Draper Site, Wendat Ancestral Village

The Draper Site is an archaeological location in Ontario containing the remains of a 16th-century Wendat village, with roughly 35 longhouse structures spread across four hectares of land. The area was surrounded by multiple rows of wooden palisades that protected the settlement.

The Wendat founded this village in the 16th century along a tributary of West Duffins Creek as a strategic settlement for their community. Archaeologists began excavations in 1972 and uncovered many artifacts before a planned airport project threatened the area.

The village was a center of Wendat community life, where families lived together in large communal houses built from wooden frames and birch bark coverings. These structures reveal how people organized themselves around shared spaces and collective responsibilities within their society.

The location is best reached on foot from North Road and sits on a rise with good views over the surrounding landscape. Visitors should be prepared for uneven terrain since it remains an archaeological site in its natural setting.

Inhabitants abandoned the village in the late 16th century and relocated about five kilometers northwest, where they established the Mantle Site. This migration marked a shift in Wendat settlement patterns and created one of the largest known archaeological village sites of their culture.