Hochelaga (village)
Encyclopedia
Hochelaga meaning "beaver dam" or "beaver lake" was a St. Lawrence Iroquoian
16th century fortified village at the heart of, or in the immediate vicinity of Mount Royal in present-day Montreal
, Quebec, Canada. Jacques Cartier
arrived by boat on October 2, 1535; he visited the village on the following day. He was greeted well by the Iroquians, and named the mountain he saw nearby, Mount Royal. Several names in and around Montreal and the Hochelaga Archipelago are due to him.
A stone marker recalling the former village was placed in 1925 on land adjacent to McGill University
, believed to be in the vicinity of the location of the village visited by Cartier in 1535. The site of the marker is designated a National Historic Site of Canada.
in 1545. We know of a plan titled: "La Terra de Hochelaga nella Nova Francia" illustrating, in the European manner of the period, Cartier's visit. Drawn by Giacomo Gastaldi
(~1500- 1566), he illustrates volume III of "Delle Navigationi et viaggi", a work done in Venice between 1550 and 1556 by Giovanni Battista Ramusio
(1485–1557). The perfect, regular arrangement of the houses, conforming to the urban ideal of the Italian Renaissance, was probably his own invention; as well as the boards covering the palisade, which was unknown to the indigenous people. In fact, if the plan faithfully illustrates the notes of the French explorer, it offers little resemblance to the ethno-historical reality. A reproduction of La Terra de Hochelaga by Paul-Émile Borduas
decorates the walls of the Grand Chalet of the parc Mont-Royal.
The town, surrounded by a wooden palisade, had around fifty houses made of wood and bark, mostly long-houses, rectangular and rounded; the population is estimated to have been approximately 3,000 inhabitants. It was doubtlessly destroyed afterwards, because it was not mentioned by Jacques Cartier on his return visit to the island in 1541. He spoke about two villages, but only one, Tutonaguy, was named. War has been suggested as the cause of the disappearance of Hochelaga, possibly coming from Stadacona
. The inhabitants' disappearance has spawned several theories, including devastating wars with the Iroquois tribes to the South or with the Hurons to the West, the impact of Old World diseases, or their migration Westward toward the shores of the Great Lakes. However, according to Archéobec, villages that were regularly abandoned, following a cycle of land exhaustion, would be the main reason. At the time of Samuel de Champlain
's arrival, both Algonquins and Mohawks hunted in the Saint Lawrence Valley and conducted raids, but neither had any permanent settlements.
This custom of moving villages is a possible explanation of why the exact emplacement of the Iroquois settlement remains a mystery in the present day, despite all the hypotheses that agree to place it close to Mount Royal. W.D. Lighthall held that Hochelaga was at the Dawson site, discovered in 1860 close to McGill University
. The site appears to correspond to a village preceding the foundation of Ville-Marie
by one or two centuries, but didn't have a palisade and seems to be too cramped. Another proposed emplacement is Outremont
, North of the mountain, likely if J. Cartier arrived via the rivière des Prairies
. The urbanist Pierre Larouche, based on the topometric data deduced from the Gastaldi illustration, has proposed that the village was situated on the summit of the mountain. This hypothesis isn't very well-supported, since "La Terra de Hochelaga" is a second-hand reconstruction. Furthermore, Cartier states clearly that the mountain was "adjacent to their said village," that Hochelaga was "close to and adjoining a mountain" and that he went to "Mount Royal a distance of a quarter league of the site" [Hochelaga], the distance that, in fact, separates the basin of Mount Royal from the surrounding hills dominating it. The archaeological excavations undertaken recently on the summit of the mountain, around the basin and in the Jeanne-Mance park East of Mount Royal have come up empty. The exact location of Hochelaga remains unknown.
to find a waterway to Cathay
(China) and to Cypango
(Japan), he reached Stadacona
(future site of Quebec City
) at the end of the Summer of 1535. Encouraged, he quickly continued on further into the interior, but the rapids surrounding Montreal blocked his route. He would then visit Hochelaga, which he described in "Bref Recit" meaning 'brief account' (1545). In 1611, the discoverer Samuel de Champlain
would return to it. In 1642, the village of Ville-Marie was founded by Paul Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve but the inhabitants, little by little, dropped that name, taking up instead the name of the island upon which the colony was established, "Montréal", a toponym derived from mont royal.
