The Huron-Wendat Origins of Kanesatake
By focusing on the foundational influence of a population of Huron-Wendat origin, the current article strives to shed new light on the history of the nominally Iroquois communities of the Montreal region during the second half of the 17th century, and more particularly on that of Kanesatake. Migrating to the St. Lawrence Valley after decades of more or less coerced residence in Iroquoia, many Hurons indeed played a key role in the establishment of Kentake (La Prairie, later Kahnawake) circa 1667 and, as a result of a falling-out, of Kanesatake (La Montagne, and eventually Lake of Two Mountains) in 1675. Although these individuals of Huron origin were fated to assimilate among the Iroquois in the medium and long term, the archives hint at the slow fading of residual identities and solidarities. A political crisis at Kanesatake c.1740, the untangling of which invite the historian’s detour via Detroit, bring these Huron origins back fully into view.