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Mission
to Huronia
The first Frenchmen in Canada focussed on trade and fishing. Many were Huguenot (Protestants) who opposed the idea of missionaries in New France, since the missionaries would inevitably be Catholic. This changed with the arrival of Champlain. Champlain hoped to forge a new Franco-Indian nation united by the fur trade. He believed that the first step in this process was the conversion of the natives to Christianity and French culture. In 1614 while visiing his home town in Brouges, France, he met with Récollet (Franciscan) brothers eager for missionary work. Champlain raised the money to support 4 men: Fathers Denis Jamet, Jean d'Obleau, Joseph Le Caron and Brother Pacifique du Plessis. In Quebec, the closest neighbours to the French were nomadic Montagnais. Missionaries quickly found that it was almost impossible to covert a moving quarry to Christianity. While they continued to try, they soon turned their focus to the Montagnais' allies, the Wendat (Hurons). The Wendat themselves seemed to be ideal prospects. As traders, they showed an interest in meeting with the French and inviting missionaries to visit. As farmers, they lived a settled life that made missionary activity more viable. As early as 1611, Champlain allowed Etienne Brulé to spend extensive time among the natives, first in Quebec and later in Wendake (Huronia), to learn their language and culture. Brulé landed in Toanche on Penetanguishene Bay and was so pleased with what he found that he later "went native", living among the Huron until his death 1633. Brulé's favourable report to Champlain in 1615 concerning the Wendat, led Champlain and Father Joseph Le Caron to travel to Huronia. The eager Father Le Caron celebrated the first mass in Canada west of Quebec City at Carhagouha (Orillia) on August 12. Wendake was 1200 km (800 miles) from Quebec. The trip was arduous requiring endless hours of paddling in a 3-person canoe along the St. Lawrence, Ottawa and French Rivers with over 50 portages. It often took 3-4 weeks. On his arrival, Le Caron was welcomed and the Wendat built him a home apart from the village where he could live and begin preaching. He spent the winter here, returning to Quebec in May believing that the seeds of a successful mission were laid. In Quebec however, the Récollets found that the Huguenot traders were actively trying to undermine their presence. They were refused supplies and no-one would provide them with transport back to Huronia. Instead the Fathers were limited to working with local nomadic bands of Micmac, Abnaki and Nipissing, with little success. It would be 7 years before they gained the support needed to continue their work. In 1623 Father Nicolas Viel and Brother Gabriel Sagard arrived with enough funds to allow Le Caron to return to Carhagouga. Viel went to Toanché and Sagard began work at Ossossané. They quickly found that they still lacked the resources to effectively preach to a large and settled community. In 1624 Le Caron and Sagard reluctantly returned to Quebec. There they met with the other Récollets and debated their next course of action. Their solution was to invite the powerful and wealthy Jesuit Order to join them in their work. The Jesuits agreed to join the Quebec mission and arranged passage for 5: Fathers Charles Lalemant, Ennemond Massé, and Jean de Brébeuf and 2 lay brothers. The Huguenot traders arranged for the ship's captain to forbid them on board. The Viceroy of New France stepped in and the forced the captain to give way. It was a long and trying 2 month voyage from France to Quebec. When they arrived at the "Habitation" (Quebec City) on June 15, they were refused the right to land. Only when the Récollet friars rowed out to the ship were they able to get ashore. The Jesuits' first act was to kiss the earth. A few days later Brébeuf set out for Wendake only to hear at Trois-Rivieres that Viel had drowned in the rapids at Riviere des Prairies and his goods stolen. He is persuaded to remain in Quebec until the following year and sed the time to experience bsh live among the Montagnais. The following summer, Fathers Brébeuf and Noue with the Récollet Father Daillon set out for Huronia. They found Father Viel's lodge intact and move in until October. Father Daillon then attempted to travel south to the Neutral Nation but the Huron, fearing he will establish direct trade relations between the Neutral and the French, cutting them out, send advance word that he is a sorcerer and he is reviled. Brébeuf sends an armed Frenchman to find Daillon and return him safely to Toanché. IFather Noue was not a young man and he was the first missionary to find that life among