Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the French Jesuit missionaries in Canada and how they viewed the Huron Indians of Ontario, whom they tried to convert to Christianity. In particular, the writer focuses on Jean de Brebeuf, a priest who lived most of his life among the Huron, not only as a missionary who successfully influenced them, but also as a keen observer of their way of life. Brebeuf established an intimate relationship with the Huron and, unlike the Jesuits before him, attempted to support the freedom of the Huron, and their customs and their trading. The writer describes how the Jesuit mission eventually came to an end due to the Iroquois waging war on the Huron, and how Brebeuf died by torture at the hands of the Iroquois. The paper concludes that even though Brebeuf labeled them as barbarians, he also was generous of spirit in perceiving that some of their customs were aligned with the best of a Christian-like life.

From the Paper:

"Much of the information that is recorded in history about the French missionaries and their relationship with the Huron has been passed down through the writings of a publication known as the Relations. The Relations were accounts recorded by the French missionaries and sent back home to confirm and justify their endeavors in creating European-controlled settlements and in converting what they referred to as heathen Indians to Christianity. Often, because of these justifications and rationalizations about being superior to the Indians, the French missionaries depended heavily on a Franciscan missionary policy that made use of the Indian people as laborers. The Huron were never forced to endure this labor practice because they suffered through adverse circumstances that damaged the survival of their tribe."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Calloway, Collin. First Peoples: A Documentary Survey of American Indian History. Boston: Bedford St. Martin's, 2008.
• Greer, Allan. The Jesuit Relations: Native and Missionaries in Seventieth Century North America. Portland: Macmillan, 2000.
• Mulford, Carla, Angela Vietto, and Amy Winans. Early American Writings. New York: Oxford U P, 2002.
• Trigger, Bruce. Extending the Rafters: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Iroquoian Studies. Eds. Michael Foster, Jack Campisi, and Marianne Mithun. New York: SUNY Press, 1984.

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