In the mid-to late 1660s and early 1670s, the Haudenosaunee established a series of settlements at strategic locations along the trade routes inland at short distances from the north shore of Lake Ontario. From east to west, these communities consisted of Ganneious, on Napanee or Hay Bay, on the Bay of Quinte; Kenté, near the isthmus of the Quinte Peninsula; Ganaraské, at the mouth of the Ganaraska River; Quintio, on Rice Lake; Ganatsekwyagon, near the mouth of the Rouge River; Teiaiagon, near the mouth of the Humber River; and Qutinaouatoua, inland from the western end of Lake Ontario. All of these settlements likely contained people from several Haudenosaunee nations as well as former Ontario Iroquoians who had been adopted by the Haudenosaunee. These self-sufficient places acted as bases for their own inhabitants but also served as stopovers for south shore Haudenosaunee on their way to and from the beaver hunt beyond the lower Great Lakes. The Cayuga village of Kenté was where, in 1668, the Sulpicians established a mission by the same name, which became the basis for the region’s later name of Quinte. In 1676, a short-lived subsidiary mission was established at Teiaiagon. It appears that most of the north shore villages were abandoned by 1688. This volume brings together traditional Indigenous knowledge as well as documentary and recent archaeological evidence of this period and focuses on describing the historical context and efforts to find the settlements and presents examinations of the unique material culture found at them and at similar communities in the Haudenosaunee homeland. Available formats: trade paperback and accessible PDF

In the mid-seventeenth century, the Haudenosaunee established settlements at strategic locations along the north shore of Lake Ontario. This volume summarizes traditional Indigenous, documentary, and archaeological knowledge of these places.

This timely volume offers a compilation of twenty-four articles covering a wide spectrum of topics in Iroquoian archaeology. Culled from leading publications, the pieces collectively represent the current state of knowledge and research in the field. A comprehensive research bibliography with more than 500 entries will be a key resource for specialists and non-specialists alike. Both text and bibliography are structured in five sections: Origins; Precolumbian Dynamics; Postcolumbian Dynamics; Material Culture Studies; and Contemporary Iroquois Perspectives, Repatriation, and Collaborative Archaeology. Along with seminal essays by major figures in regional archaeology, the book includes responses by Haudenosaunee writers to the political context of contemporary archaeological work. This collection will prove indispensable to scholars in all areas of Iroquois studies, students and teachers of Iroquoian archaeology, and professional and avocational archaeologists in the United States and Canada.

One hundred and forty-one people from MacKay Presbyterian Church, in Ottawa, served in the First World War. This is an astonishing record, but one that was by no means uncommon in Canada. Why did these men, their families, and their church enlist in this great war for “justice, truth, and righteousness, and for the Glory of God”? What was the impact of war on the surviving soldiers as they and their families adjusted to a changed world, to permanent injuries and to painful memories? This study of the experience of one church at war weaves together the stories of soldiers on the battlefields of Europe with those of the families who waited and prayed, enduring privation, fear, loneliness, and grief. It centres on the 19 men who fell in the war — some as heroes in desperate battles, others with tragic randomness or from illness, several with no known graves — and the widows they left to cope as best they could, the children who grew up without fathers, and the families who mourned their loss even as they took pride in their sacrifice. Using new methods including online research and the tools of genealogical study to bring to life people who did not leave a rich legacy of information on their lives and families, this study of a church at war deepens our understanding of the social history of Canada’s participation in the First World War, and provides a model for research on churches, communities, and institutions.

The book opens with a brief historical outline of Onondaga culture and a sketch of the major developments in Iroquois prehistory. Each site is described, with a short account of its discovery, location in relation to other sites and natural features, testing and excavations, and artifacts. The site descriptions are arranged in chronological “phases”— Castle Creek, Oak Hill, Chance, and Garoga—based upon William A. Ritchie’s classification. In the last chapter, Professor Tuck summaries his wealth of data and interprets the origin and development of Onondaga culture in view of his archaeological findings, which also make us of radiocarbon dating techniques. The illustrations are an essential part of the book. Forty-four plates show arrowpoints, ceramic sherds, post molds revealing outlines of longhouses, cooking pits, occasional human burials, smoking pipes, and much more. Eight figures provide maps of sites, specific details of excavations, and a chronological sequence of Onondaga villages. Twenty-one tales give the frequencies and percentages of smoking pipe varieties, faunal remains, ceramic types, and other items discovered in the field work. An appendix includes techniques of ceramic analysis and many line drawings of ceramic varieties.

The League of the Iroquois, the most famous native government in North America, dominated intertribal diplomacy in the Northeast and influenced the course of American colonial history for nearly two centuries. The age and early development of the League, however, have long been in dispute. In this highly original book, two anthropological archaeologists with differing approaches and distinct regional interests synthesize their research to explore the underpinnings of the confederacy. Wonderley and Sempowski endeavor to address such issues as when tribes coalesced, when intertribal alliances presaging the League were forged, when the five-nation confederation came to fruition, and what light oral tradition may shine on these developments. This groundbreaking work develops a new conversation in the field of Indigenous studies, one that deepens our understanding of the Iroquois League’s origins.

Lake Ontario has profoundly influenced the historical evolution of North America. For centuries it has enabled and enriched the societies that crowd¬ed its edges, from fertile agricultural landscapes to energy production systems to sprawling cities. In The Lives of Lake Ontario Daniel Macfarlane details the lake’s relationship with the Indigenous nations, settler cultures, and modern countries that have occupied its shores. He examines the myriad ways Canada and the United States have used and abused this resource: through dams and canals, drinking water and sewage, trash and pollution, fish and foreign species, industry and manufacturing, urbanization and infrastructure, population growth and biodiversity loss. Serving as both bridge and buffer between the two countries, Lake Ontario came to host Canada’s largest megalopolis. Yet its transborder exploitation exacted a tremendous ecological cost, leading people to abandon the lake. Innovative regulations in the later twentieth century, such as the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreements, have partially improved Lake Ontario’s health. Despite signs that communities are reengaging with Lake Ontario, it remains the most degraded of the Great Lakes, with new and old problems alike exacerbated by climate change. The Lives of Lake Ontario demonstrates that this lake is both remarkably resilient and uniquely vulnerable.