Between 1665 and 1670, seven Iroquois settlements on the north shore of

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

in present-day

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, collectively known as the "Iroquois du Nord" villages, were established by

Senecas The Seneca () ( see, Onödowáʼga:, "Great Hill People") are a group of Indigenous Iroquoian-speaking people who historically lived south of Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes in North America. Their nation was the farthest to the west ...

Cayugas The Cayuga ( Cayuga: Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ, "People of the Great Swamp") are one of the five original constituents of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), a confederacy of Native Americans in New York. The Cayuga homeland lies in the Finger Lakes regio ...

, and

Oneidas The Oneida people (autonym: Onʌyoteˀa·ká·, Onyota'a:ka, ''the People of the Upright Stone, or standing stone'', ''Thwahrù·nęʼ'' in Tuscarora) are a Native American tribe and First Nations band. They are one of the five founding na ...

. The villages consisted of

Ganneious Ganneious, also spelled Ganneous, is a former village, first settled by the Oneida, located on the North Shore of Lake Ontario near the present site of Napanee, Ontario, Canada. Starting in 1696, it was occupied by the Mississauga. The name is mo ...

Kente
Kentsio, Ganaraske, Ganatsekwyagon, Teiaiagon, and Quinaouatoua. The villages were all abandoned by 1701.

Arrival

The northern shores of

were first settled as early as eleven thousand years ago. While humans have lived along the northern shores of

for a long time, they have not been continuously settled. The Huron-Wendat had developed a distinct homeland along the northern shores of Lake Ontario in the 15th century, but moved north toward

Georgian Bay Georgian Bay (french: Baie Georgienne) is a large bay of Lake Huron, in the Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. T ...

by 1615, abandoning the northern shores of Lake Ontario. The Iroquois raided the Huron in Ontario during the first half of the 17th century and began to establish greater control over the hunting grounds that existed between Lake Ontario and

Lake Simcoe Lake Simcoe is a lake in southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly in the province, after Lake Nipigon, Lac Seul, and Lake Nipissing. At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century the lake was called ''Ouentironk' ...

. By the 1640s the Huron-Wendat population had been reduced considerably by

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics of infectious ...

s. In 1649, the Iroquois defeated the

Huron Huron may refer to: People * Wyandot people (or Wendat), indigenous to North America * Wyandot language, spoken by them * Huron-Wendat Nation, a Huron-Wendat First Nation with a community in Wendake, Quebec * Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawato ...

Petun The Petun (from french: pétun), also known as the Tobacco people or Tionontati ("People Among the Hills/Mountains"), were an indigenous Iroquoian people of the woodlands of eastern North America. Their last known traditional homeland was sou ...

, and then the Neutral, effectively destroying their enemies in Ontario. After the destruction of the Huron in southern Ontario the Iroquois began to make more frequent excursions on the northern shores of Lake Ontario. In the 1660s, the Iroquois began to expand their settlements north. A number of theories try to explain why the Iroquois began settling the northern shores of Lake Ontario. Economic reasons are considered the strongest motivation. By the 1640s the

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers a ...

had disappeared through over hunting in the traditional Iroquois homeland in modern-day

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

state. The Iroquois were competing with both the Huron,

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

, and

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

s for the

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

. By establishing settlements on the northern shores of Lake Ontario the Iroquois were able to re-establish control on the flow of furs from the north and west towards Albany and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

. The Iroquois settlement into Ontario was part of a broader expansion of Iroquois groups in the mid 17th century. During this time the Iroquois also moved into what is today

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

. Often these settlements were significantly closer to European settlements and have been characterized as Iroquois

Colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

Description

The seven villages that were settled on the northern shores of Lake Ontario from east to west are: * Ganneious (likely misprint for the French Gannejout(s)—Oneida)- on the site of present-day

Napanee Greater Napanee is a town in southeastern Ontario, Canada, approximately west of Kingston and the county seat of Lennox and Addington County. It is located on the eastern end of the Bay of Quinte. Greater Napanee municipality was created by a ...

* Kente ("prairie" or "meadow") - on the

Bay of Quinte The Bay of Quinte () is a long, narrow bay shaped like the letter "Z" on the northern shore of Lake Ontario in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is just west of the head of the Saint Lawrence River that drains the Great Lakes into the Gulf of ...

* Kentsio ("abounding in fish") - on Rice Lake * Ganaraske ("at the spawning-place") - on the site of present-day Port Hope * Ganatsekwyagon ("among the birches") - at the mouth of the Rouge River * Teiaiagon ("It crosses the stream.") - at the mouth of the Humber River * Quinaouatoua (or

Tinawatawa Tinawatawa, also called Quinaouatoua, was a former Iroquois village of the Seneca people on the western end of the Niagara corridor, described as "a fertile flat belt of land stretching from western New York to the head waters of the Thames River ...

) - Near modern-day

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilto ...

