Onontchataronon

The Onontchataronon were an Algonquin people associated with the South Nation River and the lower Ottawa valley. French writers also called them the people of Iroquet, after one of their leaders. Their river country lay among the waterways that joined the Ottawa and St Lawrence, linking neighbouring communities through trade and alliances.

In 1610 Iroquet and the Huron leader Outchetaguin met Samuel de Champlain in council near the mouth of the Richelieu. Champlain asked Iroquet to take a young Frenchman into his household for the winter, so that the visitor could learn the language and become acquainted with the country. The meeting followed an agreement to support one another against their Iroquois enemies. Such personal arrangements helped establish the French alliance with Indigenous trading partners.