The Wendat People: a self-designating community or a confederacy of nations?

Confederacy, nations, villages and long houses

Before their dispersal in 1649, the Wendats were united in a Confederacy, which consisted of the alliance between five nations sharing a common territory and a common council. Each nation seems to have been represented according to the importance of its population (Trigger 55). The Confederacy was a political and diplomatic alliance created in the middle of the fifteenth century (Sioui 220) partly to oppose the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois, their warring neighbors.

The five nations composing the Wendat Confederacy were autonomous political entities with their own councils and sovereignty, which means that they could make their own decisions concerning trade and war, or choose to form alliances outside the Confederacy. However, they usually took common action concerning these matters. The five nations shared ethnic or cultural traits which defined them as Wendat,1 the most important being language, religion, social organization and a lifestyle based on agriculture; but each nation also had its own distinctive cultural traits, such as special religious rituals or linguistic variations.

Nations, also sometimes referred to as tribes, were groups of villages the boundaries of which were not easy to determine—for some Europeans of that time, the different nations were perceived as one and the same (Trigger 14)—since they were established on a relatively small territory. This proximity, which is specific to the Wendat, suggested frequent interaction between the nations.

Villages could be of different sizes, from a couple of cabins to forty or more long houses, which could accommodate up to six families (Trigger 18-19). Their boundaries were easier to identify, since the larger villages or towns were fortified. However, their actual territories extended beyond their palisades, as the Wendat needed to work in fields located outside the fortifications and hunt in the forests nearby. Furthermore, the villages were moved regularly, every ten to fifteen years, when agricultural yields declined in a given area.

Families, clans and phratries

Like all Nadowekian societies, which are agricultural peoples of the Northeast sharing a common ethnic background,2 the Wendat society was a matricentric society organized around clans. This means that ancestral descent and clanship were traced through maternal lineage and that women had authority regarding food cultivation, settlement patterns, community traditions, and the selection of the all-male councils.3 External affairs—trade, diplomacy and warfare—were largely the prerogative of men but women also actively took part in warfare (Perry, Gleason and Myers 119-138). Originally, there were eight clans,4 which were distributed in three phratries,5 present in every nation and sometimes shared with other Nadowek nations such as the Attiwandaronk or the Haudenosaunee (Sioui 230). Phratries were groupings of two or more clans “largely for ceremonial or ritual purposes” (Steckley 40), but it is also possible that clans and phratries shaped the organization of the villages geographically.6 “Clans were fictive kinship groupings, the people belonging to the same clan […] claiming descent from a common female ancestor. Clanship had no territorial implications, and members of the same clan apparently were found living in many villages and among all the Huron tribes” (Trigger 54).

The Wendat practiced clan exogamy, which enabled them to extend kinship among and outside of their own nations,7 strengthening ties with their allies and extending their influence or preventing the escalation of conflicts with their rivals (Sioui 230). Clan exogamy also meant that families and villages were made of members of different clans, which seems to have had its importance in the organization of villages. Indeed, groupings of members of the same clan could form “clan segments” (Trigger 55), which had their own representatives who managed the segment’s internal affairs and could be present at the councils of the different polities that were the village, the nation and the Confederacy.

Therefore, the Wendat social order relied on two types of kinship, family and clan, with clans binding all of the internal nations together and simultaneously extending ties to other nations. This semi-fictive form of kinship provided stability among nations which were constantly evolving before the dispersal and proved to be very strong since it appears to have continued,8 even if somewhat altered, after the dispersal of the Wendat and most likely contributed to their resilience (Steckley 6).

Curing societies

Curing societies are another form of kinship that was independent from village or clan structures. The members of curing societies “performed specific rituals that were believed to cure certain kinds of disease” (Trigger 97). The exact number of those societies is not known but each had a leader, whose office seems to have been hereditary, and whose influence appears to have been very important. People who had been cured by a society often became members and their membership was passed on in their families. Thus, the type of illness contracted determined which society one would become a member of, regardless of any belonging to a clan or village.

