of surviving oral accounts of the historical past from the current Native people, writings of the French explorer Jacques Cartier, earlier histories, and anthropologists' and other scholars' work with archeological and linguistic studies since the 1950s.[2] Archeological evidence has established this was a people distinct from the Five Nations of the Haudenosaunee and the Huron (Wyandot). Recent archeological finds suggest there may have been distinctly separate groups among the St. Lawrence Iroquoians as well.
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For years historians and other scholars debated the identity of the Iroquoian cultural group in the St. Lawrence valley, which Jacques Cartier and his crew encountered in 1535-1536 at Stadacona and Hochelaga. An increasing amount of archeological evidence since the 1950s has settled some of the debate. Since the 1950s, anthropologists and some historians have used definitive linguistic and archeological studies to reach consensus that the St. Lawrence Iroquoians were a people distinct from nations of the Iroquois Confederacy or the Huron.
Before this, some argued that the people were the ancestors or direct relations of historic Iroquoian groups in the region, such as the Huron or Mohawk, Onondaga or Oneida of the Five Nations of the Haudenosaunee encountered by later explorer Samuel de Champlain. Since the 18th century, several theories have been proposed for their identity. The issue is important not only for historical understanding but because of Iroquois and other indigenous land claims.
In 1998 James F. Pendergast summarized the four major theories with an overview of evidence:
Several historians combined data from early French reports, vocabulary lists and oral histories of accounts by Native tribes to theorize the early inhabitants were Iroquoian-speaking Huron or Mohawk, two well-known tribes in later history. There has not been sufficient documentation to support this conclusion according to 20th-century standards. In addition, archeological finds and linguistic studies since the 1950s have discredited this theory.[3]
Based in part on material from the 18th century, some historians developed a theory that Mohawk (in some cases, they also postulated Onondaga and Oneida) had migrated and settled in the St. Lawrence River valley before relocating to their historic territory of present-day New York. Pendergast summarizes archeological studies to say:
"Not one of the identities claiming Stadacona or Hochelaga to be Mohawk, Onondaga or Oneida is borne out by the archaeological data. Since the 1950s a vast accumulation of archaeological material from Ontario, Quebec, Vermont, Pennsylvania and New York State consistently has provided compelling evidence to demonstrate that neither the Mohawk, the Onondaga, nor the Oneida homelands originated in the St Lawrence Valley."
"...anthropologists, particularly archaeologists, have introduced post-1950 archaeological, linguistic and ethnohistorical conclusions into their deliberations. These sources deny the earlier Huron-Iroquois, Mohawk and Laurentian Iroquois identities in favour of the perception that a wholly indigenous and discrete Iroquoian people were present in the St Lawrence Valley when Cartier arrived. The current anthropological convention is to designate these people St Lawrence Iroquoians, all the while being keenly aware that on-going archaeological research indicates that several discrete Iroquoian political entities were present in a number of widely dispersed geographical regions on the St Lawrence River axis."[6]
Since the 1950s, then, anthropologists and some historians have used definitive linguistic and archeological studies to reach consensus that the St. Lawrence Iroquoians were a people distinct from nations of the Iroquois Confederacy or the Huron. Pendergast notes that while Iroquoians and topical academics have mostly reached consensus on this theory, some historians have continued to publish other theories and ignore the archeological evidence.[7] The St. Lawrence Iroquoians did share many cultural, historical, and linguistic aspects with other Iroquoian groups; for example, their Laurentian languages were in the Iroquoian family. The St. Lawrence Iroquoians appear to have disappeared from the St. Lawrence valley some time prior to 1580. Champlain reported no evidence of Native habitation in the valley. By then the Iroquois nations used it as a hunting ground and avenue for war parties.
As historian James F. Pendergast argues, the determination of identity for the St. Lawrence Iroquoians is important because, "our understanding of relations between Europeans and Iroquoians during the contact era throughout Iroquoia hinges largely upon the tribe or confederacy to which Stadacona and Hochelaga are attributed."[8]
Near 1000 C.E., with the introduction of the maize culture in the North East region, many Iroquoian-speaking communities around the Great Lakes began to switch from nomadic life to more permanent settlements. The richness of the soil in the St. Lawrence valley, along with the abundance of fisheries nearby and of forests rich in game animals, provided a good place for northeastern Iroquoian settlements. By approximately 1300, their settlement patterns began to resemble the large fortified villages which Cartier described as characteristic of the St. Lawrence Iroquoians.
In his expedition of 1535 and 1536, the explorer Jacques Cartier observed several Iroquoian villages north of Île d'Orléans (near present-day Quebec), including the villages of Stadacona on the site of modern-day Quebec City, as well as Hochelaga in the vicinity of modern-day Montreal.[9] Archeologists in the 20th century have unearthed similar villages further southwest, near the eastern end of Lake Ontario and are finding evidence of additional discrete groups of St. Lawrence Iroquoians.[10]
The people lived in villages that were usually located a few kilometres inland from the Saint-Lawrence River, outside the immediate floodplain. The settlements were often enclosed by a wooden palisade for defense. Up to 2000 persons lived in the larger villages.[11] Although Cartier mentioned the longhouses in Hochelaga, he left no further description of Stadacona or the other nearby villages.
