Nicolas Vincent (''baptized'' Ignace-Nicolas; 11 April 1769 – 31 October 1844), known also as Tsaouenhohoui, meaning "one who plunges things into the water," or Tsawenhohi, meaning "he who sees clearly," was the Grand Chief of the

Hurons The Wyandot people (also Wyandotte, Wendat, Waⁿdát, or Huron) are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of the present-day United States and Canada. Their Wyandot language belongs to the Iroquoian language family. In Canada, ...

of Lorette from 1811 to 1844. He was the last Huron chief to bear the name Tsaouenhohoui.Biography – VINCENT, NICOLAS – Volume VII (1836-1850) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography
/ref> In 2001, he was listed as a

Person of National Historic Significance Persons of National Historic Significance (National Historic People) () are people designated by the Canadian government as being nationally significant in the history of the country. Designations are made by the Minister of the Environment on the ...

for having "elevated the position of Grand Chief to an unprecedented level of respectability".

Biography

Nicolas Vincent was born on 11 April 1769 to Louis Vincent (Sawantanan) and Louise Martin (Thodatowan). On 24 November 1794, he was married to Véronique Petit-Étienne, a

Huron Huron may refer to: Native American ethnography * Huron people, who have been called Wyandotte, Wyandot, Wendat and Quendat * Huron language, an Iroquoian language * Huron-Wendat Nation, or Huron-Wendat First Nation, or Nation Huronne-Wendat * N ...

, and they had nine children. On 22 January 1821, he was remarried to Madeleine, a

Malecite The Wolastoqiyik, (, also known as the Maliseet or Malecite () are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the Indigenous people of the Wolastoq ( Saint John River) valley and its tributaries. Their territo ...

who was the widow of Pierre-Jacques Thomas of

Penobscot The Penobscot (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewi'') are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic p ...

. In 1803, he was named War Chief. By 1810, he became Grand Chief. For the next three decades, he actively tried to reclaim and secure Huron lands from colonizers and loggers operating within the borders of the Huron-Wendat. This effort that eventually took him to England in 1825, alongside the Council Chiefs, André Romain (Tsohahissen) and Stanislas Koska (Aharathanha), and the War Chief, Michel Tsiewei (Téhatsiendahé). They had several conversations with various members of Parliament including the colonial secretary,

Lord Bathurst Earl Bathurst, of Bathurst in the County of Sussex, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. The medieval English word was Botehurst, thought to date at least from the 13th century. Bote is the origination of Battle, although the family ma ...

. On 8 April 1825, King

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...

received the four Huron chiefs. ''The London Times'' reported the exchange between the Huron grand chief and the British sovereign, who had bestowed medals bearing his likeness to the four. In French, Vincent addressed the sovereign: After the speech, King George IV promised that he would take every occasion to enhance their well-being, ensure their happiness, and show himself to be truly a father. He then conversed with them in French for more than a quarter of an hour. A few years later, Nicolas Vincent was the first

Native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

to speak to the members of the

Assembly of Lower Canada The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was the lower house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The legislative assembly was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. The lower house consisted of el ...

. In 1829, at the request of colonial authorities, he drew the map known as the 'Vincent Plan' which identified the hunting lands used by the Hurons. He died on 31 October 1844 in

Jeune-Lorette Wendake () is the current name for two urban reserves, Wendake 7 () and Wendake 7A, () of the Huron-Wendat Nation in the Canadian province of Quebec. They are enclaves entirely surrounded by the La Haute-Saint-Charles borough of Quebec City, w ...

Plaque

In 2005, a plaque was approved to be made at the site of his home, 186 Nicolas-Vincent Street,

Wendake, Quebec Wendake () is the current name for two urban reserves, Wendake 7 () and Wendake 7A, () of the Huron-Wendat Nation in the Canadian province of Quebec. They are enclaves entirely surrounded by the La Haute-Saint-Charles borough of Quebec City, w ...

, which reads:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vincent, Nicolas Wyandot people Great Lakes tribes Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands First Nations in Ontario Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) 1769 births 1844 deaths