 |
| The Wendat Cradleboard Un berceau debout |
| The Cradleboard is leaning against a pole inside the Longhouse. |
| In Father Chaumonot's manuscript dictionaries of the French-Huron, there was a phrase for "un berceau debout" (a stand-up cradle or crib). The cradle with a small child in it: orhonchatieri The cradle is arhoncha and arhoncha,e. A woman carrying a cradle, who has a child in a cradle is a,orhonchenwa. |
 |
| The average Huron family had three children; this may have been because of a high infant mortality rate. It may also been due in part to the practice of the Huron women to abstain from sexual relations for two or three years while they breast fed each child. Pregnant women generally worked in the family and fields until the time of delivery and tried to be on their feet as soon as possible afterward. A corner of the longhouse was partitioned off for the birth, and the woman either delivered herself or by an elderly female. Women tried not to cry out for fear of being thought cowardly. It is thought this was because it proved her courage just as in battle the men would not cry out if faced with pain. It has been recorded that a considerable number of women died in childbirth. |
| Immediately after birth, the child’s ears were pierced and it was given a name. During the day, the child was wrapped in furs and tied to a cradleboard that could stand on the floor of the longhouse while the mother was working or carried around by her. It could also be suspended against her back or propped up inside her dress so that the child could look forward over her shoulder. The cradleboard was decorated with paintings and strings of beads. At night, the child slept naked with the parents. |
| NOTE: This information is gleaned from the book, “Children of the Aataentsic, A History of the Huron People to 1660” by Bruce G. Trigger (pgs 46-48) |
 |
 |
| Back |