HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Teiaiagon was an
Iroquoian The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, all surviving Iroquoia ...
village on the east bank of the Humber River in what is now the York district of
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, Canada. It was located along the
Toronto Carrying-Place Trail The Toronto Carrying-Place Trail, also known as the Humber Portage and the Toronto Passage, was a major portage route in Ontario, Canada, linking Lake Ontario with Lake Simcoe and the northern Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the ...
. The site is near the current intersection of Jane Street and Annette Street, at which is situated the community of
Baby Point Baby Point is a residential neighbourhood in the York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is bounded on the west by the Humber River from south of Baby Point Crescent to St. Marks Road, east to Jane Street and Jane Street south to Raymond Av ...
. The name means "It crosses the stream."


History

Percy Robinson's ''Toronto During the French Regime'' shows Teiaiagon as being a jointly occupied village of Seneca and Mohawk. Helen Tanner's ''Atlas of Great Lakes Indian History'' describes Teiaiagon as a Seneca village around the years 1685-1687, although it existed before that time, and as a Mississauga village around 1696.
Étienne Brûlé Étienne Brûlé (; – c. June 1633) was the first European explorer to journey beyond the St. Lawrence River into what is now known as Canada. He spent much of his early adult life among the Hurons, and mastered their language and learne ...
passed through Teiaiagon in 1615.Teiaiagon
/ref> The village was on an important route for the developing
fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mo ...
industry, and it was also "surrounded by horticultural fields". Williamson 2008: 51 It was said to be about "a day's journey from the Toronto Lake, our present Lake Simcoe". On November 18, 1678,
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (; November 22, 1643 – March 19, 1687), was a 17th-century French explorer and fur trader in North America. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, the Mississippi River, ...
departed
Fort Frontenac Fort Frontenac was a French trading post and military fort built in July 1673 at the mouth of the Cataraqui River where the St. Lawrence River leaves Lake Ontario (at what is now the western end of the La Salle Causeway), in a location traditi ...
for Niagara in a
brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Old ...
with a crew including La Motte and the RĂ©collet missionary
Louis Hennepin Father Louis Hennepin, O.F.M. baptized Antoine, (; 12 May 1626 â€“ 5 December 1704) was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Recollet order (French: ''RĂ©collets'') and an explorer of the interior of North Ameri ...
, following the north shore of Lake Ontario to mitigate the effects of a storm. The ship was grounded three times, forcing the crew to stop at the mouth of the Humber River on November 26. The surprised inhabitants of the village "were hospitable and supplied them with provisions". Lizars 1913: 24 On December 5, the ship set off after being cut out of the ice with axes. Before departing, "La Motte's men bartered their commodities with the natives" for corn. Hennepin and others have recorded that the village was inhabited by as many as 5,000 people and had 50
long houses A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from timber and often rep ...
. La Salle camped at Teiaiagon several other times, once in the summer of 1680, and "perhaps twice in 1681" during his expeditions. There was a burial ground located in the central part of the village. The Senecas left the village, either pushed out by, or voluntarily for, the Mississaugas by 1701. With the removal of the Iroquois from southern Ontario by the Mississaugas, the
Anishinaabe The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawato ...
and French trade began to flourish in the region shortly after the Great Peace of Montreal of 1701. Associated with this trade, there was a very small French garrison or
Magasin Royal Magasin royal () was the generic name given to a trading post under the purview of the King of France. The name also applied specifically to two trading posts that were built during the 18th century for French fur trading near the Humber River in ...
located near the site of Teiaiagon from 1720 to 1730. In 1730, the French garrison was located downriver of the site. A store was later built at the mouth of the Humber in 1750 and Fort Rouillé soon after, east of the Humber. The Mississaugas did not live at the site of the village of Teiaiagon, but had a village located across the Humber River, on the west bank of the river, near Old Mill Road and Bloor Street, from 1788-1805. James Bâby from
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
in 1816 acquired the land now called
Baby Point Baby Point is a residential neighbourhood in the York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is bounded on the west by the Humber River from south of Baby Point Crescent to St. Marks Road, east to Jane Street and Jane Street south to Raymond Av ...
and only had orchards located on the site of Teiaiagon. The site was relatively undisturbed as it was not farmed. The Teiaiagon area was acquired by the government for a military fortress and army barracks, but then was sold to
Robert Home Smith The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
, who began developing the Baby Point subdivision in 1912. In 1949, at the south-west corner of Baby Point Road and Baby Point Crescent, a plaque was erected, briefly mentioning "Taiaiagon."


Cartography

Possibly because early European explorers had difficulty in transcribing First Nations names into European orthographic systems, numerous spelling variations exist. These include ''Taiaiako'n'', ''Taiaiagon'', ''Teyeyagon'', and ''Toioiugon''. The name "Teiaigon" appears on a 1688 map of
New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to King ...
drawn by Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin based on "sixteen years' of observation of the author". It was indicated to be on the eastern side of a small bay, from which a portage route led to the west branch of Lake Taronto.


Archeology

Excavations at Baby Point were first conducted in the late nineteenth century. Records from that excavation have been lost, though it is known that they revealed "traces of palisade walls". In the late 1990s and early 2000s another excavation, conducted as a result of installation of a
natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon ...
line to the residential neighbourhood, discovered the burial plots of two Seneca women, which were dated to the 1680s. One of the women was buried with a moose antler comb engraved with a rattlesnake-tailed panther, "possibly representing Mishipizheu", Williamson 2008: 52 which morphs into a bear. The other woman was buried with three brass rings and a carved moose antler comb depicting "two human figures wearing European-style clothes flanking an Aboriginal figure". Another burial plot on Baby Point was found in 2010 when a house was being renovated. Artifacts were studied and a ceremonial reburial took place. Just north of the site, in today's Magwood Park, is "Thunderbird Mound", which is believed to be an ancient burial mound. The site has not been studied for its archaeology. The site is considered threatened by erosion and pedestrian traffic by the Taiaiako'n Historical Preservation Society.


Iroquois villages on the north shore of Lake Ontario

By the late 1660s various Five Nation Iroquois had established seven villages along the shores of Lake Ontario where trails led off into the interior. In addition to Teiaiagon at the mouth of the Humber River, the following settlements have been identified by historian Percy James Robinson: * Ganneious - on the site of present-day
Napanee Greater Napanee is a town in southeastern Ontario, Canada, approximately west of Kingston and the county seat of Lennox and Addington County. It is located on the eastern end of the Bay of Quinte. Greater Napanee municipality was created by am ...
* Kente - on the
Bay of Quinte The Bay of Quinte () is a long, narrow bay shaped like the letter "Z" on the northern shore of Lake Ontario in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is just west of the head of the Saint Lawrence River that drains the Great Lakes into the Gulf ...
* Kentsio - on Rice Lake * Ganaraske - on the site of present-day Port Hope * Ganatsekwyagon - at the mouth of the Rouge River * Quinaouatoua (or Tinawatawa) - Near modern-day Hamilton


See also

* Bead Hill *
York, Upper Canada York was a town and second capital of the colony of Upper Canada. It is the predecessor to the old city of Toronto (1834–1998). It was established in 1793 by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe as a "temporary" location for the capital ...


References

* * * * * *


Notes

{{Toronto History of Toronto Seneca tribe Mississauga First Nation First Nations history in Ontario Iroquois populated places First Nations sites in Toronto 17th century in Ontario