By the time explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived and founded Quebec in 1608, no trace remained of the St. Lawrence Iroquoians and settlements visited by Cartier some 75 years earlier. Historians and other scholars have developed several theories about their disappearance: devastating wars with the Iroquois tribes to the South or with the Hurons to the West, the impact of epidemics of Old World diseases, or their migration westward toward the shores of the Great Lakes.[12]
Archeological evidence and the historical context of the time point most strongly to wars with the neighbouring Iroquois tribes, particularly the Mohawk. They had the most to gain in war against the St. Lawrence Irqouians, as they had the least advantageous territorial position in the area in relation to hunting and the fur trade along the river. French trading was then based at Tadoussac, downstream at the mouth of the Saguenay River, within the territory of the Montagnais. The Mohawk wanted to get more control of the trade routes connecting to the Europeans. At the same time, Champlain reported that the Algonquians were fearful of the powerful Iroquois. Historian Bruce G. Trigger believes the political dynamics were such that the Huron were unlikely to enter Iroquois territory to carry out an attack against the St. Lawrence people to the north. In the mid- to late-16th century, the St. Lawrence Valley was likely an area of open conflict among tribes closer to the area. Because nothing remained of their settlements, the St. Lawrence Iroquoians appeared to have been overwhelmed by other groups. Some St. Lawrence Iroquoian survivors may have joined the neighbouring Mohawk and Algonquin tribes, by force or by mutual agreement.[13]
By the time Champlain arrived, Algonquins and Mohawks were both using the Saint-Lawrence Valley for hunting grounds, as well as a route for war parties and raiding. Neither nation had any permanent settlements upriver above Tadoussac, the trading post in the lower St. Lawrence Valley which had been important for years in the fur trade.[14]
Although historians and other scholars have been studying the St. Lawrence Iroquoians for some time, such knowledge has been slower to be part of common historical understanding. The hypothesis about the St. Lawrence Iroquoians helps explain apparent contradictions in the historical record about French encounters with natives in this area.
The origins of the word canada, from which the nation derived its name, offers an example of the changes in historical understanding required by new evidence. By canada, the St. Lawrence Iroquoians of Stadacona meant "village" in their language. Cartier wrote, "[I]lz (sic) appellent une ville Canada (they call a village 'Canada')". Cartier applied the word to both the region near Stadacona and the St. Lawrence River that flows nearby.
Both the Canadian Encyclopedia (1985) and various publications of the Government of Canada, such as "The Origin of the Name Canada" published by the Department of Canadian Heritage, suggest instead the former theory that the word "Canada" stems from a Huron-Iroquois word, kanata. It also meant "village" or settlement.
Historians now know that Cartier could not have encountered either the Iroquois or Huron, as neither group lived in the St. Lawrence valley in the 16th century. The account of Canada's name origin reflects theories first advanced in the 18th and 19th centuries. General texts have not kept up with the discrediting of such earlier theories by the linguistic comparative studies of the later 20th century. For instance, the "Huron-Iroquois theory" of word origin appeared in the article on "Canada" in the Encyclopædia Britannica of 1996.
The earlier mystery of annedda also shows how historical understanding has been changed by recent research. When Cartier's crew suffered scurvy during their first winter in Canada, the St. Lawrence Iroquoians provided them with a remedy, an herbal infusion made of the annedda. The French recorded this as the St. Lawrence Iroquoian name of the white cedar of the region. Cartier noted the word in his journal. On a later expedition when Champlain asked for the same remedy, the natives he met did not know the word annedda. This fact confused many historians. Given new evidence, it appears that Champlain met Haudenosaunee Iroquois who, although related, did not speak the same language as the St. Lawrence Iroquoians. Thus, they did not know the word annedda and its reference.
Archeologists have not determined the exact location of Hochelaga. In the early 20th century historians debated this vigorously and the reasons for its disappearance, but changing interests in the field led in other directions.[15] In the late 20th century, First Nations activism, as well as increased interest in history of indigenous peoples renewed attention to the early St. Lawrence Iroquoian villages.[16][17]
Linguistic studies indicate that the St. Lawrence Iroquoians probably spoke several distinct dialects of their language, often referred to as Laurentian. It is one of several languages of the Iroquoian language family, which includes Mohawk, Huron-Wyandot and Cherokee. Jacques Cartier made only sparse records during his voyage in 1535-1536. He compiled two vocabulary lists totaling about 200 words. The St. Lawrence Iroquoians may have spoken two or more distinct languages in a territory stretching over 600 km, from Lake Ontario to East of Île d'Orléans.