Stadacona was a 16th-century St. Lawrence Iroquoian village not far from where

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

was founded in 1608.

History

French explorer and navigator Jacques Cartier, while travelling and charting the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

, reached the village of Stadacona in July 1534. At the time, the village chief was

Donnacona Chief Donnacona (died 1539 in France) was the chief of the St. Lawrence Iroquois village of Stadacona, located at the present site of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. French explorer Jacques Cartier, concluding his second voyage to what is now Can ...

, who showed Cartier five scalps taken in their war with the Toudaman (likely the

Miꞌkmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the nort ...

), a neighbouring people who had attacked one of their forts the previous spring, killing 200 inhabitants. Despite efforts by the people of the village, Cartier seized some inhabitants and their chief, but later released Donnacona, who agreed for his two sons, Taignoagny and Domagaya, to return with Cartier to France for a year. Cartier returned to Stadacona with Donnacona's sons on his next voyage in 1535–1536, where he recorded a word they had used to refer to their home: "They call a town, Kanata" (

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

). When he and his crew stayed over the winter, they were effectively saved by the Stadaconans, who knew how to prepare for them a vitamin-rich broth as a cure for

scurvy Scurvy is a disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, changes to hair, and bleeding ...

that had broken out among the French, killing a quarter of Cartier's crew. The same winter, more than 50 Iroquois of the village died from diseases carried by the Europeans. After this, Cartier seized Donnacona, his sons, and seven other inhabitants, and took them back to France, where nine of the ten died. None ever returned. Five years later, Cartier came back to Stadacona in 1543 to find the village abandoned and destroyed by an unknown enemy, likely due to devastating wars by the

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

of the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

Haudenosaunee The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...

confederacy (Five Nations) to the south situated near

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

.Conrad Margaret, Finkel Alvin, Jaenen Cornelius. ''History of the Canadian Peoples: Beginnings to 1867''. Mississauga: Copp Clark Pitman. 1993, p. 93.

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; Fichier OrigineFor a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December 1635) was a Fre ...

later chose the location of the village to establish the colony of l'Habitation, which eventually grew into the city of

Québec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

References

{{reflist History of Quebec City First Nations history in Quebec Former populated places in Quebec Iroquois populated places

History

See also

References