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Western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania centering around thepresent town of Cuba, New York.
The Wenro were a small tribe of somewhere between 1,200 and 2,000people. The number of their villages is unknown, but from the pattern oftheir dispersal in 1639, there appears to have been either two or three.The Wenro ceased to exist as a tribe in 1643. Any descendents would befound among the Iroquois, the Seneca of Oklahoma, or possibly theWyandot.
Wenro is a short form of their Huron name, Wenrohronon, meaning "thepeople of the place of floating scum." The name derived from thelocation of their main village near the site of the famous oil spring atCuba, New York. Other names given them by the Iroquois, withapproximately the same meaning, were Ahouenrochrhonon and Ouenrionon.
Iroquian
What little is known about them has come to us from the Huron, sincethere was no direct contact between the Wenro and Europeans until aftera large group of Wenro refugees came to the Huron villages in 1639. Oilwas highly prized by the Iroquian tribes in the region for its medicinalproperties, and the trade for this commodity is the major reason theWenro maintained good relations with the Huron. It can safely bepresumed that the Wenro lived in a manner very much like their otherIroquian neighbors. If true, they farmed extensively (corn, beans andsquash) with hunting, gathering, and fishing providing the remainder oftheir diet. Political and social organization are unknown, but since allother Iroquian people traced descent through the mother, it is probablethe Wenro did also. None of their village sites have been specificallyidentified, so their housing (large longhouses) must have been the sameas the Iroquois who lived in the area after the Wenro had been forced toabandon the area. It is not known whether their villages were fortified,but considering their situation, this should have been the case.
The Wenro occupied a strategic position at the eastern end of Lake Eriejust south of Niagara Falls that possessed a valuable item in NativeAmerican trade, oil. This alone may have been the reason they were thefirst victim of the Beaver Wars. As a small tribe, they were required toprotect themselves from the large confederations which surrounded them(specifically the Iroquois) through a three-way alliance with the Erieto the west and the Neutrals across the Niagara River in southernOntario. However, their closest ties, language and cultural, appear tohave been with the Neutrals. For reasons unknown, the Wenro alliancewith the Erie and Neutrals ended during 1639. The withdrawal of theirprotection by the Neutrals apparently was critical. As an epidemic sweptthrough the Wenro villages that year, the Iroquois learned that theNeutrals would no longer help and attacked the Wenro.
Quickly overrun, most of the Wenro were driven across the Niagara Riverinto Ontario. Many moved in with the Neutrals, but one large group ofabout 600 Wenro were given refuge by the Huron Confederacy. However, onegroup of Wenro remained east of the Niagara River and fought with theIroquois until 1643. Finally forced to abandon New York, the survivorsfled west and became part of the Neutrals. At this point the Wenro hadceased to exist. Their reprieve was only temporary. The Wenro with theHuron were either killed or captured (and later adopted) in 1649 whenthe Iroquois destroyed the Huron Confederacy. Two years later, the samefate befell the Wenro that had become part of the Neutrals (1650-51),when the Iroquois vanquished this rival.
