The Petun people will be the topic of this year’s Purple Hills Arts and Heritage Society’s annual Tea and History event this weekend.
They are Creemore’s earliest known residents and the subject of a new book by Pat Raible entitled The Petun: People of the Hills.
The Petun lived in former Nottawasaga Township, south into Mulmur and north into The Blue Mountains.
The earliest Petun village in the area was located on the western edge of present day Creemore. Paul Bridgman, the present day owner of the property will also be speaking at the event.
Raible and Bridgman will be speakers at this year’s Tea and History along with local historian Helen Blackburn.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain visited the Petun in the area 400 years ago when a village of 1,200 to 1,500 Petun thrived.
It is believed Champlain visited the Petun at one of the sites near the reservoir at the top of Collingwood Street 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.
Blackburn is bringing along some of the artifacts she collected more than 40 years ago from some of the sites including pottery, bone, a bead, a beaver tooth and a stone axe.
Some of the artifacts can be viewed at the museums in Collingwood and Craigleith.
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 hunted and processed beaver for the purpose of trading fur but they were also farmers, growing corn, beans and squash.
Tea and History takes place at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 23 at Station on the Green. Everyone is welcome. There will be an opportunity to ask questions and share stories.
Tea will be served, along with goodies baked by Purple Hills Arts and Heritage Society members. Admission is free.
The Petun: People of the Hills is published by Curiosity House Books. They sell for $18.95 (Cash only at the event).