. Yet already, some thought that the description corresponded more to the Sault-au-Récollet
situated on Rivière des Prairies
. In effect, during the 20th century, close examination of the historical documentation allows for the proposal that before the Europeans, Rivière des Prairies was the usual waterway used by the indigenous people, much less dangerous than the Saint-Lawrence river with its rapids. It constituted a more direct waterway connecting to the Rivière des Outaouais, further upriver. Therefore it's possibly via this river that Jacques Cartier got to Hochelaga. Furthermore, the three rapids described by Cartier on a subsequent expedition are easier to locate on the Rivière des Prairies, the so-called "three saults river," than on the Saint-Lawrence river. Beaugrand-Champagne, the architect of the Grand Chalet of Mount Royal park, wrote very much about this.
(about 11 km or 6 miles), finally, he could see the village surrounded by hills and the cultivated lands of wheat, that appeared to him much more impressive than Stadacona. He writes:
…"And here within the countryside is situated and sits the said town of Hochelaga, near and joining a mountain that is, around it, ploughed and very fertile, from on top of which one can see very far."
Concerning the mountain, he declares: "We name this one Mount Royal" …without a doubt in honour of François Ier, as was customary in that period.
Jacques Cartier then visits Hochelaga, and notes its organisation:
"The said town is all in a circle... enclosed in wood, in three ranks, in the manner of a pyramid, crossed at the top, having a row perpendicular to it all”.“And this town there is only one door and entrance... There is within this town roughly fifty houses, each about fifty steps long, and…"
He then gives a detailed description of the interior of a long-house and how the people lived in it: "In each one of them, there are several hearths and several rooms." In the centre was found a common room, where the indigenous people built a fire and lived as a community.
The tour of the village was over; Jacques Cartier and his troupe were then guided up the mountain that he would name Mount Royal, probably on the back of a man, according to a "courtesy" custom he mentions further down: "...distant from the said site by about a quarter league" from the village. Once atop the summit of one the hills composing the mount, Cartier declares:
"…we can see the said river, other than where we left our barques, where there is a rapid, the most impetuous it is given to see, one which is not possible for us to pass."
Once the visit was over, Jacques Cartier returned to his boats:
"…we withdrew to our boats, that was not without a great number of the said people, a part of which, that when they saw our people tired, took them upon themselves, as on a horse, and carried them…"
Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
is now a neighbourhood of Montreal.
, in particular by Giovanni Battista Ramusio
, statesman and secretary of the Council of Ten
. A career diplomat, his role as ambassador brought him to numerous European countries. This director of the Serene
political view, who was seven when the Genovese Christopher Columbus
reached the West Indies in 1492, considered the discovery of new lands as being the most important undertaking of the time. In effect, Venice was facing a grave problem accessing India since the Ottoman Turks
had taken Constantinople
in 1453. It isn't known how, but Venice obtained a copy of Bref Recit, a memoir that Jacques Cartier had given to the king François Ier in 1545. His explorations are described in volume III of the work Delle Navigationi et Viaggi by Giovanni Battista Ramusio. The 1556 edition contains assorted illustrations by Jacopo Gastaldi, including La Terra de Hochelaga Nella Nova Francia, describing in the European mode of the time, Jacques Cartier's visit on Mount Royal.
is a reproduction of La Terra de Hochelaga by Paul-Émile Borduas
, one of the Refus global members.
St. Lawrence Iroquoians
The St. Lawrence Iroquoians were a prehistoric First Nations/Native American indigenous people who lived from the 14th century until about 1580 CE along the shores of the St. Lawrence River in present-day Quebec and Ontario, Canada, and New York State, United States. They spoke Laurentian...
16th century fortified village at the heart of, or in the immediate vicinity of Mount Royal in present-day Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec, Canada. Jacques Cartier
Jacques Cartier
Jacques Cartier was a French explorer of Breton origin who claimed what is now Canada for France. He was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named "The Country of Canadas", after the Iroquois names for the two big...
arrived by boat on October 2, 1535; he visited the village on the following day. He was greeted well by the Iroquians, and named the mountain he saw nearby, Mount Royal. Several names in and around Montreal and the Hochelaga Archipelago are due to him.
A stone marker recalling the former village was placed in 1925 on land adjacent to McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
, believed to be in the vicinity of the location of the village visited by Cartier in 1535. The site of the marker is designated a National Historic Site of Canada.
