The Eighteenth-Century Wyandot: A Clan-Based Study (Indigenous Studies) - Softcover

Steckley, John L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1771122005 ISBN 13: 9781771122009

Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2015

Synopsis

The Wyandot were born of two Wendat peoples encountered by the French in the first half of the seventeenth century—the otherwise named Petun and Huron—and their history is fragmented by their dispersal between Quebec, Michigan, Kansas, and Oklahoma. This book weaves these fragmented histories together, with a focus on the mid-eighteenth century.
Author John Steckley claims that the key to consolidating the stories of the scattered Wyandot lies in their clan structure. Beginning with the half century of their initial diaspora, as interpreted through the political strategies of five clan leaders, and continuing through the eighteenth century and their shared residency with Jesuit missionaries—notably, the distinct relationships different clans established with them—Steckley reveals the resilience of the Wyandot clan structure. He draws upon rich but previously ignored sources—including baptismal, marriage, and mortuary records, and a detailed house-to-house census compiled in 1747, featuring a list of male and female elders—to illustrate the social structure of the people, including a study of both male and female leadership patterns. A recording of the 1747 census as well as translated copies of letters sent between the Wyandot and the French is included in an appendix.

About this title

About the Author

John L. Steckley has taught at Humber College since 1983 in the areas of Aboriginal languages, culture, and history. His books include: Beyond Their Years: Five Native Women’s Stories; Full Circle: Canada’s First Nations; Aboriginal Voices and the Politics of Representation in Canadian Introductory Sociology Textbooks and De Religione: Telling the 17th Century Jesuit Story in Huron to the Iroquois. In 1999, he was adopted into the Wyandot tribe of Kansas.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1771122005
• ISBN 13: 9781771122009
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 316