Alliances

Wendat means “people of the island,” referring to their geographical position between lakes, their cosmogony, according to which the world was created on the back of a turtle, or their unique geopolitical position (Sioui 15).

The areas occupied by the Nadowek peoples were rather small and scattered across a predominantly Algic, or Anishinaabe, territory. The Anishinaabeg being hunters, the Nadowek peoples chose to turn to agriculture to provide their neighbors with goods they could not produce themselves in exchange for pelts. This strategy did not simply ensure their survival in spite of their vulnerability, it also shaped their cultural specificities, as they became semi-sedentary people, depending on fertile land and trade with their neighbors. One of those specificities is the importance they gave to relationships and social interactions. As their numbers increased, the Wendats became central players in the trade and diplomatic network established between the Anishinaabeg and the other Nadowek communities. Georges Sioui describes a symbiotic relationship between two families which were in very different situations, the differences being the root of their relationship (Sioui 127-131). They had quite different cultures—the Anishinaabeg belonged to a nomadic, patrilineal society, they had a different language and different religious beliefs—but their territories were very close and the boundaries between the Wendat and the Anishinaabeg were sometimes blurred as the Anishinaabeg would commonly winter among the Wendat who in turn could find shelter among the Anishinaabeg when travelling. They were linked by trade, diplomacy, military defense, marriage and adoption (Magee 70). They also shared religious rituals such as the Feast of Souls—a Nadowek tradition consisting in a feast during which the dead were dug up, cleaned and reburied—to reaffirm their connection by burying their dead together (Magee 72). The Wendat, for their part, sought to acquire Anishinaabe spiritual charms, to incorporate some of what they saw as their spiritual superiority and find a kind of “spiritual equilibrium” which they had lost when becoming farmers (Magee 71). When Europeans entered the North American fur trade, the system of reciprocity between the Anishinaabeg and the Wendat—who had a role of intermediary for the other Nadowek nations—strengthened, with the Wendat acting as diplomats and middlemen and the Anishinaabeg providing fur. This strong alliance endured throughout the Wendat’s dispersal and thereafter, contributing to shape the way they relocated (Magee 73). The connection between the Wendat and Anishinaabeg was so close at one point that the French saw them as one “same body” (Magee 75).

The Wendat had peaceful relations with their Nadowek neighbors except for the Haudenosaunee, with whom they were regularly at war. They became allies of the Susquehanna who were also enemies of the Haudenosaunee (Trigger 27) and seem to have been very close to the Tionontati, or Petun, with whom a group of Wendat eventually formed a new Wyandotte nation after their dispersal and relocation in the United States. Even though they were often at war with the Haudenosaunee, they were not isolated from them. Indeed, Nadowek wars had different motivations; one such important motivation was the need for captives, either to torture and kill to avenge angry souls, or to use as slaves, or to adopt to replace victims of sudden or violent death (Viau 140). This means that communities who were enemies integrated members of the other into their own structures. Moreover, trade relations and adoption exchanges would resume or continue in times of peace (Sioui 312).

Always seeking new trading opportunities and diplomatic alliances, the Wendat also easily incorporated the Europeans, or rather more precisely the French, into their communities: they fought against the Mohawk with Champlain in 1609 and missionaries started living in their villages from 1623. Religious conversions began at that time, although they seem to have been quite superficial or revealing of efforts to secure a diplomatic alliance with the French (Magee 18-28).

Geographic dispersal of a still cohesive community

The multidimensional nature of the Wendat as well as their ability to adapt to a changing environment and open up to other communities gave them a central role among the peoples of the Northeast, both before the arrival of the Europeans and at the beginning of the seventeenth century. When the French started to move further and further up the St Lawrence,9 the Wendat became their main trading partners, succeeding the Innu, or Montagnais (Dickason 46). Yet, the same characteristics, which brought stability and prosperity to the Wendat may also be seen as agents of hardship and of the ensuing dispersal.

