St. Lawrence Iroquoians - The Visit of Jacques Cartier

The Visit of Jacques Cartier

In his expedition of 1535 and 1536, the explorer Jacques Cartier observed several Iroquoian villages north of Île d'Orléans (near present-day Quebec), including the villages of Stadacona on the site of modern-day Quebec City, as well as Hochelaga in the vicinity of modern-day Montreal. Archeologists in the 20th century have unearthed similar villages further southwest, near the eastern end of Lake Ontario and are finding evidence of additional discrete groups of St. Lawrence Iroquoians.

The people lived in villages that were usually located a few kilometres inland from the Saint-Lawrence River, outside the immediate floodplain. The settlements were often enclosed by a wooden palisade for defense. Up to 2000 persons lived in the larger villages. Although Cartier mentioned the longhouses in Hochelaga, he left no further description of Stadacona or the other nearby villages.