Wyandot people
Wyandot moccasins, c. 1880, in the collection of the Bata Shoe Museum | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| United States Oklahoma Kansas Michigan | |
| Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma | 7,350 |
| Wyandot Nation of Kansas | 900 |
| Wyandot of Anderdon Nation | 800 |
| Languages | |
| English, French, Wyandot | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity, traditional beliefs | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Wendat, Petun, Wenro, Neutral, Erie, other Iroquoian peoples | |
The Wyandot people (also known as the Wyandotte) are an Indigenous people who emerged in the Great Lakes region in the mid-17th century. The Wyandot developed through a process of ethnogenesis during the Beaver Wars, when refugees from the Etionnontateronnon (Petun) and Wendat (Huron) coalesced following their dispersal by the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois). The Petun/Wendat relocated several times until settling at Michilimackinac in 1671. They migrated to the Détroit area in 1701 and by the mid-18th century had spread into the Ohio Country where they became known as the Wyandot. The Wyandot actively supported the French during the French and Indian War and the British during the American Revolutionary War. They were part of the Northwestern Confederacy formed after the war to resist American expansionism. In the early 1840s, American removal policies forced the Wyandot to relocate to Indian Territory (Kansas) west of the Mississippi River and a few years later to northeastern Oklahoma.
In the United States, the Wyandotte Nation is a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Wyandotte, Oklahoma. The Wyandot Nation of Kansas and the Wyandot of Anderdon Nation located in Michigan are organizations that self-identify as Wyandot. All three nations are affliated with the Wendat Nation of Quebec.