Where is stadacona today

Two months later, on June 9, Cartier sailed into the waters of the St. Lawrence River in eastern Canada. He is credited with being the first explorer to have sailed through and mapped the Gulf of St.

On July 24, , he planted a cross in the name of France, and took possession of the land. Before leaving for France, Cartier captured two Iroquoians in exchange for bringing back European goods on his new voyage. The purpose of the voyage was to find a northwest passage to Asia, as well as to collect riches such as gold and spices along the way.

After making a second journey to Hochelaga, Cartier learned that the route beyond the Lachine rapids was long and difficult. When Donnacona went aboard with his two sons, Cartier and his men seized them.

Donnacona was able to negotiate with Cartier, allowing his sons to go with the explorer back to France for a year in exchange for not taking other inhabitants. Cartier agreed to this. Cartier returned the next year, arriving on Sept. During the visit, he recorded a word that the sons had used to refer to their home, calling it Kanata. That word, which he believed to mean the entire land, would morph over time and become Canada.

Cartier would stay over the winter at Stadacona, and even though he had attempted to steal people, the people there still showed kindness. The disease spread among the three ships to such an extent that in the middle of February, of the men forming our company, there were not 10 in good health.

The broth made by the Indigenous was made from cedar leaves that were boiled. Cartier, who had been praying and ordered all his men to pray for a cure, and who had a figure of the Virgin Mary carried across the snow and placed against a tree. He would write. God in his infinite goodness and mercy had pity upon us. While European scientists would figure out what scurvy was and how to cure it, the Indigenous of Stadacona had a cure in the s, thanks to the cedar broth being loaded with Vitamin C.

Sadly, that same winter, 50 residents of Stadacona would die from diseases carried in by the Europeans. Cartier, as soon as spring came, repaid the kindness of the people of the village by capturing Donnacona, both of his sons and seven other residents of the village and took them back to France. Nine of the ten captured Iroquois would die in France and the last surviving captured resident would never return home. Cartier returned to Stadacona five years later and found that the village was a shell of its former self.

It is likely that as the residents began to die from European diseases, and with their chief and his sons now kidnapped, the residents were left to the mercy of their enemies. He would tell the residents that Donnacona had passed away but all the others who were kidnapped were rich and happy, all lies of course. Jean-Francois Roberval arrived at the village shortly after Cartier and traded with the village despite the hostile feelings towards the French by the residents.

By , when the French returned to the site, the village was gone completely. As for Hochelaga, it is not known when the community was founded but is believed to be around AD. Also, the name may not be the actual name used by the Indigenous. It is possible the name comes from the French corruption of the Iroquois name osekare which means beaver dam, or osheaga, which means big rapids. This is likely since the village was located near the Lachine Rapids.

The community was no small community either. It was surrounded by a large wooden palisade, and had 50 houses made of wood and bark and the population was estimated to be over 1, people, with some claiming it had as many as 3, Cartier would arrive at this village by boat on Oct.

He had learned of the village from Donnacona but Donnacona had discouraged Cartier from travelling to the west and shamans warned him of devils in the west, but Cartier did not listen. According to Cartier, the chief and his men attempted to keep the French from journeying up the river in a unique way.

He and his men had arrived about 11 kilometres up river and the next day walked a well-worn path towards the community. By Samuel de Champlain 's time, the St. Lawrence Valley was travelled mainly by war parties of the Montagnais and Iroquoians. See also related online learning resources. Search The Canadian Encyclopedia. Remember me. I forgot my password. Why sign up?

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