Ganneious facts for kids

Ganneious, also spelled Ganneous, was an old village once settled by the Oneida. It was located on the north shore of Lake Ontario, close to where Napanee, Ontario, Canada, is today. Later, starting in 1696, the Mississauga people lived there.^:10 The name "Ganneious" probably came from a French word, "Gannejout(s)," which meant Oneida.

A Look Back at Ganneious's History

Ganneious was a temporary village built by the Iroquois confederacy in the mid-1600s. They moved north from their home in New York state. This village was one of seven northern bases for the Iroquois. From these spots, they could hunt animals like beaver for furs. They also controlled the trade of furs coming from the north and west to markets in Albany. Ganneious was likely located near the rich farmlands of the Hay Bay area, close to Fredericksburg and Cataraqui. We don't know the exact spot of the village today.

French Influence and Fort Frontenac

In 1673, the French built Fort Frontenac in what is now Kingston, Ontario. This fort was about 40 kilometers east of Ganneious. The fort's arrival greatly changed life in Ganneious. French missionaries tried to get the people of Ganneious to move closer to the fort. They wanted them to become Christian, adopt European ways, and learn new trades and farming skills.

In 1675, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle and Father Louis Hennepin traveled to Ganneious. They wanted to convince the Oneida living there to move closer to Fort Frontenac. Father Hennepin wrote that he was successful. He said some people from Ganneious agreed to move and settle near the fort:

While the Brink of the Lake was frozen, I walk'd upon the Ice to an Iroquese village call'd Ganneouse, near to Kente, about nine Leagues off the fort, in company of Sieur de la Salle above-mention'd. These Savages presented us with the Flesh of Elks and Porcupines, which we fed upon. After having discours'd them some time, we return'd, bringing with us a considerable number of the Natives, in order to form a little Village of about Forty Cottages to be inhabited by them, lying betwixt the Fort and our House of Mission.

—Louis Hennepin

The Village's End

In June 1687, the French governor, Jacques Rene de Brisay de Donneville, gathered the people of Ganneious. He took them as captives. Donneville left Montreal in June 1687 with 2,700 soldiers. His troops captured 200 people from Kente and Ganneious. They also destroyed both villages. After 1687, all seven Iroquois villages on the northern shore of Lake Ontario were left empty.

Later, starting in 1696, the village site became a Mississauga settlement. However, it wasn't fully occupied until 1721.^:10-11

Other Iroquois Villages in the Area

By the late 1660s, different groups of Iroquois had built seven villages along Lake Ontario. These villages were located where trails led into the land. Besides Ganneious, historian Percy James Robinson has identified these other settlements:

• Kente – located on the Bay of Quinte
• Kentsio – found on Rice Lake
• Ganaraske – where Port Hope is today
• Ganatsekwyagon – at the mouth of the Rouge River
• Teiaiagon – at the mouth of the Humber River
• Quinaouatoua (or Tinawatawa) – near modern-day Hamilton

Ganneious in Fiction

Author Gerald Richardson Brown wrote a historical novel called Road to Ganneious. This story takes place in the Hay Bay area during the 17th and 18th centuries.