Neutral Nation
Encyclopedia
The Neutrals, also known as the Attawandaron, were an Iroquoian nation of North American native people
who lived near the shores of Lake Ontario
and Lake Erie
.
. There was a single population cluster to the east, across the Niagara River
near modern-day Buffalo, New York
. The western boundary of their territory was the valley of the Grand River
, with population concentrations existing on the Niagara Peninsula
and in the vicinity of the present-day communities of Hamilton
and Milton
, Ontario
. Documentary sources indicate that the population of the historic Neutrals ranged from twelve thousand to forty thousand persons, with the lower number indicating the devastating effect of newly arriving European diseases and periods of famine during the first part of the seventeenth century.
F. Douglas Reville's The History of the County of Brant (1920) stated that the hunting grounds of the Attawandaron ranged from Genesee Falls and Sarnia
, and south of a line drawn from Toronto
to Goderich
.
St. Jean de Brébeuf and Chaumonot
visited eighteen villages of the Neutrals in 1640-1641, and gave each a Christian name. The only ones mentioned in their writings were Kandoucho, or All Saints, the nearest to the Hurons; Onguioaahra, on the Niagara River; Teotongniaton or St. William, in the centre of their country; and Khioetoa, or St. Michael.
Their territory is described, by F. Douglas Reville, as having been heavily forested, and full of "wild fruit trees of vast variety", with nut trees, berry bushes, and wild grape vines. "Elk, caribou, and black bear; deer, wolves, foxes, martens and wild cats filled the woods."
The French
called the people "Neutral" because they tried to remain neutral between the warring Huron and Iroquois
peoples. A plausible reason for their neutrality during the Huron-Iroquois war was the presence of flint grounds within their territory near the eastern end of Lake Erie
. Because the Attawandaron possessed this important resource, used for spearheads and arrowheads, they could maintain their neutrality. Once neighbouring nations began to receive firearms from the European powers, however, the possession of the flint grounds lost its advantage.
The chief of the Neutrals in their last years was named Tsouharissen ("Child of the Sun") who led several raids against the Mascouten who lived in territory in present-day Michigan and Ohio. Tsouharissen died around 1646.http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0005692
to defend against the Iroquois
, but this dissolved in 1639, with devastating effects, particularly to the Wenro, who had to ally with Hurons a much greater distance away.
Around 1650, during a period now loosely referred to as the Beaver Wars
, the Iroquois declared war on the Attawandaron; by 1653, the people were practically annihilated, and their villages were wiped out, including Kandoucho. The last mention of the Neutrals in French records is in 1671. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0005692
near St. Thomas, Ontario
contains the remains of a Neutral village and is a National Historic Site of Canada.
The Museum of Ontario Archaeology
in London, Ontario
is located adjacent to the site of another 500-year-old Neutral village. This village, designated as the "Lawson Prehistoric Iroquoian Village", has been under study since the early 1900s. Much of the village, including its palisades
and longhouses, has been reconstructed. A large collection of Neutral artifacts recovered there is displayed in the museum.
An Ontario Historical Plaque commemorates the role of the Lawson Prehistoric Indian Village Site in Ontario's heritage.
Aboriginal peoples in Canada
Aboriginal peoples in Canada comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The descriptors "Indian" and "Eskimo" have fallen into disuse in Canada and are commonly considered pejorative....
who lived near the shores of Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
and Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
.
Territory
During the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries the territory of the Attawandaron was mostly within the limits of present-day southern OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. There was a single population cluster to the east, across the Niagara River
Niagara River
The Niagara River flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the Province of Ontario in Canada and New York State in the United States. There are differing theories as to the origin of the name of the river...
near modern-day Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
. The western boundary of their territory was the valley of the Grand River
Grand River (Ontario)
The Grand River is a large river in southwestern Ontario, Canada. From its source, it flows south through Grand Valley, Fergus, Elora, Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge, Paris, Brantford, Caledonia, and Cayuga before emptying into the north shore of Lake Erie south of Dunnville at Port Maitland...
, with population concentrations existing on the Niagara Peninsula
Niagara Peninsula
The Niagara Peninsula is the portion of Southern Ontario, Canada lying between the south shore of Lake Ontario and the north shore of Lake Erie. It stretches from the Niagara River in the east to Hamilton, Ontario in the west. The population of the peninsula is roughly 1,000,000 people...
and in the vicinity of the present-day communities of Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
and Milton
Milton, Ontario
Milton is a town in Southern Ontario, Canada, and part of the Halton Region in the Greater Toronto Area. Milton received a tremendous amount of awareness following the release of the results of the 2006 Census, which indicated that Milton is the fastest growing municipality in the Greater Golden...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. Documentary sources indicate that the population of the historic Neutrals ranged from twelve thousand to forty thousand persons, with the lower number indicating the devastating effect of newly arriving European diseases and periods of famine during the first part of the seventeenth century.
