ST.LAWRENCE IROQUOIANS

In 1534, when Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River valley he met St. Lawrence Iroquoians in their villages in Montreal and Quebec and at their fishing and hunting camps on the Gaspe Bay. Sixty years later, when Samuel de Champlain travelled the same route, he found the villages abandoned and the people gone. Whether they fell prey to European diseases, were wiped out in wars with their neighbours (the Huron and the Five Nations Iroquois) or some combination of both is unknown. What is certain is that by the late sixteenth century, the once powerful and numerous St. Lawrence Iroquoians no longer existed as a distinct people.

LOCATION

As their name suggests, the St. Lawrence Iroquois were an Iroquois people (speakers of an Iroquoian language) who lived in the St. Lawrence River valley during the Late Woodland period.

St. Lawrence Iroquois villages and campsites have been found at a number of locations near the St. Lawrence River Valley in eastern Ontario, Quebec and adjacent parts of New York State. The Ontario sites occur in two main clusters, one near Prescott and the other near the City of Cornwall.

The St. Lawrence Iroquois people used two types of settlement; large defended villages, and small fishing camps.

VILLAGES

The villages housed up to two thousand people. The fishing settlements were probably satellite settlements to the main villages. Each village contained up to forty large, multi-family longhouses and was protected by a tall, defensive palisade of closely set vertical poles enclosing an area of up to 3.5 hectares. One or more ditches, each with an embankment added to the defences. Entrance to the village was achieved through a narrow, complex and easily defended gateway. The majority of the villages sites which have been discovered lie a few kilometres inland, away from the banks of the St. Lawrence River close to easily cultivated land. A good source of water was a necessity, so a site close to the headwaters of a stream was often chosen. One of the most well known St. Lawrence Iroquois villages, the Roebuck Site north of Brockville, occupies a long, low sandy ridge which was surrounded on three sides by swampy ground. A year round creek flows nearby. Another site in the same cluster - the Maynard-McKeown site also lay close to swampy creek.

The village longhouses were similar to those built by other contemporary Iroquoian people in southern Ontario (see also Huron and Neutral). Archaeologists find large oval arrangements of post- holes (the stains left by support posts) forming the outlines of where these buildings formerly stood. They also find the burnt sand, shattered rocks, broken artifacts and fragments of burnt bone which indicate the places where fire-pits once stood. Each longhouse contained a number of these hearths, which were used both for cooking and warmth. Archaeologists also find numerous pits which had been dug into the floor of the longhouse. Some of these were lined with bark and used for storing food. Others were used for garbage disposal or even for burials. These 'features' often contain broken pottery, bone fragments and other artifacts that allow archaeologists to reconstruct some of the activities which took place within the village.

St. Lawrence Iroquois villages consisted of a group of tightly spaced longhouses within a well fortified enclosure of between 1.5 and 3.5 hectares. Middens (rubbish heaps) occurred throughout the villages, especially near the ends of longhouses, and against the palisade walls. Burials of women and children occurred close to the village. Males were buried elsewhere.  

Longhouses were usually twenty to thirty metres long and six to eight metres long. The substantial oval framework of logs was covered with bark to provide a weather proof shelter.  St. Lawrence Iroquois longhouses were roughly oval in plan. A number of central hearths were used for cooking and warmth. Pits dug through the floor were used for storage of corn and personal belongings. These often became filled up with refuse once they went out of use. St. Lawrence Iroquois longhouses were multiple dwellings occupied by members of related families.

BURIALS

St. Lawrence Iroquois people appear to have buried their women and children in graves around the edge of the settlements. Very few graves of men have been identified, which suggests that men were buried elsewhere. Some Iroquois groups (such as the Huron) buried their dead in large collective graves called Ossuaries. The St. Lawrence Iroquois people may have done the same, depositing all their male dead in a single pit. So far no St. Lawrence Iroquois ossuaries have been found, so this remains speculation.

FISHING SETTLEMENTS

Fishing settlements have been found at a number of locations along the banks of the St. Lawrence River, extending from Kingston, in the west all the way down the St. Lawrence to the Gulf. These settlements are considerably smaller than the main villages, although where excavation has taken place, longhouses were present, suggesting that they too were more substantial than the term 'fishing camp' might suggest. These settlements were probably occupied during the spring, summer and fall during the main fishing seasons. Where samples of bone refuse from these sites have been analyzed, eels were the most important fish harvested.

ARTIFACTS

St. Lawrence Iroquois pottery shares many characteristics with the pottery produced by other groups. These Late Woodland people made squat, round bottomed pots by the paddle and anvil method. The necks were made with well developed collars, and these became the focus of the patterns of decoration which distinguish the pots made by these people from those of their neighbours. St. Lawrence Iroquois pots often display complex patterns of chevrons or triangular panels in conjunction with with circular punctates. On some vessels, the punctates appear to be arranged to emulate the human face. Another distinctive St. Lawrence trait is that the base of the collar is deeply scalloped or pinched.

Compared to other Iroquoian people, the St. Lawrence Iroquois manufactured more of their tools from bone and less from stone. At the Roebuck site, excavators found an incredible variety of bone and antler tools including; arrow heads, spear points, fish hooks, chizels, knives, picks, awls, needles, combs, beads and pendants - in short, virtually all the objects necessary for hunting, fishing and personal adornment. Stone arrow heads and other items common on other sites are noticeably rare on sites which have been investigated. The St. Lawrence Iroquois lived in an area where few suitable stone sources for the manufacture of flaked tools exist, and this undoubtedly contributed to this condition. In part, however, it may reflect cultural preference and a readiness to use the materials which were easily available.

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