Stadaconan

The Stadaconans were St. Lawrence Iroquoians whose main village, Stadacona, stood near the mouth of the Saint-Charles River where Quebec City was later founded. When Jacques Cartier arrived in 1534 their headman was Donnacona.

During Cartier's winter stay of 1535 to 1536 the Stadaconans cured his scurvy-stricken crew with a cedar broth. Here Cartier heard the word kanata, meaning village, which became the name Canada.

He later seized Donnacona and nine others and carried them to France, where all but one died; returning around 1543, Cartier found Stadacona abandoned and burned, probably in wars with the Mohawk. By Champlain's arrival in 1608 the St. Lawrence Iroquoians had vanished from the valley, and Champlain built his Habitation on the site.