Location
The primary source of documentation that allows us to appreciate both the configuration and position of this village is: "Bref Récit et succincte narration de la navigation faite en 1535 et 1536" (Brief account and succinct narration of the navigation done in 1535 and 1536) that Jacques Cartier handed to François IerFrancis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
in 1545. We know of a plan titled: "La Terra de Hochelaga nella Nova Francia" illustrating, in the European manner of the period, Cartier's visit. Drawn by Giacomo Gastaldi
Giacomo Gastaldi
Giacomo Gastaldi was an Italian cartographer of the 16th century. Gastaldi began his career as an engineer, serving the Venetian Republic in that capacity until the fourth decade of the sixteenth century...
(~1500- 1566), he illustrates volume III of "Delle Navigationi et viaggi", a work done in Venice between 1550 and 1556 by Giovanni Battista Ramusio
Giovanni Battista Ramusio
Giovanni Battista Ramusio was an Italian geographer and travel writer.Born in Treviso, Italy, Ramusio was the son of Paolo Ramusio, a magistrate in the city-state of Venice...
(1485–1557). The perfect, regular arrangement of the houses, conforming to the urban ideal of the Italian Renaissance, was probably his own invention; as well as the boards covering the palisade, which was unknown to the indigenous people. In fact, if the plan faithfully illustrates the notes of the French explorer, it offers little resemblance to the ethno-historical reality. A reproduction of La Terra de Hochelaga by Paul-Émile Borduas
Paul-Émile Borduas
Paul-Émile Borduas was a Canadian painter known for his abstract paintings. He was also an activist for the separation of church and state, especially for art, in Quebec.- Biography :...
decorates the walls of the Grand Chalet of the parc Mont-Royal.
The town, surrounded by a wooden palisade, had around fifty houses made of wood and bark, mostly long-houses, rectangular and rounded; the population is estimated to have been approximately 3,000 inhabitants. It was doubtlessly destroyed afterwards, because it was not mentioned by Jacques Cartier on his return visit to the island in 1541. He spoke about two villages, but only one, Tutonaguy, was named. War has been suggested as the cause of the disappearance of Hochelaga, possibly coming from Stadacona
Stadacona
Stadacona was a 16th century St. Lawrence Iroquoian village near present-day Quebec City.French explorer and navigator Jacques Cartier, travelling and charting the Saint Lawrence River, reached it on 7 September 1535. He returned to Stadacona to spend the winter there with his group of 110 men...
. The inhabitants' disappearance has spawned several theories, including devastating wars with the Iroquois tribes to the South or with the Hurons to the West, the impact of Old World diseases, or their migration Westward toward the shores of the Great Lakes. However, according to Archéobec, villages that were regularly abandoned, following a cycle of land exhaustion, would be the main reason. At the time of Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain , "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608....
's arrival, both Algonquins and Mohawks hunted in the Saint Lawrence Valley and conducted raids, but neither had any permanent settlements.
This custom of moving villages is a possible explanation of why the exact emplacement of the Iroquois settlement remains a mystery in the present day, despite all the hypotheses that agree to place it close to Mount Royal. W.D. Lighthall held that Hochelaga was at the Dawson site, discovered in 1860 close to McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
. The site appears to correspond to a village preceding the foundation of Ville-Marie
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
by one or two centuries, but didn't have a palisade and seems to be too cramped. Another proposed emplacement is Outremont
Outremont
Outremont may refer to:*Outremont, Quebec - a borough and former town in Montreal*Outremont - a Canadian federal electoral district*Outremont - a Quebec provincial electoral district...
, North of the mountain, likely if J. Cartier arrived via the rivière des Prairies
Rivière des Prairies
The Rivière des Prairies is a delta channel of the Ottawa River in southwestern Quebec, Canada....
. The urbanist Pierre Larouche, based on the topometric data deduced from the Gastaldi illustration, has proposed that the village was situated on the summit of the mountain. This hypothesis isn't very well-supported, since "La Terra de Hochelaga" is a second-hand reconstruction. Furthermore, Cartier states clearly that the mountain was "adjacent to their said village," that Hochelaga was "close to and adjoining a mountain" and that he went to "Mount Royal a distance of a quarter league of the site" [Hochelaga], the distance that, in fact, separates the basin of Mount Royal from the surrounding hills dominating it. The archaeological excavations undertaken recently on the summit of the mountain, around the basin and in the Jeanne-Mance park East of Mount Royal have come up empty. The exact location of Hochelaga remains unknown.