Little is known about the seven villages due to an absence of detailed archaeological evidence. The most comprehensive archaeological evidence gathered to date is from Bead Hill, which is believed to be the site of Ganatsekwyagon along the Rouge River. The villages do share some common traits that are evident from the available sources. The northern villages were likely seasonal campsites prior to becoming larger settlements. They are located at strategic points controlling access to Lake Ontario and near seasonally abundant fish and games. Six of the seven villages are all located on the best agricultural land found along the northern shores of the lake, according to the

Canada Land Inventory The Canada Land Inventory (CLI) is a multi-disciplinary land inventory of rural Canada. Conceptualized in the early 1960s by the Department of Forestry and Rural Development (later the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources), the CLI was a fed ...

. The Iroquois likely grew

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

, and

beans A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes thr ...

. The villages were also significant staging points for hunting parties moving north and for fur trading. The villages were the scene of extensive trade between both French, Dutch, English, and Ottawa traders and the Iroquois. The villages were also the site of violence due to the exchange of fur for liquor. There are number of incidents that record instances of maiming and death at Ganneious, Teiaiagon, and Ganatsekwyagon due to drinking. As in other Iroquois settlements longhouses were in parallel to each other and surrounded by palisades. The estimated size of the villages varies from 500 to 800 persons. The villages would have had 20 to 30 structures. Quinaouatoua, was perhaps the smallest with a population of less than 100 in the fall of 1669. The villages were settled by different tribes. The Seneca settled the westernmost villages of Quinaouatoua, Teiaiagon, and Ganatsekwyagon. The

Cayuga Cayuga often refers to: * Cayuga people, a native tribe to North America, part of the Iroquois Confederacy * Cayuga language, the language of the Cayuga Cayuga may also refer to: Places Canada * Cayuga, Ontario United States * Cayuga, Illinoi ...

settled Ganaraske, Kente, and Kentsio, and the

Oneida Oneida may refer to: Native American/First Nations * Oneida people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy * Oneida language * Oneida Indian Nation, based in New York * Oneida ...

settled Ganneious along the eastern edge of the lake. The villages were connected to each other by a system of trail and water routes. While each village is identified with one group, there is a strong likelihood that the villages continued a common Iroquois practice of incorporating and adopting large groups of outsiders into settlements. For example, a Neutral style longhouse was found at Bead Hill, which was initially settled by the Seneca. Existing texts also characterized populations in Iroquois communities distant from the homeland as being multinational and multilingual.

Relations with the French

In 1668, the French began to visit the Iroquois villages to convert the local population to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

. Abbé Trouvé and François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon were sent by

François de Laval Francis-Xavier de Montmorency-Laval, commonly referred to as François de Laval (30 April 1623 – 6 May 1708), was a French prelate of the Catholic Church. Consecrated a bishop in 1658, he led the Apostolic Vicariate of New France from 1658 to ...

from Montreal to establish a Sulpician mission in the village of Kente. The mission was deserted in 1680 due to a lack of success and funding. Abbé Fénelon then went on a tour of other villages and would spend the winter of 1669 in the village of Ganatsekwyagon. François-Saturnin Lascaris d'Urfé visited a number of the towns on the North shore of Lake Ontario. French explorer
Jean Peré
an
Adrien Jolliet
also passed through the village of Ganatsekwyagon in 1669 on their way to

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

. Relations between the Iroquois du Nord and the French were tense due to the intermediate conflicts known as the

Beaver Wars The Beaver Wars ( moh, Tsianì kayonkwere), also known as the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars (french: Guerres franco-iroquoises) were a series of conflicts fought intermittently during the 17th century in North America throughout t ...

. The villages were settled during a time of relative peace. In 1673 when the French established their first settlement along Lake Ontario,

Fort Frontenac Fort Frontenac was a French trading post and military fort built in July 1673 at the mouth of the Cataraqui River where the St. Lawrence River leaves Lake Ontario (at what is now the western end of the La Salle Causeway), in a location traditiona ...

, in present-day

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Tor ...

, many Iroquois from the nearby village of Ganneious resettled closer to the Fort. Relations deteriorated as the political situation in present-day

state changed, and in 1687 the French attacked the Iroquois, destroying villages in both New York state and along the northern shores of Lake Ontario. The establishment of Fort Frontenac also appears to have shifted influence from Ganatsekwyagon to Teiaiagon. Most evidence indicates that Ganatsekwyagon was the more important settlement on the north shore due to its strategic position on the Rouge River arm of the

Toronto Carrying-Place Trail The Toronto Carrying-Place Trail, also known as the Humber Portage and the Toronto Passage, was a major portage route in Ontario, Canada, linking Lake Ontario with Lake Simcoe and the northern Great Lakes. The name comes from the Mohawk term '' ...

