Since time immemorial, the Wendat have occupied the vast territory stretching from the St. Lawrence Estuary and Valley, all the way to the Great Lakes region. Their ancestral territory is called “Onyionhwentsïio',” meaning “magnificent territory.” As a matriarchal society and semi-sedentary people, the Wendat relied on horticulture, hunting, and fishing for their livelihood. They were organized into confederations, lived in fortified villages consisting of longhouses, and relocated every fifteen to twenty years. Today, Wendake, located in the Quebec City region, is the only Wendat Nation community in Canada.

Wendat is a language of the Iroquoian family and is therefore related to the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora languages. The Wendat language was traditionally oral, but over the centuries, it was transcribed by missionaries with the intention of evangelizing the Wendat people. Given that the Wendat language experienced a break of more than 150 years in its transmission, the restoration of its pronunciation required extensive linguistic research. Given that the Wendat language suffered an interruption in transmission spanning over more than 150 years, extensive linguistic research has been conducted to restore its pronunciation.

The language is now being taught, resulting in a strong sense of revitalization.

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