First, their frequent contacts with the Europeans exposed the Wendat to epidemics which had devastating consequences on their communities. Smallpox started to decimate the Wendat and the Algonquin in 1634 (Dickason 60). By the time of their dispersal in 1649, the Wendat population had been reduced by sixty percent (Magee 13). Not only did they lose warriors and leaders in times of increased pressure from the Haudenosaunee, but their social order was dislocated. With the death of influential civil headmen, war leaders engaged more actively in civil affairs and their strategies implied less diplomacy, further intensifying conflicts with the Haudenosaunee. This, in turn, added to an enormous need for war captives, contributing to the increase in warfare (Magee 33). But more importantly, the heavy death toll from epidemics also meant a reduced workforce to cultivate, hunt or provide food of any kind. In such a context, food stocks became low and any change in the weather was a potential catastrophe. Hunger eventually struck, further weakening the Wendat community.

Second, religious conversions, increased by the chaos of epidemics and the development of a new geopolitical environment, added to the tensions within the Wendat Confederacy as some nations accepted Christianity while others resisted.

Third, history shows that the Wendat’s alliance with the French was not the best choice. Indeed, the French failed to realize how important it was for the existence of New France to help the Wendat keep the Haudenosaunee in check. The French refused to trade firearms for furs, preferring to give them as incentive to Christian conversion, which was still quite limited in the 1630s (Magee 31).

Finally, the Wendat’s reliance on trade, which had been virtuous before their alliance with the French, turned noxious. When it became clear that the presence of missionaries in the communities was the source of epidemics and social tensions, the Wendat were not able to get rid of them without jeopardizing trade with their main and almost exclusive partners. Moreover, as fur trade increased, bringing prosperity for the Wendat and their allies, resentment from the Haudenosaunee intensified, since they were excluded from it. Therefore, they tried to enter the trade through ventures with the English and the Dutch, from whom they eventually obtained firearms. Ultimately, they successfully blockaded the Wendat’s trade routes and attacked Wendat villages which led the Wendat to leave Wendake and seek refuge among their allies, Anishinaabeg and French, or join their ancestral enemies (Dickason 71).

However, the decision to leave Wendake as well as the relocation in distant territories did not mean the extinction of the Wendat, nor their real absorption by the surrounding communities. On the contrary, their influence in the North-East persisted until the middle of the eighteenth century (Sioui 14), due to their close ties with their neighbors. Their dispersal among the Haudenosaunee, the Susquehanna, the Anishinaabeg and in French settlements seems to have been “calculated” (Magee 64) to ensure a still influential and extended presence around Wendake through their network of kinship and alliances.

In the west, the merging of people and territories between the Wendat and Anishinaabeg intensified after the dispersal but the Wendat still remained autonomous within the Anishinaabe communities (Magee 82) and managed to maintain their traditions (Magee 83) thanks to cultural compromise.10 In 1701, Western Wendats had managed to maintain their cultural identity and re-establish their influence as traders and diplomats.

In the east, where the Wendat relocated among a predominantly French population,11 conversion to Christianity was required to obtain lands and crucial to maintain a grasp on trade and diplomacy. Therefore, acculturation was stronger but the Wendat identity survived (Magee 100). The decision to move east was made in order to benefit from the protection of and trade with the French, and because of the Wendat’s long-established relationship with the people of the St Lawrence, where their ancestors once inhabited. Moreover, Quebec being perceived geographically as the end of the French world, by moving there, the Wendat sought to extend their influence from Wendake to the limits of Anishinaabe and French territories. New communities were formed, which included the Bear, Cord and Rock nations. Many of the Bear and Rock nations decided to join the Haudenosaunee but some Haudenosaunee were also incorporated to the Eastern Wendats (Magee 110).