Future site of Montreal
The arrival of Jacques Cartier in Hochelaga at the foot of the future Mount Royal in 1535, was one of the episodes of his three exploration voyages to the Occidental Indies that would have the most consequences for the history of Nouvelle-France. Under a mandate from François IerFrancis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
to find a waterway to Cathay
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
(China) and to Cypango
Names of Japan
There are many names of Japan in the English, Japanese, and other languages. The word "Japan" is an exonym, and is used by a large number of languages. The Japanese names for Japan are Nippon and Nihon . They are both written in Japanese using the kanji 日本...
(Japan), he reached Stadacona
Stadacona
Stadacona was a 16th century St. Lawrence Iroquoian village near present-day Quebec City.French explorer and navigator Jacques Cartier, travelling and charting the Saint Lawrence River, reached it on 7 September 1535. He returned to Stadacona to spend the winter there with his group of 110 men...
(future site of Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
) at the end of the Summer of 1535. Encouraged, he quickly continued on further into the interior, but the rapids surrounding Montreal blocked his route. He would then visit Hochelaga, which he described in "Bref Recit" meaning 'brief account' (1545). In 1611, the discoverer Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain , "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608....
would return to it. In 1642, the village of Ville-Marie was founded by Paul Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve but the inhabitants, little by little, dropped that name, taking up instead the name of the island upon which the colony was established, "Montréal", a toponym derived from mont royal.
Entering via Rivière des Prairies
For a long time it was considered obvious that Jacques Cartier had continuously followed the Saint-Lawrence river and had identified the rapids he mentions as the Lachine RapidsLachine Rapids
The Lachine Rapids are a series of rapids on the Saint Lawrence River, between the Island of Montreal and the south shore. They are located near the former city of Lachine....
. Yet already, some thought that the description corresponded more to the Sault-au-Récollet
Sault-au-Récollet
Sault-au-Récollet is a neighbourhood in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough, in the city of Montreal. It is located at the eastern edge of the borough...
situated on Rivière des Prairies
Rivière des Prairies
The Rivière des Prairies is a delta channel of the Ottawa River in southwestern Quebec, Canada....
. In effect, during the 20th century, close examination of the historical documentation allows for the proposal that before the Europeans, Rivière des Prairies was the usual waterway used by the indigenous people, much less dangerous than the Saint-Lawrence river with its rapids. It constituted a more direct waterway connecting to the Rivière des Outaouais, further upriver. Therefore it's possibly via this river that Jacques Cartier got to Hochelaga. Furthermore, the three rapids described by Cartier on a subsequent expedition are easier to locate on the Rivière des Prairies, the so-called "three saults river," than on the Saint-Lawrence river. Beaugrand-Champagne, the architect of the Grand Chalet of Mount Royal park, wrote very much about this.
Reception by the Hochelagans
On October 2, 1535, Jacques Cartier and his troupe arrived in the vicinity of Hochelaga. As night fell, he withdrew with his men aboard the boats. Early on the morning of October 3, with his gentlemen and twenty marines, he undertook on foot the worn path to Hochelaga. Walking about two leaguesLeague (unit)
A league is a unit of length . It was long common in Europe and Latin America, but it is no longer an official unit in any nation. The league originally referred to the distance a person or a horse could walk in an hour...
(about 11 km or 6 miles), finally, he could see the village surrounded by hills and the cultivated lands of wheat, that appeared to him much more impressive than Stadacona. He writes:
…"And here within the countryside is situated and sits the said town of Hochelaga, near and joining a mountain that is, around it, ploughed and very fertile, from on top of which one can see very far."
Concerning the mountain, he declares: "We name this one Mount Royal" …without a doubt in honour of François Ier, as was customary in that period.
Jacques Cartier then visits Hochelaga, and notes its organisation:
"The said town is all in a circle... enclosed in wood, in three ranks, in the manner of a pyramid, crossed at the top, having a row perpendicular to it all”.“And this town there is only one door and entrance... There is within this town roughly fifty houses, each about fifty steps long, and…"
He then gives a detailed description of the interior of a long-house and how the people lived in it: "In each one of them, there are several hearths and several rooms." In the centre was found a common room, where the indigenous people built a fire and lived as a community.
