Lost Village of Hochelaga

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

In the year 1535, French explorer Jacques Cartier visited the area that is now Montreal.

Cartier and Hochelaga

Cartier wrote to King Francis describing a large Iroquois village he visited and his friendly reception from the natives.

Cartier described a circular village with about 50 longhouses and a 45-foot high palisade (a defensive wall made of pointed wooden stakes).

The village's name, Hochelaga, comes from the Iroquois, meaning either "beaver path" or "large rapids."

Click the play button below to hear its pronunciation.

Cartier saw a mountain nearby, which he named Mount Royal. Cartier even drew a map of the village.

**map of Hochelaga

This is a model based on Cartier's descriptions.

• It seems as if Cartier was pretty clear about the layout of the village, its location, and its people, right?

However, although Cartier returned to the area, he never mentioned revisiting Hochelaga.

Champlain

In 1603, almost 70 years later, another French explorer named Samuel de Champlain came to the area.

However, de Champlain could not find the village Cartier had described, which made some people question whether it ever existed.

• If there had been a village there, what happened to it and all the people who lived there?

Take a moment to learn about them.

St. Lawrence Iroquois

The St. Lawrence Iroquois is the name given to a group of native tribes that farmed near the St. Lawrence River from about 1200 - 1600 AD. They occupied a wide area, from New York to Vermont and into Canada.

This map shows where they lived.

The name Canada comes from a word in the Iroquois meaning "settlement."

Historians believe the St. Lawrence Iroquois were not one group but comprised about 25 different tribes with a similar culture and language. It's thought that they numbered up to 10,000 people.

Historians have several theories as to why the village of Hochelaga disappeared.

• The people could have been wiped out in wars with other tribes.
• European diseases could have killed many of them.
• They may have migrated westward.
• Another tribe may have absorbed them into their own.

Importance

Hochelaga is considered vital because it originates from modern-day Montreal. Jacques Cartier's descriptions of the well-organized village and friendly people helped to draw settlers to the area and helped grow a great city.

Commemoration

In 1920, the Canadian government named Hochelaga a National Historic Site. It was the first Historic Site named in Montreal.

In 1925, a memorial stone commemorating the lost village was placed on the campus of McGill University in Montreal.

Head over to the Got It? section to review what you learned and find out why the Hochelaga rock was moved almost 100 years after it was placed!