Situated within the area stretching from Georgian Bay in the north
to Lake Simcoe in the east (also known as Wendake), the Wendat
Confederacy flourished for two hundred years. By the mid-seventeenth
century, however, Wendat society was under attack. Disease and warfare
plagued the community, culminating in a series of Iroquois assaults
that led to the dispersal of the Wendat people in 1649.
Yet the Wendat did not disappear, as many historians have maintained.
In Dispersed but Not Destroyed, Kathryn Magee Labelle examines
the creation of a Wendat diaspora in the wake of the Iroquois attacks.
By focusing the historical lens on the dispersal and its aftermath, she
extends the seventeenth-century Wendat narrative. In the latter half of
the century, Wendat leaders continued to appear at councils, trade
negotiations, and diplomatic ventures - including the Great Peace
of Montreal in 1701 - relying on established customs of
accountability and consensus. Women also continued to assert their
authority during this time, guiding their communities toward paths of
cultural continuity and accommodation. Through tactics such as this,
the power of the Wendat Confederacy and their unique identity was
maintained. Turning the story of Wendat conquest on its head, this book
demonstrates the resiliency of the Wendat people and writes a new
chapter in North American history.
Kathryn Magee Labelle is an assistant professor in the
History Department at the University of Saskatchewan.