Fish and Fowl: An examination of changes in Wendat subsistence practices from the sixteenth to mid-seventeenth centuries

Summary

Located north of Orr Lake, Ontario, the Ellery site has been tentatively identified as Scanonaenrat, the principle village of the Tahontaenrat (Deer Nation) of the Wendat confederacy. Recent excavations by Laurentian University field schools have demonstrated that the site is multi-component; a mid-seventeenth century village was built in about the same location as a Wendat settlement that is about one hundred years older. In this paper we compare faunal remains from the two occupations with the aim of examining how Wendat subsistence practices may have changed as a result of the incursion of Europeans into Wendake. In particular, we examine how the Wendat responded to the societal changes that must have occurred as a result of the epidemics of the 1630’s.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• Archaeology and the Evolution of the Cultural Traditions of 16th-17th Century Wendat Sites

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-74,05