The Wendat who joined the Haudenosaunee remained autonomous within their host communities and were able to keep their traditions. There was a competition among the Haudenosaunee nations to integrate Wendat refugees to “rejuvenate their populations” who had also greatly suffered from epidemics and warfare. This gave the refugees some leverage concerning the conditions of their integration into Haudenosaunee communities, and allowed them to demand to have their own villages (Magee 128). Moreover, these relocations were bound to the support of the French and their protection of the Wendat who chose to stay in Quebec. The Wendat of Iroquoia became essential intermediaries between the French and the Iroquois and even gained “leadership roles” by promoting Christianity among the Haudenosaunee and helping to establish missions in Haudenosaunee territory.

At that time of political turmoil, from mid-seventeenth century to mid-eighteenth century, preserving a common identity was essential to maintain the cohesion of the Wendat community. This was achieved through multiple channels: Christianity, women’s authority, charismatic leaders and language.

In the 1630s, Christianity was only a means of coping with hardship for a minority and a diplomatic tool to gain the support of the French. But as the relocation process went on, it became synonymous with unity and power. In a context of relocation in non-Christian communities, Christianity permitted the Wendat to maintain their own identity. It was also used by women to keep their status in the new communities in formation. Indeed, the role of women, whose responsibilities were directly linked to the land, was impacted by the dispersal and their influence undermined by relocation in patriarchal communities. Yet, where Christianity was a condition of relocation, conversion gave women access to education and allowed them to preserve their personal autonomy and obtain positions which benefited the whole community. In Haudenosaunee country, where Christianity was still marginal, women helped Wendat converts to practice their faith and promoted Christianity among the Haudenosaunee. Thus, not only did they help to unite their communities, they also gained support from the French, and maintained their influence. Finally, the massive conversion of women after the dispersal contributed to strengthen the alliance with the French.

At the same time, women still held meetings to select their communities’ leaders, and discuss the best options during the relocation process. They also took part in the negotiations, although indirectly, or as figures creating empathy, with the host communities (Magee 161). More importantly, they kept their crucial role as subsistence providers since they were still responsible for the cultivation of land for their own communities, and their host communities when needed; thus, again, ensuring unity.

Wendat war and civil leaders had always been spokesmen for their communities. After the dispersal, they worked as agents of unity through collective decision-making and their responsibility towards the whole Wendat community. Thus, they became symbols shared by every dispersed group now deprived of a common territory and whose traditions were being altered. They embodied the memory of the community and the persistence of its values through their names and legends (Magee 143).

Finally, language was an important agent of unity. Before the dispersal, the Wendat had played such a central role as diplomats and middlemen in the Great Lakes region that their language had become a lingua franca. This particularity enabled them to keep their role in trade and diplomacy, thus preserving a fundamental aspect of their identity (Sioui 15).

Reflecting on the word community

Words such as “confederacy,” “nation,” “village,” and “clan” have been used in this paper to describe the different types of social and geopolitical organizations of the Wendat and the surrounding Amerindian political entities before the dispersal; the word “community” has been used more frequently when talking about the period of relocation and reorganization following the dispersal. This reflects the use of those terms in the literature consulted for the writing of this article and is an indication of the status of the Wendat once they lost their territory.

The words “nation” and “community” can both refer to groups of people sharing the same culture, values, history, language, and ethnic background in a defined geographical area. Nevertheless, the difference is that the existence of a nation is normally dependent on a territory which it does not share in any way and over which it has significant or full sovereignty. A community, by contrast, does not necessarily need a territory to exist, shares power if it has a system of self-governance at all, and necessarily implies the recognition of a larger, more powerful sovereign polity.

Therefore, it is accurate to say that the Wendat nations and the Confederacy disappeared after the dispersal even though unity between groups who maintained common traditions and values persisted, through the memory of a common homeland and kinship. Moreover, although it is true that the Wendat confederacy before dispersal was quite permeable and its nations were not fixed entities, it is more appropriate to use the word “community” to refer to the new social organizations that formed on foreign territories after the dispersal, through the groupings of several nations, Wendat and others.

Modern Wendat and Wyandot nations

Today, the different communities that formed during the dispersal have become four nations established in reservations in Canada and in the United States. Only the nation established in Quebec has kept the name Wendat, or more precisely Huron-Wendat. The other three, in the United States, have become Wyandot nations: the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma, the Wyandot Nation of Kansas and the Wyandot of Anderdon Nation in Michigan.