The tour of the village was over; Jacques Cartier and his troupe were then guided up the mountain that he would name Mount Royal, probably on the back of a man, according to a "courtesy" custom he mentions further down: "...distant from the said site by about a quarter league" from the village. Once atop the summit of one the hills composing the mount, Cartier declares:
"…we can see the said river, other than where we left our barques, where there is a rapid, the most impetuous it is given to see, one which is not possible for us to pass."
Once the visit was over, Jacques Cartier returned to his boats:
"…we withdrew to our boats, that was not without a great number of the said people, a part of which, that when they saw our people tired, took them upon themselves, as on a horse, and carried them…"
Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
Hochelaga-Maisonneuve is a district of Montreal, Quebec, situated on the eastern half of the island, generally to the south and south-west of the city's Olympic Stadium. A part of the borough of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, its borders are roughly rue Moreau to the west, rue Sherbrooke to the...
is now a neighbourhood of Montreal.
In 1556, Venice takes interest in Hochelaga
Jacques Cartier's exploration of the West Indies did not go unnoticed in VeniceVenice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, in particular by Giovanni Battista Ramusio
Giovanni Battista Ramusio
Giovanni Battista Ramusio was an Italian geographer and travel writer.Born in Treviso, Italy, Ramusio was the son of Paolo Ramusio, a magistrate in the city-state of Venice...
, statesman and secretary of the Council of Ten
Council of Ten
The Council of Ten, or simply the Ten, was, from 1310 to 1797, one of the major governing bodies of the Republic of Venice whose actions were often secretive. Although some sources may indicate that the Council of Ten was generally accepted in Venice, there was some opposition...
. A career diplomat, his role as ambassador brought him to numerous European countries. This director of the Serene
Serene
Serene may refer to:*Serene , a telephone jointly developed by Samsung and Bang & Olufsen*Serene, Colorado, a company town in Colorado*Jaunjelgava or Serene, a city in Latvia*Serene, a heroine in Riviera: The Promised Land-See also:...
political view, who was seven when the Genovese Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
reached the West Indies in 1492, considered the discovery of new lands as being the most important undertaking of the time. In effect, Venice was facing a grave problem accessing India since the Ottoman Turks
Ottoman Turks
The Ottoman Turks were the Turkish-speaking population of the Ottoman Empire who formed the base of the state's military and ruling classes. Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks is scarce, but they take their Turkish name, Osmanlı , from the house of Osman I The Ottoman...
had taken Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
in 1453. It isn't known how, but Venice obtained a copy of Bref Recit, a memoir that Jacques Cartier had given to the king François Ier in 1545. His explorations are described in volume III of the work Delle Navigationi et Viaggi by Giovanni Battista Ramusio. The 1556 edition contains assorted illustrations by Jacopo Gastaldi, including La Terra de Hochelaga Nella Nova Francia, describing in the European mode of the time, Jacques Cartier's visit on Mount Royal.
In the arts
One of the paintings in the Chalet du Mont-RoyalChalet du Mont-Royal
Chalet du Mont-Royal is a building located near the summit of Mount Royal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The chalet was constructed in 1932 under the mayoralty of Camillien Houde as a make-work project during the Great Depression. It is open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m....
is a reproduction of La Terra de Hochelaga by Paul-Émile Borduas
Paul-Émile Borduas
Paul-Émile Borduas was a Canadian painter known for his abstract paintings. He was also an activist for the separation of church and state, especially for art, in Quebec.- Biography :...
, one of the Refus global members.
See also
- St. Lawrence IroquoiansSt. Lawrence IroquoiansThe St. Lawrence Iroquoians were a prehistoric First Nations/Native American indigenous people who lived from the 14th century until about 1580 CE along the shores of the St. Lawrence River in present-day Quebec and Ontario, Canada, and New York State, United States. They spoke Laurentian...
- History of MontrealHistory of MontrealThe human history of Montreal, located in Quebec, Canada, spans some 8,000 years. At the time of European contact, the area was inhabited by the St. Lawrence Iroquoians, a discrete and distinct group of Iroquoian-speaking indigenous people. They spoke Laurentian...
- StadaconaStadaconaStadacona was a 16th century St. Lawrence Iroquoian village near present-day Quebec City.French explorer and navigator Jacques Cartier, travelling and charting the Saint Lawrence River, reached it on 7 September 1535. He returned to Stadacona to spend the winter there with his group of 110 men...