Iroquois Indians A Paddling Canadian Learning Adventure

Canoe, kayak or raft the Grand River Valley… now the home of the Iroquois Indian but originally the ancestral home of the Iroquoian Attawandarons. Anyone who paddles through this valley finds an awe that holds a lost presence. No one can drift down the river without wondering who was there before.

The great Attawandarons are a nation existing only on bits and pieces of paper. Their magnificent valley on the Grand River now stands silent. The last full blooded Attawandaron was recorded in a census living displaced near Lake Michigan in the 1780’s. In the valley it is said "where there is sumac, there is a dead Indian". The reason being… that sumac thrives on light soils and for the Attawandarons such soil was an easy place to bury the dead.

The Attawandaron’s homeland was in Southern Ontario one hour west of Toronto. They were a native race that farmed the rich soils of the Grand River Valley with palisade longhouse villages. Their existence was a challenge because of the tribes around them. They had the Huron to the north and the fierce Iroquois to the south... both were like pincers around them. Yet the Attawandarons were powerful enough to enforce a state of neutrality on their land between the Huron and the Iroquois Nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca). Thus the nickname "Neutrals" was given to them by the French.

There is very little known of these people because the Huron minimized European contact with the Attawandarons. The Huron did not want the French to establish direct trading contact with the Neutrals because the Huron controlled the critical go-between position for fur exchange. The Huron convinced the Attawandarons that the visiting French priests were demonic. In turn, the Attawandarons became very aggressive restricting French contact with their villages.

The demise of the Attawandaron was the result of two things; harbouring Huron war parties against the Iroquois and an Iroquoian greed for larger fur territories. During the 1650’s Southern Ontario experienced the Indian Fur Wars. This resulted in the southern Iroquois attacking the Attawandarons and removing them from a position of control in Southern Ontario. Those that remained were either absorbed by the fierce Iroquois or fled to the Lake Michigan area for refuge.

The burial sites and villages of this lost tribe still exist along the Grand River, but are known to few. Even though the Attawandaron Nation is now extinct the world they lived in can be experienced today. The Grand River valley is steeped in aboriginal native history. If one looks hard… there are flint artifacts… village grind stones… and native burial grounds. There is no one here to morn the dead… in fact no one knows the dead are here. Native tradition for Iroquois journeying down the Grand River is to sprinkle tobacco as an offering and recognition to the ancient ones that once lived along the river.

For those who wish to know more about the valley of this ancient people there are guided learning adventures. In the evening or during the day the Grand River rafting companies in the valley offers interpretive guides that will take interested groups down the river in safety; teaching about the native history, edible plants and wildlife. The trips combine hiking, paddling and hands-on experiences. These experiential learning adventures leave no one disappointed.

Many have never swam in a river… or tasted fresh water springs… or rubbed plant medicine to the skin. As old stories are told… lost words re-form on a child’s tongue. People smile as they play in the water… youthfulness engages all… it is a different place on the river… something the native people always had.

People marvel at the "croaking" noise of the blue herons… they freeze when the evening coyotes howl… and jump when a beaver tail smacks. They marvel at soaring vultures and red-tail hawks… and delights at the fishing antics of osprey. They get excited when a deer flags its tail or a wild turkey appears… even a lone goose or a clam-washing coon holds the eye. Things that a native Attawandaron would simply take in… now rivet people’s attention.

These floating classrooms open up the Attawandaron world. Learning adventures with skilled guides make a hidden world that could be easily missed become alive. Anyone can rent a canoe or kayak and paddle. But a learning adventure is different… there is no rushing through. Instead… there is an acute awareness of totally enjoying a wilderness experience. It raises new questions… Where have we been? What have we missed? Why have we been gone so long?

Welcome to the lost valley of the Attawandarons!