Champlain visited Petun in Creemore area in 1616

A new book about the aboriginal people who once lived in the Creemore area is the product of much personal interest and research by Pat Raible.

Raible first learned of the Petun about 21 years ago. She and her husband Chris had opened a bookstore on Creemore’s main street, where they were paid a visit by Charles Garrad, an archeologist who was researching the history of the First Nations people of the Wyandot tribe. The fruits of Garrad’s research were published in Petun to Wyandot: The Ontario Petun from the 16th Century (2014). The 656-page book is a comprehensive and academic account of more than 60 years of research and fieldwork. His interest in the Petun was piqued when he was introduced to an archeological site near Craigleith in the late 1950s.

Records from fur traders of the day, Samuel de Champlain, and religious missionaries concur with artifacts found at local sites to confirm that the Petun people lived in villages in the immediate area. 

Raible embarked on her own research and has shared her knowledge of the Petun locally through events organized by the Purple Hills Arts and Heritage Society. Most recently, in anticipation of the 400th anniversary of Champlain’s visit to the area, Raible gave a talk about the Petun and that research has gone into the writing of The Petun: People of the Hills, published by Curiosity House Books.

Raible said the 91-page book is meant to be an introduction to the Petun, with the hope that those interested would go on to further their own learning.

Evidence shows the Petun lived in former Nottawasaga Township, south into Mulmur and north into The Blue Mountains, writes Raible. The earliest Petun village in the area was located on the western edge of present day Creemore. The Petun hunted and processed beaver for the purpose of trading fur but they were also farmers, growing corn, beans and squash. Petun translates to “tobacco people” but it is thought that if they grew tobacco it would have been for their own use. The names bestowed on the First Nations people were nicknames given by those recording their encounters with them and not the names the native people would have used for themselves, said Raible.

The Petun people moved around the area for various reasons, including rich soil for their crops, and did not inhabit all the settlements at the same time.

In all, there are six local sites that have been explored by archeologists, that are named for the farmers who owned the land and first discovered artifacts while working the land: Latimer (near Banda Corners); Duff (near Avening); Sidey-Mackay (west edge of Creemore); Melville (near the reservoir at the top of Collingwood Street); Hamilton Lougheed (between Websterville and Smithdale); and Kelly-Campbell near Duntroon. Researchers relied on local knowledge to locate sites.

Local historian Helen Blackburn drew one geographer to the site of a former Petun cornfield near Dunedin and interestingly, it was her relative – F. Webster – gave a tour of two of the villages to researchers in 1908.

It is believed Champlain visited the Petun at the Melville site in 1616 while on a mission to find an easy trade route to China and form trade partnerships with the indigenous people. At the time there were eight Petun villages and another two under construction, possibly with a population of 10,000 or more. They lived in shared longhouses and had established systems of government and religious beliefs.

Artifacts found at the sites included tobacco pipes, arrowheads, pottery, stone and iron axe heads, the latter the product of trade with the French.

Some of the artifacts can be viewed at the museums in Collingwood and Craigleith.

Raible drew on local talent when designing the book, commissioning painter Sue Miller for the cover artwork, Ann Clifford did some of the illustrations,

The Petun: People of the Hills is now on sale at Curiosity House Books for $18.95. An event to celebrate the launch of the book is planned for Saturday, Oct. 1 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the bookstore, to coincide with the Creemore Festival of the Arts.