. Following the construction of Fort Frontenac, Teiaiagon became more travelled for two reasons. First, the construction of the fort shifted the Iroquois toward the western route around Lake Ontario and second the French anchored at Teiaiagon instead of Ganatsekwyagon due to the superior anchorage for French trade barques.

Abandonment

Anishinaabe The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawa ...

oral tradition holds that the Iroquois abandoned their villages north of Lake Ontario following a number of decisive battles won by the Anishinaabe in south and central Ontario during the

. In the

Great Peace of Montreal The Great Peace of Montreal (french: La Grande paix de Montréal) was a peace treaty between New France and 39 First Nations of North America that ended the Beaver Wars. It was signed on August 4, 1701, by Louis-Hector de Callière, governor of ...

, signed in 1701, the Iroquois Confederacy agreed to remain on the south shore of Lake Ontario. By 1701 the Anishinaabe group called the

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popu ...

had moved into the area between

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also ha ...

and the Rouge River. The easternmost villages of Kente and Ganneious were reportedly destroyed in 1687 by Jacques René de Brisay de Denonville. His troops took 200 prisoners from both villages, to fight in the Beaver Wars, before destroying them. There are no accounts on the fate or condition of either Ganatsekwyagon or Teiaiagon after fighting broke out in 1687. It is assumed that, since both villages were no longer secure, they were abandoned some weeks earlier and the inhabitants fled to the south shore of

. Following the abandonment of the north of Lake Ontario by Iroquois some French geographers incorrectly place the Iroqouis du Nord and their villages on maps of southern Ontario as late as 1755. This would cause confusion among historians in the future when the Mississauga took possession of the northern shore of Lake Ontario.

Historical maps showing Iroquois settlement on the north shore

Upper Canada and the Iroquois Confederacy

The following maps show evidence of the Iroquois settlements on the north shore of Lake Ontario. *Plans des forts faicts par le RegimentlCarignan salieres sur la Riviere de/Richelieu dicte autrement des Iroquois en/la Nouvelle France. Le Mercier. 1666. 1 printed map. France, Minis&e des Colonies, No. 493; Public Archives of Canada (hereafter PAC), National Map Collection (hereafter NMC), H3/901/1666 *"Carte du Lac Ontario . . .," Galinee. 1670. 1 ms. map. France, Archives des Cartes et Plans de la Marine imperiale; PAC, NMC, A/902/1670. In: Plans, Cartes, Vues et Dessins relatifs h 1’Histoire de la Nouvelle France. P. L. Morin. Paris, 1852–53, V. 1, No. 15; J. H. Coyne "Exploration of the Great Lakes, 1669-70 . . ." Ontario Historical Society Papers and Records, V. 4, Toronto,

903 __NOTOC__ Year 903 ( CMIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * King Berengar I of Italy proceeds to issue concessions and privileges to the Lo ...

*"Carte de la decouverte du Sr Jolliet . . .," olliet 674 1 ms. map France, Bibliothèque Nationale (hereafter BN), Service hydrographique, Recueil 67, NO. 52; PAC, NMC, Ph/900 674-1701 *"Carte de la descouverte du Sr Jolliet . . .," olliet 1674–51. 1 ms. map. France, Service Historique de la Marine, Bibliothèque, (hereafter SHM, B), 4044B, No. 37; PAC, NMC, H2/903/ 675 *"Carte g e ale de la France septentrionnale, contenant la decouverte du Pays des Ilinois . . .," ranquelin 1678. 1 ms. map. France, SHM, B, Recueil66, No. 11; PAC, NMC, H3/900/ 6781*"Carte/pour servir a l’Cclaircissement/du Papier Terrier/de la Nouvelle France", Franquelin. 1678. 1 section of a ms. map. France, BN, Cartes et plans, Service hydrographique, pf. 125, div. 1, p. 1; PAC, NMC, H2/900/1678 *"Cartes des Grands Lacs . . .," Franquelin. 1679. 1 ms. map. France, Depot des cartes et plans de la Marine, Service hydrographique, Bibliothèque (hereafter DMSH, B) Recueil 67, No. 43; PAC, NMC, H3/902/1679 *"Carte du tours du Saint-Laurent . . .," Belmont. 1680. 1 ms. map. France, BN, Geographic, Ge. DD. 2989, Ministere des affaires etrangeres, Depot geographique, Archives, No. 8662; PAC, NMC, H1/902/ 680 * arte des Grands Lacs"Lac Ontario/Ott/De Frontenac." Bernou. 1680. 1 of a series of 6 ms. maps. France, DMSH, B, Recueil 67, No. 47; PAC, NMC, H3/902/ 680

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Iroquois Iroquois Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands History of Ontario by location Seneca tribe First Nations history in Ontario Iroquois populated places Former populated places in Ontario History of indigenous peoples of North America Historical migrations Great Lakes tribes

Arrival

Description

Relations with the French

Abandonment

Historical maps showing Iroquois settlement on the north shore

See also

Notes

References