Neutral Attawandaron... What Happen to Them?


To understand what happen to the Neutral Attawandaron, a chronological time chart of their records reveals the narrow time window in which this powerful Nation fell. In southern Ontario one can do a floating classroom rafting trip on the Grand River to learn more.

1615 Etienne Brule was held captive and released by Five Nations to the Neutrals. He lived among the Neutrals a short time.
1616 Champlain states over 4,000 Neutral warriors came against the Mascoutens.
1623 Neutral attack a Huron village
1625 Etienne Brule returned among the Neutrals and had a wife within the Neutrals… his daughter may have been a medicine woman.
1626 Dallion lived among Neutrals for a couple of months, made a diction of the language, but was brought back under guard because Neutral were going to kill him
1629 Neutral population was equal to the combined population of Hurons & Five Nations combined. The Neutrals were twice as large as the Erie, Petun and Susquehannock combined.
1630 Recorded epidemics among Neutrals
1634 Jesuits said Neutrals were still more numerous then the Hurons
1638 Epidemics among all Iroquoian nations of Small pox and Cholera. Coureurs de Bois bring small pox to Neutrals.
1639 Severe famine among Neutrals… Neutrals sold their children to Huron for corn. Wenrehoron (part of Neutrals) on Genesee River side … 600 killed by Iroquois…flee to Neutrals and Hurons. Also called Awenrehronon (Panther Tribe) lived east of Erie… part of a confederation between Erie & Neutral but not supported when attacked by Iroquois so fled to live among Neutrals
1640 There are 40 Neutral villages with a population of 12,000 people total. Neutrals recovering from sickness (cholera & smallpox), famine and war. About this time the neutrality position coveted by the Neutrals is falling apart. In Nov til March…two priests Brebeuf & Chaumonot lived in vain among the Neutrals for 5 months. They also record more of the language. No one has found these recorded notes… only about 3 Neutral words are presently known.
Sixty Neutrals were found during this winter caught out in a snowstorm... frozen to death.
1641 A record of 2 converted Neutrals to Roman Catholicism. And the Neutrals bring back over 100 Mascouten prisoners from the west.
1642 Neutrals return with over 170 Mascouten prisoners. This is also the year the Five Nations start major attack against the Hurons.
1643 Two thousand Neutral & Ottawa warriors against the Mascouten fort of 900 warriors, the Neutrals took 800 captives, burned 50 of the Mascouten’s best warriors, poked out the eyes of the old men and girdled their mouths so they could not eat and left them to wander and die. (These Mascoutens were called “Nation du feu” and were bigger then the Huron, Neutral, Petun & Five Nations combined.) Also the discovery of the Neutral curing stones by Gendron a French surgeon… called Erie Stones. Also the Iroquois have now accumulated over 300 muskets in trade with the Dutch.
1645 One hundred Neutrals visit Huron camp… surprised at chapel and invite Jesuits to come back among them. There is also a rumor at this time: The Iroquois are digging the grave of the great Neutral nation, and the war cry of the Seneca will be the mourning funeral for the Neutral dead.
1647 Aondironnons attacked by Seneca nations but Neutrals did nothing. Seneca attack and destroy a Neutral town to avenge a Seneca Warrior that was allowed to be captured in Neutral territory in sight of a village by a Huron war party tracking him…he was tortured & killed. Neutrals make an alliance with Andastes.
1648 Neutrals scared of Iroquois …hand over Huron fugitives seeking asylum with them to the Iroquois. Iroquois looking for a reason to attack Neutrals.
1649 Major Iroquois attack on Huron Confederacy… Hurons fall and Brebeuf is killed Dispersed Hurons settling among Neutrals. Open war between Neutral and Five Nations. Neutrals ask Jesuits in Quebec for arms against the Iroquois. A war counselor of the Onondaga called Shonnonkeri approached the Neutral many times to do combat battles to keep each side fit and the warriors not idle. The Neutrals of the Eagle Clan kept refusing, but finally agreed. In a fight the Neutrals captured a Seneca warrior… tortured and killed him.
1650 As a result of the killing… 1,600 Seneca and Onondaga attacked a major Neutral Town, slaughtered and took women as wives. Other story said the Senecas attacked because the Neutral would not return an escaped Seneca prisoner among the Neutrals. Teotondiaton is the name of the town that fell. Jesuits record being at Notre Dame des Anges Camp of the Neutrals. Neutral & Susquehannock ally to fight Mohawk & Seneca. Neutrals retaliated and killed 200 Seneca warriors and tortured 50 prisoners. Iroquois have also crushed the Petun to the northwest of the Neutrals.
1651 The best of the 5 Nations warriors return to Neutral land and take out a town of 2000 Neutrals… as a result of this fierce attack, the other Neutral villages flee. The defeated Neutrals flee to the Christian Mohawks near Montreal, others with the Seneca, some with the Erie and Algonquin
1652 Susquehannock, Andastes and Neutrals attack the Seneca. They invaded deep into Seneca territory. Seneca send their women to the Cayuga for protection. Jikonsaseh the Neutral Peace Queen living near Niagara is captured and protected by the Seneca.
1653 Three day meeting records 800 Neutral & 1200 Petun (2,000 warriors) with Algonqin near the Sault Ste Marie. At straits of Mickinaw. The French called the Neutrals that attended the “Huron Neutres… on west shore of Lake Huron near Green Bay, Wisconsin
1660 Neutral presence still recorded around Great lakes
1669 There is a record of the Onondaga town called Gandoga and a couple of surrounding towns being predominately populated by captured Neutrals.
1690 The Huron, Tionnontates (Petun) & Attawandaron remnant are being called the Wyandot
1712 The Deleware nation is defeated by Cayuga… became sub tribe… could not war without Five Nations permission. This is the year the Tuscarora join the Iroquois to become the Six Nations.
1715 (approx) The Battle of Lake Erie was recorded on Wyandot wampum belt…
“Twenty Wyandot and two Chippewa canoes landed at Long Point, and their scouts located a large party of Seneca at Big Creek. The Wyandots were discovered, but escaped to warn their group. The Wyandots then paddled out to deep water to escape the Seneca. The Seneca came out in canoes with war whoops… both group-chiefs exchanged threats, then the Seneca fired muskets. The Wyandot returned fire… then a hand to hand combat in canoes. The Wyandot were victorious. And only a few Seneca escaped. The Wyandot found a Seneca boy hiding under a basket in one canoe… and adopted him into their tribe”.
1775 The Seneca came near Detroit to attack the Wyandot and met with the Wyandot to parley telling how they were always defeated the Wyandot in the past. Wyandot chief then has old man come out, who tells the Seneca that he was a boy captured in the defeat of the Seneca at Long Point. He then shows the Seneca a wampum belt of Beaver given to the Wyandot by the Seneca after their defeat… it was called “the Battle of Lake Erie”. As a result the bragging Seneca left silently from lodge
1780 John Kenjockety was a Neutral captured and adopted by Seneca… he was known as a man of influence and character among the Seneca
1892 Only about 368 “full blooded Indians” remain of the 40,000 Petun, Neutral and Huron of the 1650’s.

