Homes, Trades and Games of Long Ago · Drawing 02 of 40
A Wendat longhouse
A present-day reconstruction
A longhouse is made of bark laid over wooden poles. Long ago, several Wendat families lived together under its big rounded roof. Today you can visit one at Wendake.
Look together
What are the openings on the roof for?
An idea to try
Look at the roof’s outline together, then compare it with a house in your neighbourhood. Name similarities and differences without deciding that one shape is better.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
A longhouse sheltered several related families under one bark roof; the fires were lined up down the middle and the smoke left through openings in the roof. Before the French arrived, the Wendat lived this way in what is now southern Ontario. War, epidemics and famine disrupted their homeland in the mid-seventeenth century. In 1650, an initial group of about 300 Wendat refugees arrived at Québec; others followed. They moved several times, from Île d’Orléans to L’Ancienne-Lorette, before settling for good at Jeune-Lorette in 1697. The village, officially named Wendake in 1986, now lies near Québec City.
The Ekionkiestha’ national longhouse, built at Wendake in 2013, is a reconstruction: people build today to understand yesterday. Present Wendake as a living place. The Wendat themselves tell their history to visitors.
Sources and illustration notes (4)
A simplified interpretation of a longhouse reconstructed at Wendake today; this is not an architectural drawing.
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. References identify the institution and the related lesson; some linked pages are in French.
- Musée huron-wendat — Nos lieuxMusée de la Nation wendat à Wendake; maison longue contemporaine inaugurée en 2013, issue d’une démarche de reconstitution. Culture et transmission présentes.
- Commission de toponymie — La toponymie des Hurons-WendatsPages 12–13 du PDF : dispersion, premier groupe de 300 réfugiés en 1650, autres arrivées et déplacements jusqu’à l’établissement à Jeune-Lorette en 1697.
- Wendake — Hôtel-Musée Premières NationsMaison longue nationale Ekionkiestha’ érigée en 2013.
- Commission de toponymie — WendakeNom officialisé le 9 janvier 1986; auparavant Village-des-Hurons (réserve indienne), de 1968 à 1986.
Source review: 2026-09-19. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.
