Wendat people
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Canada (southern Ontario; 17th century) | 20,000-40,000 |
| Languages | |
| Wendat language (Iroquoian) | |
| Religion | |
| traditional Wendat religion; later Roman Catholicism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Petun, Neutral, Erie, Wenro, other Iroquoian peoples; successors: Wyandot people, Wendat Nation | |
The Wendat people (also known as the Huron) were an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy in present-day southern Ontario prior to the 1670s. The Wendat Confederacy consisted of several allied nations and was one of the principal Indigenous powers of the Great Lakes region in the early 17th century. They were defeated and dispersed during the Beaver Wars.
The Wendat first emerged as a confederacy of five nations in the St. Lawrence River Valley, especially in Southern Ontario, including the north shore of Lake Ontario. Their original homeland extended to the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron and Lake Simcoe in Ontario, Canada and occupied territory around the western part of the lake.
Two significant surviving groups of the Wendat population remained after the dispersal. One relocated to Quebec, where their descendants form the present-day Huron-Wendat Nation. The others joined with displaced neighboring peoples in the formation of the Wyandot people. In Canada, the Wendat Nation has two First Nations reserves at Wendake, Quebec.