Donacona Donacona. A Huron chief found by Jacques Cartier, in 1535, residing with his people at the junction of St Croix and St Lawrence rivers, Canada. Although Cartier was well received and kindly treated by this chief, he managed, partly by stratagem and partly by force, to convey the latter aboard his vessel and carry […]
Treason Treason consists in revealing the secrets of the medicine preparations or giving other information or assistance to enemies of the tribe, and is punished by death. The trial is before the council of the tribe. Witchcraft Witchcraft is punished by death, stabbing, tomahawking, or burning. Charges of witchcraft are investigated by the grand council
The family, as the term is here used, is nearly synonymous with the household. It is composed of the persons who occupy one lodge, or, in their permanent wigwams, one section of a communal dwelling. These permanent dwellings are constructed in an oblong form, of poles interwoven with bark. The fire is placed in line
Wyandot Government, A Short Study of Tribal Society Rights Of Person Each individual has a right to freedom of person and security from personal and bodily injury, unless adjudged guilty of crime by proper authority. Community Rights Each gens has the right to the services of all its women in the cultivation of the soil.
Name Regulations It has been previously explained that there is a body of names, the exclusive property of each gens. Once a year, at the green-corn festival, the council women of the gens select the names for the children born during the previous year, and the chief of the gens proclaims these names at the
Early in the eighteenth century the French had commenced extending their influence among the tribes who inhabited the country bordering on the great western lakes. Always more successful than the other European settlers in conciliating the affections of the savages among whom they lived, they had obtained the hearty good will of nations little known
Huron and Algonkin joined Champlain on Expedition
Huron and Algonkin joined Champlain on Expedition Read More »
The Chippewa, however, furnished an exception to this rule. With them the son of a chief had a legal right to succeed his father. The rule, though binding, was very elastic, and capable of stretching to the farthest limits of the tribe–each tribe being allowed to select its chief from among its own members. Almost
From the conquered nations they exacted tribute, and drew conscripts for their armies. The Tuscaroras, who resided in Carolina, were incorporated into the confederacy in 1715, and thereafter they were known as the Six Nations. From the extent of their conquests, the number of their subject nations, and the tribute and military aid rendered them
Among the Iroquois, and, indeed, all the stationary tribes, there was an incredible number of mystic ceremonies, extravagant, puerile, and often disgusting, designed for the cure of the sick or for the general weal of the community. Most of their observances seem originally to have been dictated by dreams, and transmitted as a sacred heritage
Family discipline was little resorted to. Filling the mouth with water and spurting it over the refractory urchins, or denuding and plunging them into cold water, were the principal means employed. The children were always considered the property of the wife, and in case of divorce followed her; though those who had grown up might
The Indian, being without a literature, knows nothing of his origin. The Frenchman and Spaniard found him here, and learning from him all he did know, gave the story to civilization as an Indian legend, while treating the newfound race historically as they found it. Huron Nation The Hurons, originally the Wyandots, were at Quebec
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In the social organization of the Wyandot four groups are recognized, the family, the gens, the phratry, and the tribe. Society is maintained by the establishment of government, for rights must be recognized and duties performed. In this tribe there is found a complete differentiation of the military from the civil government. The civil government
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Many tribes have sub-tribes, bands, gens, clans and phratry. Often very little information is known or they no longer exist. We have included them here to provide more information about the tribes. Ataronchronon. One of the minor tribes of the Huron confederation, among whom the Jesuit mission of Sainte Marie was established. Jes. Rel. for
