Draper Site, Wendat (Huron) Ancestral Village
Encyclopedia
The Draper Site is a Precontact period (late fifteenth-century) Huron-Wendat ancestral village located on a tributary of West Duffins Creek in present-day Pickering, Ontario
, approximately 35 kilometres north-east of Toronto.
The Huron community on the Draper site expanded at least five times over fifty years, with a total of 35 longhouses that held up to 2000 people. They were located on four hectares of land and the settlement was fortified with multiple rows of palisade
s. The expansion of the village coincided with the abandonment of small villages in the area. In the early sixteenth-century, after about a generation on the Draper site, the entire community moved five kilometres north-west to establish a new settlement, which archeologists have named the Mantle Site
. The latter is located in the south-east corner of present-day Stouffville. The same community appears to have left the Mantle site
circa 1550 to establish the so-called Ratcliff site
and the Aurora or Old Fort site
to the north-west in what is today the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville.
In early 1975 and 1978, the largely undisturbed Draper Huron village site was completely excavated. This archeological work was to explore and salvage artifacts and evidence in preparation for the destruction of the site during the construction of the Pickering Airport
.
Pickering, Ontario
Pickering is a city located in Southern Ontario, Canada immediately east of Toronto in Durham Region. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area, the largest metropolitan area in Canada.- Early Period :...
, approximately 35 kilometres north-east of Toronto.
The Huron community on the Draper site expanded at least five times over fifty years, with a total of 35 longhouses that held up to 2000 people. They were located on four hectares of land and the settlement was fortified with multiple rows of palisade
Palisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
s. The expansion of the village coincided with the abandonment of small villages in the area. In the early sixteenth-century, after about a generation on the Draper site, the entire community moved five kilometres north-west to establish a new settlement, which archeologists have named the Mantle Site
Mantle Site, Wendat (Huron) Ancestral Village
The Mantle site in the town of Whitchurch–Stouffville, north-east of Toronto, is the largest and most complex ancestral Wendat-Huron village to be excavated in the Lower Great Lakes region to date....
. The latter is located in the south-east corner of present-day Stouffville. The same community appears to have left the Mantle site
Mantle Site, Wendat (Huron) Ancestral Village
The Mantle site in the town of Whitchurch–Stouffville, north-east of Toronto, is the largest and most complex ancestral Wendat-Huron village to be excavated in the Lower Great Lakes region to date....
circa 1550 to establish the so-called Ratcliff site
Ratcliff Site, Wendat (Huron) Ancestral Village
The Ratcliff or Baker Hill site is a 16th-century Huron-Wendat ancestral village located on one of the headwater tributaries of the Rouge River on the south side of the Oak Ridges Moraine in present-day Whitchurch–Stouffville, approximately 25 kilometers north of Toronto...
and the Aurora or Old Fort site
Aurora Site, Wendat (Huron) Ancestral Village
The Aurora Site, also known as the "Old Fort," "Old Indian Fort," "Murphy Farm" or "Hill Fort" site, is a sixteenth-century Huron-Wendat ancestral village located on one of the headwater tributaries of the East Holland River on the north side of the Oak Ridges Moraine in present-day...
to the north-west in what is today the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville.
In early 1975 and 1978, the largely undisturbed Draper Huron village site was completely excavated. This archeological work was to explore and salvage artifacts and evidence in preparation for the destruction of the site during the construction of the Pickering Airport
Pickering Airport
Pickering Airport is a proposed international airport for the Greater Toronto Area, to be located in the city of Pickering, Ontario, Canada, 50 kilometres north-east of downtown Toronto, and 65 kilometres east of Toronto Pearson International Airport...
.
Further reading
- Birch, Jennifer. "Rethinking the Archeological Application of Iroquoian Kinship", Canadian Journal of Archeology 32 (2008), 194–213.
- Birch, Jennifer. "Coalescence and Conflict in Iroquoian Ontario." Archeological Review from Cambridge 25, no. 1 (2010), 29–48.
- Bowman, Irene. "The Draper Site: White Pine Succession on an Abandoned Late Prehistoric Iroquoian Maize Field." North Pickering Archeaology, Part II (1974), 54-85.
- Dodd, Christine F. "Ontario Iroquois Tradition Longhouses." M.A. Thesis, Simon Fraser University. Burnaby, BC, 1982. (Search "Draper").
- Finlayson, William D. The 1975 and 1978 Rescue Excavations at the Draper Site: Introductions and Settlements. Ottawa: National Museum of Man, 1985.
- Hayden, Brian, ed. Settlement Patterns of the Draper and White Sites: 1973 Excavations. Burnaby, BC: Archaeology Press Simon Fraser University, 1979.
- Sioui, Georges E. Wendat: The Heritage of the Circle. Trans. J. Brierley. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press, 1999.
- Trigger, Bruce G. Natives and Newcomers: Canada's Heroic Age Reconsidered. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1985. Pp. 72, 101, 103, 151, 215, 220.
- Warrick, Gary A. "Reconstructing Ontario Iroquoian Village Organization," M.A. Thesis, Simon Fraser University. Burnaby, BC, 1983.
- Warrick, Gary A. "A Population History of the Huron-Petun, A.D. 900-1650," PhD Thesis, McGill University. Montreal, PQ, 1990 (revised edition published as A Population History of the Huron-Petun, A.D. 500-1650. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008).
- Warrick, Gary A. "The Precontact Iroquoian Occupation of Southern Ontario." In Jorden E. Kerber, ed., Archaeology of the Iroquois: selected readings and research sources, ch. 7, pp. 124–164. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2007.
- Williamson, Ronald. ""'Otinontsiskiaj ondoan (The House of Cut-off Heads): The History and Archaeology of Northern Iroquoian Trophy Taking." In The Taking and Displaying of Human Body Parts as Trophies by Amerindians, 190-221. Ed. Richard J. Chacon and David H. Dye. New York: Springer, 2007 (esp. pp 210–212).
External links
- The Huron-Wendat Museum, Wendake, QuebecWendake, QuebecWendake is the current name for the Huron-Wendat reserve, an enclave within Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. One of the Seven Nations of Canada, this was formerly known as Village-des-Hurons , and also as -Lorette....
- Huron-Wendat Nation, Wendake, QuebecWendake, QuebecWendake is the current name for the Huron-Wendat reserve, an enclave within Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. One of the Seven Nations of Canada, this was formerly known as Village-des-Hurons , and also as -Lorette....
. - Agondachia Association, Ossossane Fondation, Wendake, QuebecWendake, QuebecWendake is the current name for the Huron-Wendat reserve, an enclave within Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. One of the Seven Nations of Canada, this was formerly known as Village-des-Hurons , and also as -Lorette....