F. Douglas Reville's The History of the County of Brant (1920) stated that the hunting grounds of the Attawandaron ranged from Genesee Falls and Sarnia
Sarnia, Ontario
Sarnia is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada . It is the largest city on Lake Huron and is located where the upper Great Lakes empty into the St. Clair River....
, and south of a line drawn from Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
to Goderich
Goderich, Ontario
Goderich is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario and is the county seat of Huron County. The town was founded by William "Tiger" Dunlop in 1827. First laid out in 1828, the town is named after Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, who was British prime minister at the time. The town...
.
St. Jean de Brébeuf and Chaumonot
Pierre-Joseph-Marie Chaumonot
Pierre-Joseph-Marie Chaumonot was a French priest and missionary. A variety of circumstances led to his pursuing a religious path...
visited eighteen villages of the Neutrals in 1640-1641, and gave each a Christian name. The only ones mentioned in their writings were Kandoucho, or All Saints, the nearest to the Hurons; Onguioaahra, on the Niagara River; Teotongniaton or St. William, in the centre of their country; and Khioetoa, or St. Michael.
Their territory is described, by F. Douglas Reville, as having been heavily forested, and full of "wild fruit trees of vast variety", with nut trees, berry bushes, and wild grape vines. "Elk, caribou, and black bear; deer, wolves, foxes, martens and wild cats filled the woods."
Name
The Neutrals were called Attawandaron by the Hurons, meaning "people whose speech is awry or a little different".The French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
called the people "Neutral" because they tried to remain neutral between the warring Huron and Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
peoples. A plausible reason for their neutrality during the Huron-Iroquois war was the presence of flint grounds within their territory near the eastern end of Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
. Because the Attawandaron possessed this important resource, used for spearheads and arrowheads, they could maintain their neutrality. Once neighbouring nations began to receive firearms from the European powers, however, the possession of the flint grounds lost its advantage.
The chief of the Neutrals in their last years was named Tsouharissen ("Child of the Sun") who led several raids against the Mascouten who lived in territory in present-day Michigan and Ohio. Tsouharissen died around 1646.http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0005692
Fate
The Neutrals had an alliance with the WenrohrononWenrohronon
The Wenrohronon or Wenro were a little-known indigenous people of North America originally from western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania. They appear to have inhabited the upper Allegheny River valley, between the territories of the Seneca and the Neutrals...
to defend against the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
, but this dissolved in 1639, with devastating effects, particularly to the Wenro, who had to ally with Hurons a much greater distance away.
Around 1650, during a period now loosely referred to as the Beaver Wars
Beaver Wars
The Beaver Wars, also sometimes called the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars, commonly refers to a series of conflicts fought in the mid-17th century in eastern North America...
, the Iroquois declared war on the Attawandaron; by 1653, the people were practically annihilated, and their villages were wiped out, including Kandoucho. The last mention of the Neutrals in French records is in 1671. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0005692
Archeology
The Southwold EarthworksSouthwold Earthworks
The Southwold Earthworks is the remains of a pre-contact village site of the Neutral people in Iona Station, Ontario, Canada.-Background:Occupied between AD 1450 and 1550, it is located in southwestern Ontario in rural Elgin County, near the banks of a tributary of Talbot Creek, approximately...
near St. Thomas, Ontario
St. Thomas, Ontario
St. Thomas is a city in southern , Ontario, Canada. It is the seat for Elgin County and gained its city charter on March 4, 1881.-History:...
contains the remains of a Neutral village and is a National Historic Site of Canada.
The Museum of Ontario Archaeology
Museum of Ontario Archaeology
The Museum of Ontario Archaeology is a museum located in northwest London, Ontario...
in London, Ontario
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
is located adjacent to the site of another 500-year-old Neutral village. This village, designated as the "Lawson Prehistoric Iroquoian Village", has been under study since the early 1900s. Much of the village, including its palisades
Palisades
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.Palisade or Palisades also may refer to:-Geology:United States...
and longhouses, has been reconstructed. A large collection of Neutral artifacts recovered there is displayed in the museum.
An Ontario Historical Plaque commemorates the role of the Lawson Prehistoric Indian Village Site in Ontario's heritage.
External links
- History of the Neutral Natives
- Catholic Encyclopedia
- Quebec History
- Niagara Falls history
- Museum of Ontario Archeology (formerly Museum of Indian Archeology)
- http://www.dickshovel.com/neutral.html
- http://www.brantford.library.on.ca/genealogy/pdfs/reville1.pdf Reville, F. Douglas. "The History of the County of Brant". Brantford: Hurley Printing Company, 1920. See Chapter 1 for a history and description of the Neutrals.