A consideration of participants in Huron-Wendat subsistence strategies across the pre-contact and early colonization periods

Abstract

Survey and excavation at the Huron-Wendat site known as Ellery (BdGx-8) revealed two components separated by approximately 150years. The later component represents a time when Wendat communities were suffering from major epidemics from European-introduced illnesses. Differences in the composition of the zooarchaeological samples include higher proportions of perch, rabbits, and passenger pigeon in the later, post-epidemic component. We suggest that the nature of the fauna and the technology needed to obtain it indicates increased involvement by ‘legitimate peripheral participants’ in subsistence activities compared with earlier times.