If combined with populations of the Neutrals, Tionontati, and Wenro, the Huron in 1535 probably numbered somewhere between 30,000 and 45,000. French estimates of the four core tribes of the Huron Confederacy in 1615 varied from 20,000 to 30,000 and 16 to 25 villages. After European contact, the Huron population loss was dramatic. By 1640 epidemic and war had reduced them to less than 10,000. After their dispersal in 1649 by the Iroquois, only 300 Huron were able to relocate safely at Lorette near Quebec. Another 1,000, mixed with Tionontati and Neutrals, escaped to the western Great Lakes to become the Wyandot. The number of Huron adopted into the Iroquois League is uncertain but must have been considerable. In 1736 the population at Lorette had remained near its original 300, while the Wyandot, relocated to the west end of Lake Erie, had increased to near 1,500. By 1908 the Lorette population had risen slowly to 466 but afterwards increased dramatically. In 1994 the Quebec government listed it at 2,650. There were about 100 Wyandot at the Anderdon Reserve (southern Ontario) in 1829, but they have since been absorbed by other native peoples. The United States currently has more than 4,000 Wyandot organized in two main groups: the Wyandot Nation of Kansas; and the Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma. Only the Oklahoma Wyandot are federally recognized as a tribe. The Kansas Wyandot, organized in 1959 from the "absentee" or "citizen" Wyandot, are recognized by Kansas and have applied for federal status.
