Neutral Confederacy facts for kids
The Neutral Confederacy (also known as the Neutral Nation or Neutral people) was a group of Iroquoian peoples who lived in what is now Ontario, Canada. Their main territory was around the Grand River. At its largest, their land reached the shores of Lake Erie, Lake Huron, and Lake Ontario, as well as the Niagara River in the east.
They were neighbors with other Iroquoian groups like the Huron and Petun Country to the northeast. The powerful Iroquois Confederacy was located across Lake Ontario to the southeast.
Like other Iroquoian groups, the Neutrals were skilled farmers. They grew crops and also hunted animals. They were known for hunting deer, and one of their main groups was called Chonnonton ('keepers of the deer'). They even herded deer into pens to help with hunting! Another group, the Onguiaahra, lived near the Niagara Peninsula. Some people believe the name "Niagara" comes from this group.
The Neutral Confederacy's land had large amounts of flint. Flint was a very important resource for making sharp tools, starting fires, and later, for firearms. This allowed them to trade with both the Huron and Iroquois, even though these groups often fought each other.
In the early 1600s, Jesuits (French missionaries) visited the area. They called the people "Neutral" because they tried to stay out of the wars between the Huron and the Iroquois. However, the Neutrals did fight with an Algonquian group called the Mascouten or "Fire Nation," who lived in what is now Michigan.
In 1616, the Neutral Confederacy had about 40 villages and 4,000 warriors. By 1641, after a serious sickness, the Jesuits counted about 12,000 Neutral people living in 40 villages. Sadly, the Neutral Confederacy could not survive the big changes happening around them. In the 1650s, after many wars and diseases, they scattered. The remaining members joined other Iroquoian nations. French records stopped mentioning the Neutrals as a separate nation after 1672.
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What Were the Neutral People Called?
The Neutral people called themselves Chonnonton, which means 'people of the deer' or 'the people who manage deer'.
The Huron called them ''Attawandaron''. This name meant 'people whose speech is a little different'. The Iroquois had their own names for them, too. Some of the groups within the Neutral Confederacy included the Aondironon, the Wenrehronon, and the Ongniaahraronon.
The French named them "Neutral" (la Nation neutre). They chose this name because the Neutrals tried to stay out of the many wars between the Huron tribes and the Iroquois Confederacy.
Where Did the Neutral Confederacy Live?
During the late 1500s and early 1600s, the Attawandaron lived mostly in southern Ontario, Canada. Their villages stretched along the north shore of Lake Erie, from the Niagara Peninsula to the Detroit River. They might have lived as far north as Toronto and as far west as Goderich.
They had many people living in the Niagara Peninsula and near the modern-day cities of Hamilton and Milton, Ontario. There was also a smaller group living east of the Niagara River, near present-day Buffalo, New York.
A powerful chief named Souharissen lived in a village called Ounontisatan. He made trade agreements that protected his people. A French priest, Joseph de la Roche Daillon, lived with him for five months in 1626–1627. Daillon visited 28 Neutral villages, including their capital, which the French called Nôtre Dame des Anges.
The land where the Neutrals lived was heavily forested. It was full of different wild fruit trees, nut trees, berry bushes, and wild grape vines. Animals like elk, caribou, black bear, deer, wolves, foxes, and wild cats lived in the woods.
Archaeological finds show that the Neutral Confederacy lived in areas like Waterloo, Ontario and Kitchener, Ontario. In 2020, a site near Kitchener was found with about 35,000 objects, including stone tools and a 4,000-year-old arrowhead. A Neutral Confederacy cemetery was also found in Grimsby, Ontario in 1976. The area of Morriston in Puslinch, Ontario may have been home to one of the largest Neutral settlements, with about 4,000 people.
The Neutrals had a lot of Onondaga chert in their lands. This type of stone was great for making tools. It was also available to the Iroquois, but not to other nearby groups.
What Was the History of the Neutral People?
The Neutrals had an agreement with the Wenrohronon, another Iroquoian-speaking group. They worked together to defend against the strong Iroquois Five Nations Confederacy. However, this alliance broke apart in 1639, which was very bad for the Wenrohronon.
Étienne Brûlé traveled through Neutral territory around 1615 and spent a winter there in 1625–1626. A priest, Father Joseph de La Roche Daillon, visited the Neutrals in 1626 and thought their population was about 40,000 people. About 14 years later, two other priests, Jean de Brébeuf and Pierre Joseph Marie Chaumonot, visited 18 Neutral settlements. By then, the population was estimated to be around 12,000 people and 4,000 warriors in about 40 villages.
After defeating the Hurons, the Iroquois attacked the Neutrals. Around 1650, during a time known as the Beaver Wars (which involved fighting over furs), the Iroquois Confederacy declared war on the Attawandaron. Some historians say the Iroquois destroyed the Neutral society, ending it as a separate group by 1651. However, the Neutral population had already been greatly reduced by diseases like smallpox and measles brought by Europeans. By 1652, the Iroquois had also defeated the Huron, Petun, and Erie Nations.
