War is renewed between the Huron–Wendat and the Haudenosaunee

February 11, 2017

Aboriginal methods of waging war, Joseph François Lafitau, 1724. Canadian Museum of History, RARE FC 71 L35 1703 v. 2

1642

In 1642, war was renewed between the Huron–Wendat and the Five Nations of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois). Both were reeling from a series of epidemics, which had reduced their numbers catastrophically. The Haudenosaunee sought to regain their losses, and assuage their grief, through what was known as a mourning war, where war captives were either adopted or put to death through torture. Between 1642 and 1646, the Haudenosaunee attacked numerous Huron–Wendat villages, as well as those of allied groups, including the Anishinabe of the Ottawa valley. These attacks culminated in the destruction of the Huron–Wendat league in 1649–1650.

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