If wishing a hiking classroom to learn about First Nations plants and trees visit this link.

A Neutral Attawandaron village grindstone (1651 or earlier) along the Grand River

Popular posts from this blog

The Legend of Whitemans Creek

Image
As a boy, I was told the following story and legend of the buried treasure at Whitemans Creek. There was a settler who lived along the creek where it flowed into the Grand. He was wealthy and had a untrustworthy daughter, who along with her husband were eager to acquire his money. The old man aware of his daughter's greed, secretly buried his coins in a chest along the creek valley. Unfortunately after hiding the chest, he slipped while walking along the creek, striking his head on a rock. The unconscious man drowned, and with him went the location of his wealth. Thus named the creek... Whitemans. Later in life, in the late 1990s an old Cayuga Storyteller recited a story to an acquaintance... who recited the story to me. This story is about how the creek got its name according to Iroquoian memorized history. What is interesting to note, is that the old woman who was in her 80s, refused to write what she knew on paper because she believed the "word" would lose its power. S
Read more

The Grand River Story of the Three Sisters

Image
Every time I paddle through these magnificent columns,... people ask me about the story behind them. So here it is... But first a "myth" smile for the day! In 2008, a journalist doing a guided canoe trip with a local Paris canoe outfitter was told... the Three Sisters were started just before World War I, but due to lack of funds, never completed. So the published Star quote said : " walked up a rail-trail to a lookout on one of four abutments of limestone pillars, part of an unfinished train bridge constructed before World War I. " Janice Bradbeer Toronto Star A very rare photo is of the Three Sisters with a bridge on top around 1940. The true story of how the "Three Sisters" were birthed... They were built around 1852. They were the pillars for the Great West Railway bridge over the Grand River. This was the the first railway to Paris, running from Niagara Falls. The inaugural trip was December 15, 1853
Read more

Indian Corn... Why Pilgrims Starved... and Indians Grew Fat!

Image
The Spanish discovery of Indian corn had a huge impact on feeding the world. But the racial prejudice of English settlers missed the mark. In 1492 wheat was the mainstay food of Europe, Asia and Africa. It was the “King of the Mountain." But that changed in 1493. The hand on the left is the yield from one kernel of corn seed. When Columbus returned from his first voyage he told his stories before the Spanish court about the land of the “Arawaks”. He told about the Arawaks piles of grain from which they made a cake-meal. He described the grain as having tapered ears longer then his hand, thicker then his wrist, with long rows the size of a pea. He spoke about how the black seeds when cooked, split open to create a tasty white fluff. He said the Arawaks called this strange grass plant “mahiz”. Corn was non-existent in the rest of the world until Columbus saw it in the West Indies. Its productivity capabilities and ease of growing caught the world’s attention. Back then, whea
Read more

Please Don't Pee in the Boat!

