St. Lawrence Iroquoians - Historical Issues

Historical Issues

For years historians and other scholars debated the identity of the Iroquoian cultural group in the St. Lawrence valley which Jacques Cartier and his crew recorded encountering in 1535-1536 at Stadacona and Hochelaga. An increasing amount of archeological evidence since the 1950s has settled some of the debate. Since the 1950s, anthropologists and some historians have used definitive linguistic and archeological studies to reach consensus that the St. Lawrence Iroquoians were peoples distinct from nations of the Iroquois Confederacy or the Huron. Since the 1990s, they have concluded that there may have been as many as 25 tribes among the St. Lawrence Iroquoians, who numbered about 120,000 people. They lived in the river lowlands and east of the Great Lakes, including in present-day northern New York and New England.

Before this, some argued that the people were the ancestors or direct relations of historic Iroquoian groups in the greater region, such as the Huron or Mohawk, Onondaga or Oneida of the Five Nations of the Haudenosaunee encountered by later explorer Samuel de Champlain. Since the 18th century, several theories have been proposed for the identity of the St. Lawrence River peoples. The issue is important not only for historical understanding but because of Iroquois and other indigenous land claims.

In 1998 James F. Pendergast summarized the four major theories with an overview of evidence:

• Huron-Mohawk Option:

Several historians combined data from early French reports, vocabulary lists and oral histories of accounts by Native tribes to theorize the early inhabitants were Iroquoian-speaking Huron or Mohawk, two well-known tribes in later history. There has not been sufficient documentation to support this conclusion according to 20th-century standards. In addition, archeological finds and linguistic studies since the 1950s have discredited this theory.

• Mohawk Identity Option:

Based in part on material from the 18th century, Mark Linn-Baker and Lars Sweenburg developed a theory that the Mohawk (in some cases, they also postulated Onondaga and Oneida) had migrated and settled in the St. Lawrence River valley before relocating to their historic territory of present-day New York. Pendergast says that attribution of Stadacona or Hochelaga as Mohawk, Onondaga or Oneida has not been supported by the archaeological data.

"Since the 1950s a vast accumulation of archaeological material from Ontario, Quebec, Vermont, Pennsylvania and New York State consistently has provided compelling evidence to demonstrate that neither the Mohawk, the Onondaga, nor the Oneida homelands originated in the St Lawrence Valley."

• Laurentian Iroquoian and Laurentian Iroquois Identity: based on language studies, with material added since 1940;and
• St. Lawrence Iroquoian and St. Lawrence Iroquois Identity:

Since the 1950s, anthropologists, archaeologists, linguists and ethnohistorians have combined multi-disciplinary research to conclude that "a wholly indigenous and discrete Iroquoian people were present in the St Lawrence Valley when Cartier arrived. The current anthropological convention is to designate these people St Lawrence Iroquoians, all the while being keenly aware that on-going archaeological research indicates that several discrete Iroquoian political entities were present in a number of widely dispersed geographical regions on the St Lawrence River axis."

As noted, anthropologists and some historians have used definitive linguistic and archeological studies to reach consensus that the St. Lawrence Iroquoians were a people distinct from nations of the Iroquois Confederacy or the Huron, and likely consisted of numerous groups. Pendergast notes that while Iroquoians and topical academics have mostly reached consensus on this theory, some historians have continued to publish other theories and ignore the archeological evidence. The St. Lawrence Iroquoians did share many cultural, historical, and linguistic aspects with other Iroquoian groups; for example, their Laurentian languages were part of the Iroquoian family and aspects of culture and societal structure were similar.

The St. Lawrence Iroquoians appear to have disappeared from the St. Lawrence valley some time prior to 1580. Champlain reported no evidence of Native habitation in the valley. By then the Haudenosaunee used it as a hunting ground and avenue for war parties.

As the historian Pendergast argues, the determination of identity for the St. Lawrence Iroquoians is important because, "our understanding of relations between Europeans and Iroquoians during the contact era throughout Iroquoia hinges largely upon the tribe or confederacy to which Stadacona and Hochelaga are attributed."