Animals, Daily Life, and Culture:
Wendat
Animals: The people use the animal skins to make clothes, and they use the bones for their weapons, and tools. They hunt for Moose, Deer, Bulls, and some birds, for example, hawks.
Daily Life: They live in long houses, which are made out of sheets of rocks and ropes. Women bring food for the whole family, bring corn. The men are responsible for hunting meat, and fish. They made the long houses up to 200ft. long. They used tools for example a hook made from a bulls back bone and a piece of wood for the handle. They used this tool for fishing.
Culture: The chief was from the boar clan. These people were migratory. They moved to a place where there was more food and they also moved to where the animals moved, and where there was more corn, fish, and meat.
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Huron:
Huron
Huron, a confederacy of 5 Iroquoian-speaking tribes who occupied northern Simcoe Country, Ont, during the first half of the 17th century. The nickname "Huron" was given to them by the French and means "ruffian" or "boar's head," from the hairstyle of Huron men. Their own confederacy name was Ouendat (Wendat), commonly thought to mean "people of the island." The tribes of the confederacy were the "bear people, "cord makers, "rock people", "deer people" and "swamp people". By the early 17th century the latter 3 tribes had migrated into Huron country from southern and eastern Ontario to join the other 2 tribes in a loose defensive alliance against their common enemy, the 5 IROQUOIS tribes of upper New York State.
Prior to 1600, the Huron numbered from 20,000 to 25,000, but between 1634 and 1640 they were reduced to about 9000 by a series of epidemic diseases, particularly the smallpox epidemic of 1639. The Huron lived in 18 to 25 villages, some with up to 3500 people. Their subsistence economy was based on corn, beans, SQUASH and fish. Hunting was of minor importance. At the time of French contact (1615-49), these efficient farmers occupied a territory of about 880 km2, achieving an average population density of 23 people per km2. Most villages were well fortified with palisades. Villages usually stood on a slight rise, adjacent to a permanent water supply and close to good farming soils. Every 10-15 years, when soils and firewood were exhausted, villages were moved.
The Huron formed monogamous nuclear families; however the fundamental socioeconomic group was the matrilineal extended family, made up of a number of families whose female members traced common descent to a mother or grandmother, who was in charge of daily affairs. The extended family lived in LONGHOUSES, which were about 7 m wide and varied in length with the size of the family. Houses up to 90 m in length have been reported from archaeological work. Huron individuals belonged to one of 8 matrilineal clans. Clan members considered themselves cousins and were not permitted to marry each other. Village affairs were run by 2 councils, one in charge of civil affairs, the other of war. All men over 30 were members. In theory, matters were decided by consensus, but in reality the old men and elected chiefs of large families decided things because of their community standing and powers of oratory.
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