The Native History of the Regional Municipality of Halton and the Town of Oakville: Part III

AD 500 - 1610: Late Woodland Introduction of Agriculture and Development of Iroquoian Horticulturalists

Initial Late Woodland: Princess Point (AD 500-1000)
Approximately 1500 years ago, corn was introduced into southern Ontario. There is some debate currently about whether local populations adopted corn horticulture and the numerous other changes that occurred at this time, or whether a migrant population established themselves in southern Ontario. In either event, the peoples of this time period ultimately became the Iroquoian-speaking peoples recorded by French missionaries in the 17th century A.D.

The earliest culture of this period is the Princess Point Complex (AD 500 - 1000). Princess Point peoples most likely introduced the cultivation of corn to southern Ontario. Although no Princess Point sites have been found in Oakville, one site has been discovered near the lake shore in Burlington. Other Princess Point sites are present both to the east in the Credit River valley and to the west at Cootes Paradise. Princess Point peoples preferred to settle on river flats; since such environmental niches are rare in the Bronte and Sixteen Mile Creek drainage systems, Princess Point may not have inhabited the Oakville area. An archaeological survey of the river flats near the mouth of Sixteen Mile Creek, sponsored by the Oakville Heritage Trails Association in 1999, showed that Princess Point people did not settle in this location (Bursey 1999).

The Ontario Iroquoian Tradition
The Ontario Iroquoian Tradition is divided into Early (AD 1000-1300), Middle (AD 1300-1400) and Late (AD 1400-1650) Stages. Over this period, the Iroquoians increased their reliance upon corn horticulture, built larger longhouses (structures housing numerous families all related through the female line of descent) and lived in palisaded villages. Political cohesion also increased through this time period. By the 16th century AD, Iroquoian societies in northeastern North America had organized themselves into tribal confederacies. In New York state, the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca joined in the League of Five Nations. In southern Ontario, Iroquoians grouped themselves into the Petun, Huron and Neutral Confederacies. Halton falls into the eastern edge of "Neutralia"; Oakville is situated in the unpopulated frontier region between the two confederacies.

Iroquoian societies are characterized by village communities organized at the tribal level. They relied for subsistence on a combination of foraging and farming. The predominant source of food was cultivation of domesticated plants, primarily maize, beans, and squash. These cultivated crops were supplemented with collected wild food plants and animal protein from hunting, trapping, and fishing. The major division of labour in Huron society was along gender lines. Women were responsible for cultivating the crops (maize, beans, and squash) and for collecting wild floral resources. Men were responsible for hunting and, apparently, for clearing fields and cultivating tobacco.

Iroquoian communities lived in villages, which varied in size from 0.5 to five hectares. For a number of reasons, mostly economic, a village was not occupied on a permanent basis. The Huron practiced what is called swidden, slash and burn, or long-fallow cultivation. This involved clearing a plot of land by cutting underbrush and girdling large trees, burning the residue, and then planting crops for several years until the soil nutrients were depleted. The cycle was repeated on other sections of land over a number of years until all of the arable soils within a reasonable distance of the village were exhausted, and other resources, such as firewood, were depleted. This depletion of local resources was one important factor in a community's decision to relocate its village in a new area where the cycle could once again run its course. The length of time that a single village site was occupied has been estimated at between 10 and 30 years.

As well as being economically self-sufficient, an Iroquoian community was also relatively autonomous socially. During historic times, a community consisted of at least one, and sometimes several, clan segments, each made up of a number of extended families. Each clan segment had two nominal leaders or 'headmen', neither of whom had any coercive powers. One of these headmen was a civil leader, who managed the internal affairs of the clan segment, while the other was a 'war' leader, who coordinated its military affairs. The affairs of an entire village community were handled by a council consisting of the civil leaders of the clan segments, one of whom was a spokesman. This council was responsible for coordinating public activities for ceremonial and other purposes, mediating legal disputes, and managing relations with other communities. The members of this council were also the members of the successively more inclusive tribal and confederacy councils. Although women appear to have had significant influence within families, clan segments, and communities, the councils consisted of men only. Relationships outside of the community, such as trade and warfare, were handled by men.

Iroquoian peoples did not rely on coercive powers to maintain social stability. Instead, they depended on cooperative interaction that emphasized social integration. The key to this cooperation was the exchange of material goods through gift-giving among community members and trade with other communities. For example, much of Huron legal mediation consisted of arranging for resolution of conflict through presentation of gifts, even for murder.

The mortuary practices of the Iroquoian communities varied from region to region, but all emphasized the relationships among individuals, families, and communities. Among the Huron, the major funeral ceremony, called the Feast of the Dead, involved the interment of the dead of one or several neighbouring communities in a common burial pit, called an ossuary.

There are 44 Iroquoian sites registered in Halton, several of which are multi-component. In total, there are 47 Iroquoian component, of which 11 are generic Iroquoian, six are Early Ontario Iroquoian, 10 are Middle Ontario Iroquoian, 8 are Late Ontario Iroquoian, and 11 are historic Neutral.

The Iroquoian sites in Halton are distibuted in an interesting fashion, showing that preferences for site location changed dramatically over time. The Early Ontario Iroquoian sites are concentrated in the lower Bronte Creek drainage system, close to, but not directly on, the main channel of the river. By Middle Ontario Iroquoian times, preferred site locations had shifted to the the upper reaches of Bronte and Sixteen Mile Creeks. Many of the Middle and Late Ontario Iroquoian sites are clustered in the vicinity of Crawford Lake and have been studied in some detail (Smith 1997; Finlayson 1998). Because of the nature of the environment associated with the Niagara Escarpment in this particular region, the natural resource base is particularly varied and rich. By early historic times (AD 1550 - 1650), villages of the Neutral Confederacy shifted somewhat to the north again, for reasons presently unknown.

AD 1610 to 1650: Historic Iroquoians
When the French explorers and missionaries first came through southern Ontario in the early 1600s, the Iroquoian-speaking peoples were organized into three political confederacies: the Huron located in Simcoe County, the Petun near Collingwood, and the Neutral around the west end of Lake Ontario to the Grand River. Late Woodland villages located along the Credit River and eastward along the north shore of Lake Ontario are presumed to have moved north to join the Huron in Simcoe County. Several Late Woodland villages along the upper reaches of Bronte and Sixteen Mile Creeks are believed to have become part of the Historic Neutral tribal group who occupied the Milton area. Oakville itself falls into the frontier zone between the regions of the historic Neutral and Huron. It lies just to the east of the eastern-most known 17th century Neutral tribal area. It is known that some French (Jesuit) missionaries and explorers traveled to the Hamilton area during the 1600's but their precise route and destinations are unknown with any certainties. Various claims have been made that Samuel de Champlain and Etienne Brule traveled down the Credit or Humber Rivers but the documentation is so sketchy that the same claim could easily be made for any of the river systems draining into the west end of Lake Ontario.

The introduction of European diseases, for which the native populations had little immunity, and intensified warfare during the 17th century led to the collapse of the indigenous confederacies. Between 1649 and 1655, the Huron, Petun and Neutral tribal confederacies collapsed and were dispersed. While large numbers of peoples were lost to disease and warfare, many more either moved to near the Montreal area, joined their enemies in New York (the League of Five Nations) or ultimately moved out of the region. Some of the latter group, for example, ultimately became the Wyandot, for example, and relocated to Oklahoma where they still live.

return to previous page