Although each nation has its own cultural particularities concerning religion, social organization and language, which integrate their respective histories after the dispersal, all four nations still share symbols, such as the turtle—which appears on the flag of the re-established Wendat Confederacy—or the desire to revive their ancestral Wendat language. But above all, the four nations are still bound by their memory of a common homeland, the recognition of a common ancestry, and a desire for unity. This was reaffirmed on August 27, 1999, when members of the four nations took part in a modern version of the Feast of Souls in their ancestral homeland, in Midland, Ontario. The reasons for this three-day homecoming reunion were the return of the remains of 500 Wendat, which had been excavated by archeologists in 1947, and the renewal of the Wendat Confederacy. By reburying their dead in their commonly recognized homeland, the Wendat reaffirmed their unity and reclaimed a physical space in which to keep memory of the past and to reconnect. It was also the occasion to confirm their links with other Amerindian nations, since Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee leaders also took part in the event (Magee 190-195). A written agreement to renew the Wendat Confederacy, a commitment to unity and mutual support, was signed by the leaders of the four nations as part of this occasion.

Thus, the term “nation” acts as a self-designation based on the fact that each group has its own government, whose authority is recognized by the countries in which they have their territories. Indeed, the Wyandot of Anderdon Nation is governed by a tribal council.12 The Wyandotte Nation refers to its members as Tribal Citizens and its government consists of a Board of directors.13 It has its own courts and a constitution which reaffirms the sovereignty of its tribal government, sets the boundaries of its territory and determines the missions and rights of its government. This constitution also describes the organization of the government and courts and sets Wyandotte tribal membership conditions. However, it recognizes “the jurisdiction of the United States over its land, and activities related to commerce, and that [the nation] will adhere to the federal laws applicable to such jurisdiction” (Wyandotte Nation Constitution).

The Wyandot Nation of Kansas also has a tribal government, “dedicated to the preservation of the Wyandot history and culture and the preservation, protection, restoration and maintenance of the Huron Indian Cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas” (Wyandot Nation of Kansas).

The Huron-Wendat of Wendake have a National Council,14 whose responsibilities concerning their relations with other nations, education, healthcare and social services, public safety or housing and land management, are very clearly defined. This council is accountable to a Circle of Elders (Nation Huronne-Wendat).

In spite of their differences, the four Wendat and Wyandot nations see themselves as sovereign nations with the right to self-governance and self-determination. However, this is all relative since the territories on which they live belong to the United States and to Canada. In Canada, according to the Indian Act first passed in 1876 and subsequently revised in 1985, “reserves are held by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of the respective bands for which they were set apart” (Department of Justice of Canada). For the Canadian federal government, therefore, Amerindian polities are merely “bands,” a term which ignores any legal status for the political existence of these communities. We should also note that the term “First Nations,” although commonly used by politicians and in the Canadian media, has no legal status: possibly because this would challenge the very existence of the Canadian nation, since a nation cannot share sovereignty.

In the United States, the situation is subtly different since the so-called “tribal nations” are “located within the geographic borders of the United States” and “tribal members are citizens of three sovereigns: their tribe, the United States, and the state in which they reside” (National Congress of American Indians). Moreover, the boundaries of the reservations need to be recognized by the United States. It is also interesting to notice that, once again, Amerindian polities in the United States are legally referred to as “tribes” and not “nations.”15

In such a context, using the word “community” to refer to Amerindian nations can be seen as a threat to their existence as political entities and their right to reclaim land. For the contemporary Amerindian polities, self-designating as nations with their original names is a way of avoiding total assimilation. Therefore, a form of nationalism, relying on the preservation of traditions and the memory of a common ancestry, becomes essential to survival. Re-establishing the Wendat confederacy is more than a pledge of unity and friendship between nations of common background and interests, it is an act of resistance.