WENROHRONON

Iroquoian-speaking Indians whose name means People of the Place of the Floating Scum, probably after the oil spring at what is now Cuba, N.Y., U.S., where they lived. The oil was a highly regarded medicine for various ailments. Like other Iroquoian tribes, they were semisedentary, cultivating maize (corn), hunting, and fishing for their livelihood. Each community was guided by a chief and a council of elders. An alliance with the Neutral protected the Wenrohronon from Iroquois predation until 1639, when the Neutral withdrew their support. This act and an epidemic (probably smallpox) led some 600 Wenrohronon, mainly the elderly, women, and children, to flee to the Huron for refuge. Many died of hunger, exposure, exhaustion, and disease before reaching safety with the Huron, who welcomed the survivors. The remaining Wenrohronon, who may have numbered 1,500, were incorporated with the Neutral and were later destroyed with them by the Iroquois.