The Hurons were a Confederation of four American Indian tribes belonging to the Iroquois linguistic family. They lived in the northern American region bordered by Lakes Huron, Erie, Ontario and the lower course of St. Lawrence. At the beginning of the 17th century, on the arrival of the first French colonials and missionaries, the Hurons (derived from the French word hurons, "ruffians, rustic", who were at the apex of their power, were concentrated in around 25 villages close to Georgian Bay, an arm of Lake Huron, with an estimated population of between 10 000 and 30 000 people.

Around 1625 this number went down drastically due to smallpox and other epidemics brought in by the Europeans. The French Jesuits at that time started to found missions, which brought about some stability between the communities. In many cities, the Hurons lived in "long houses", common residences with a length between 45 and 55 m, with a wooden structure covered in bark. The people cultivates maize, beans, pumpkins, tobacco and sunflowers. Fish was also another source of food.

Although have close cultural ties, the Hurons and the Iroquois were bitter enemies. Between 1648 and 1650, following the Iroquois invasions, the Hurons, being decimated, were driven towards the west, where they tried to settle in the territory of a similar people, the Petuns. Together with this group they continued with their move towards the east, finally settling in the area of present-day Detroit. In 1723, when they were formally accepted by the Iroquois, they were just a sparse group. In the first years of the 1900s some of their descendants, the group called Wyandot, acquired some importance in the Ohio region. The surviving Hurons (around 2500 people) today live in Jeune Lorette, Quebec, in Sandwich, Ontario and in the Wyandotte Reservation in Oklahoma.