Image
Every river guide has a legendary story... well this is mine... and it's true! It was a windy Sunday afternoon and I was requested to take a woman called "Peggy-Sue" on a three hour guided canoe trip down the Grand River. I put the canoe in the water and helped her in the front. When she was seated... I handed her a paddle. She looked at me in surprise and said "Oh, I won't be needing that!" I graciously smiled and launched the canoe into the wind. Once on the river, my client turned sideways... put her feet in the water... dragging them in the river. She said she wanted to see me as she talked. I was informed she was marrying Sylvester Stallone's son and that she was doing this paddle to get in shape to have babies. (my lip started to bleed from biting it). She then informed me there were body guards following us along the river to keep her safe. She also mentioned that she was bipolar but no longer needed her medicine. (I am not sure if it was t
Read more

I am Attiwandaron... A Neutral... Who Are You?

Image
The Iroquoian Neutrals of Southern Ontario were the bullies of Rome-burning… an unknown race of great power. It is 1625... and I have just stepped into the few recorded pages of the Iroquoian Neutrals. What I saw, riveted my attention. I was not prepared for the total nakedness of these people. Their skin was saturated by blood scarring with charcoal-pierced tattoos of snakes, monstrous beasts and “Oki” spirits. They were the tallest, finest bodied people among the Huron, Petun and Five Iroquois Nations. There were no hunchbacks, club feet or one-eyes in the villages. Unlike the other Iroquoians there was no specific style of hair… no head-dress... but curls were not allowed. They were a “musket-less” people with war clubs, leather elk shields and arrows. Around there neck was a pouch of tobacco, flint, calumet and totems. Their skin was heavily oiled from head to toe and pungent. Their sight-detection was very keen. They could follow scent. Their endurance and aloofnes
Read more

Hungar Lake Explosion... A Steam Sawmill Accident in Brant Haldimand

Image
It is June 1868... and one of my great grandfathers is one minute away from death. This is the narrow escape as told by Paul Huffman of the Kelvin Northfield area. It was about 9 am. I tied my horse to a pair of bob sleighs and had just walked into the upper part of my brother-in-laws steam sawmill... when an explosion ripped through the building. In a daze I stumbled out into a smoke of human cries. My nephew was trying to get up, his one leg entirely torn off and the other broken. My niece Jane, laid limp, her neck snapped. Ferris, the steam engineer (fireman) was naked and totally scalded... trying to get himself out of the rubbish. Without waiting to see how many were dead, I jumped on my horse and galloped out. People were running in from the road. I ran the horse about 5 miles to a doctor. On getting off, my whole leg was covered in blood. I discovered the poor animal had three broken ribs and a deep foot long gash. It had bled a stream all the way to the doctor's house. Wh
Read more

The Iroquois Corn Fields as Far as the Eye Could See!

--> When we think of the First Nations growing corn… many visualize quaint family plots growing outside the longhouse palisade. Actually the fields were so big that visiting priests complain about getting lost in them. We are talking about fields 100 to 1,000 acres in size. The land was cleared in a three season split. First year all the brush and lower branches were cleared and put around the big trees which were girdled. In the next spring the girdled trees were burned and cut down. The third year is when corn would be planted. The first two years of corn was the best yields. If a field got too low in production it was left fallow for two years. Never were all fields growing crops at once. Preparing the corn seed was done by soaking the seed in a corn medicine solution for one hour. Then put in a basket and wait until it started to sprout. The corn varieties used were flint corns adapted to the shorter growing season. There was also soft white & yellow corn… an
Read more

Corn Whiskey, Corn Medicine, Corn Smut… Eat, Drink and Feel No Pain?

Image
Believe it or not, the black fungus smut that grows on sweet corn is a gourmet delicacy. The natives would collect the corn smut when young; boil in water for 10 minutes, than fry crisp in a hot pan. The Iroquois favorite was roasted green corn. This was corn in the soft sugary stage. To cook they would dig a long trench and create a hot coal bed in it. They would then lay two long poles a cob length apart over the trench. The cobs were then placed across the two sticks and turned to roast over the coals. Green corn was also a delicacy boiled, with animal marrow spread on. In the green corn stage, corn kernels were often cut raw from the cob with a flint scrapper as shown above. The cut kernels were mixed with boiled beans, sunflower seeds and some meat. This blend was rolled together to make a delicious sticky corn ball called Indian Succotash. The Indians would sometimes add the oil from boiled crushed hickory nuts for a different creamy flav
Read more

Experience a Pirate Birthday Party Near Toronto... Where Sometimes the Kids are Adults!

Image
  Lots of birthday companies have pirate birthday party ideas. But outside of Toronto, this pirate birthday party isn't an idea... it's the real thing! On this adventure groups don't just play pirate... they come dressed as pirates! These pirates, journey in a ship with other thieves at sea. With their map, each team searches for the clues to the buried treasure. And to the most clever, goes the chest of gold, awaiting at the end. This birthday pirate adventure was designed for kids and men! It takes place on the Grand River, one hour west of Toronto. Each team gets a ship (a large self bailing raft), there is a chest with a map and tools, and a pilot-mate for hire. The only rule... everyone must come dressed as a pirate. The adventure can be played in one raft or competing rafts. Once on the water, the team cracks open the chest, reads the lost letter and reviews the clues. There is an inventory of the tools, strategies are planned and a "haggl
Read more