Some Neutrals joined Seneca villages in New York, while others were absorbed into different societies. The Kenjockety family, one of the last known families to have Neutral ancestors, still lives among the Senecas. The last mention of the Neutrals as an independent society was in the fall of 1653.
How Did the Neutral People Live?
The Neutral Confederacy shared many things with the Petun Nation, and they might have had common ancestors. Writings from 1652 describe how both the Petun and Neutrals often had tattoos on their bodies.
The Neutrals were "semi-nomadic," meaning they moved their villages. They would live in a village for about 20 years. Then, they would move to a new spot after the game animals and soil in the area were used up. They also used smaller camps for farming or hunting. The Neutrals lived in longhouses, which were large homes that sheltered many families.
They tried to stay neutral in the fights between the Iroquois (from south of the Great Lakes) and the Ontario Iroquoians (to the north). They became strong through active trading instead of war. However, the Huron nation tried hard to stop the Neutrals from trading with the French.
The chief of 28 villages in the last years of the Neutral Confederacy was named Tsouharissen, or Souharissen ("Child of the Sun"). He led several attacks against the Mascouten ("The Fire Nation") who lived in what is now Michigan and Ohio. A report from 1627 called him the chief of all the Neutral nation. Tsouharissen died around 1646. Within a generation, many First Nations groups, including the Erie, Huron, Neutrals, and Tobacco tribes, were greatly affected by diseases or wars with the Iroquois.
Flintworking and Trade
The Neutrals dug up Onondaga chert from their lands. Before Europeans arrived, they used this chert to make arrowheads, knives, and other weapons and tools. This continued even after Europeans came. This stone was better for making tools than other types of stone found nearby.
Having this important resource helped the Neutrals stay neutral. However, once their neighbors started getting firearms from Europeans, having flint was less of an advantage. Flint was still used for the firing mechanism on guns. The Neutrals continued to trade things like maize (corn), tobacco, and valuable furs for steel axes, glass beads, cloaks, and even firearms.
What Language Did the Neutrals Speak?
Records from Jesuit priests in the 1600s show that the Neutral language was similar to Huron. They believed that all three groups (Neutral, Huron, and another group) might have once been part of a single group.
Their neighbors, the Wendat (Huron) Nation, sometimes called the Neutrals "Attawandaron," meaning "Those whose speech is awry" because their dialect sounded different. (It seems the Neutrals used the same term for the Wendat!) Since the Neutral Confederacy's language has been gone for over 300 years, we don't know much about it today. Priests noted that the Neutral language was different enough from Wendat that they even planned to write a separate Neutral grammar book and dictionary, but these are now lost.
Archaeological Discoveries
The Southwold Earthworks, near St. Thomas, Ontario, is a National Historic Site of Canada. It contains the remains of a Neutral village from before European contact. It's special because of its clear earthworks, which are rare and well-preserved in southern Ontario.
The Museum of Ontario Archaeology in London, Ontario, is next to the Lawson site. This is another 500-year-old Neutral village that has been studied since the early 1900s. An Ontario historical plaque marks the site, which was used by Neutrals in the 1500s. About 1,000 to 2,000 people lived in longhouses in this fortified community. Digs have found 30,000 artifacts and the remains of 19 longhouses. Some of the longhouses and the surrounding fence have been rebuilt.
Professor William Noble from McMaster University has found and studied many Neutral villages southwest of Hamilton. He believes the main Neutral Confederacy center was at the Walker site, led by Chief Souharissen. Noble also helped dig up other Neutral sites in Thorold, Grimsby, and Binbrook. Finds from these sites show that the Neutrals hunted not only deer but also elk, moose, beaver, raccoons, squirrels, black bear, fox, and muskrat. Remains of fish like catfish, whitefish, salmon, and trout were also common.
In 1983–1985, another large Neutral village site was dug up. This site, called the Ivan Elliot site, covered 13 acres near Morriston, Ontario. About 4,000 Neutrals lived in longhouses there for about 20 years. Another nearby village site, on the McPhee farm, was excavated in 1983. This village had about 1,000 people around 1500–1530.
Archaeologist Mary Jackes has studied why the Neutral Confederacy declined and ended. She looked at French reports and artifacts from the Grimsby site. The French first met the Neutrals in 1610 and described them as "strong, healthy and numerous." They lived in the most fertile and warmest part of Ontario. They tried to stay neutral in conflicts and grew strong through trade. However, the final disaster that led to their end by the early 1650s was a combination of wars and diseases.
In 1976, when land was being prepared for new homes in Grimsby, Ontario, a Neutral Confederacy burial site was found. The excavation was stopped after two months in 1977, and the skeletons were reburied near where they were found.
Images for kids
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The homeland of the Neutral people (left) was between the southeastern shores of Lake Huron, the western shores of Lake Ontario, and the northern shores of Lake Erie in Canada.
