St. Lawrence Iroquoians

The St. Lawrence Iroquois lived until the late 16th century along the banks of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec and Ontario (Canada) and in New York State (United States of America). The little that is known about the St. Lawrence Iroquois, taken from the records of the French explorer Jacques Cartier, archaeological and linguistic studies of the late 20th century and studies of the oral traditions of the current native people about their historical past.

Lifestyle

Associated with the introduction of maize cultivation in the northeastern region began around the year 1000, many Iroquois tribes from a nomadic lifestyle to move on to more permanent offices in the Great Lakes region. The fertility of the land along the St. Lawrence valley as well as the rich fish stock and the surrounding forests with abundant wildlife provided a good place for the northeastern Iroquois settlements. Around 1300, the image of the settlements to the fortified villages began to change, for which the St. Lawrence Iroquois became known.

Villages

Jacques Cartier observed in 1535 and 1536 some Iroquois villages to the north of Ile d' Orléans, including the village of Stadacona, about the same location as the present city of Quebec, and the village of Hochelaga in the area of present-day Montreal. Archaeologists have other similar villages further west, near the eastern shore of Lake Ontario, excavated. The St. Lawrence Iroquois lived in villages, which are usually a few kilometers away were from the St. Lawrence River and were often surrounded by a wooden palisade. Up to 2000 people lived in large villages. Although Jacques Cartier mentioned longhouses in Hochelaga, he gave no description of Stadacona or other neighboring villages. An idea of ​​these villages is obtained in Tsiionhiakwatha / Droulers archaeological site interpretation center, an in- situ museum, built adjacent to an excavation site. There was a village from the 15th century.

Language

Linguistic studies indicate that the St. Lawrence Iroquois probably several different dialects of their language developed, often referred to as Lauren table, one of the languages ​​of the Iroquoian language family, the Mohawk, Huron - Wyandot and Cherokee included. Since only very sparse records of Jacques Cartier had been made during his journey from 1535 to 1536, including two vocabulary lists with a total of only about 200 words, the St. Lawrence Iroquois two or more different languages ​​might have spoken in an area that covers an area 600 km from Lake Ontario through to the Île d' Orléans extended.