the natives was too difficult. He returned to Quebec in 1627. Daillon left in 1628 and Brébeuf was alone. He learned a great deal about Huron life but was unable to convince anyone to convert. Meanwhile, in Quebec the antagonism between the Huguenots and the missionaries intensified. Father Lalemant, Superior of the Mission decided to act and wrote to Cardinal Richelieu asking him to revoke the charter of the Quebec traders. Richelieu took advantage of the opportunity to not only fold them, but to establish his own company in Quebec with sole control over trade. The Company of New France excluded Protestants from the colony and was required to support the Huron and other missions. IWhile all this negotiation was taking place, other events inserted themselves: France and England went to war and the Kirke brothers captured Quebec, deporting half the Europeans and all of the missionaries. It would be 3 years before the French regained the country. With Richelieu's Company of New France in control and Champlain as Lieutenant Governor, the Jesuits got back to work, this time without Récollet assistance. Paul Le Jeune, Anne de Noue and Gilbert Burel arrived in Quebec on July 5, 1632 to find their old mission house partly destroyed and settled in to rebuild. The following year Jean de Brébeuf joined them along with Massé, Antoine Daniel and Ambrose Davost. A year later, the fathers left for Huronia. IIt was a brutal trip. They were forbidden to move in the canoes lest they tip. They were crowded more tightly than they were used to. Brébeuf counted over 35 portages where they waded through raging currents dragging the empty canoes. Their soaked cassocks whipped at their ankles and their sandals proved to be inadequate protection against the rocks. Relations v.8 ch.3, Relations v.10 ch.3 The reward came with their arrival. The Hurons of Toanché had moved but Brébeuf was able to find them again at Ihonatiria (St. Joseph), and with customary generosity, the villagers built the fathers a new home: 36 feet long and 20 feet wide, which the Frenchmen divided into 3 sections, for storage, living and worship. They stored their belongings on the platforms that ran the length of the longhouse and slept underneath them wrapped in furs.
The Jesuits believed that the first step to converting non-Catholics was education. Whether in Canada or in China, they brought equipment meant to impress their audience with the intelligence of Catholic Europe whose technical sophistication was surely a consequence of their faith. Missions were often stocked with scientific equipment such as globes and prisms. On this occasion they had with them a mill, magnifying glass, prism and a clock that chimed the hours. They also had books, pens and writing paper. All these things fascinated the Huron who would visit the longhouse during the hours they were allowed: from 8am to 4pm. The French fathers found the Hurons "hardly Barbarian, save in name" (Jesuit Relations v.38), but found life among the natives, trying. Having elected to live among the Hurons in their own villages where they could learn the language and be with their flock, they encountered unfamiliar food, rough living, extreme weather, distasteful smells, a lack of privacy, and teasing. The food was compared to wall paper paste or pig slop. The basic ingredient was corn mush mixed with tainted fish, cinders or waterflies. Some fathers found it all but unendurable. Others believed their suffering should be accepted in humility as a pious duty.
While the Fathers suffered, the Hurons died. Smallpox and other diseases ravaged their population. Suicide was common and the fathers travelled from village to village ministering to the sick, speaking of eternal life in heaven to those who would be baptized, and handing out their meagre ration of raisins and prunes. Brébeuf decided to move part of the mission to Ossossoné (Conception), a new village formed from others to face the Iroquois aggression. The Huron built them a new longhouse, 70 feet long, half of this was used as a chapel and decorated with crucifixes, religious vessels and ornaments. And here at last, Brébeuf baptized a healthy man, a chief, won over to the Faith. And here as well, the shamans put forward the idea that the diseases ravaging the villages were the work of the Fathers. The Fathers were turned away and pelted with rocks. Brébeuf fully expected they would be martyred and to show their courage, he offered a great farewell feast. Impressed, the Wendake ended their threats. But the epidemics continued to rage and soon there was almost no-one left alive at Ihonatiria. Brébeuf moved the Fathers who had remained there to Teanaostaiaé (St. Joseph II). By now the Jesuits had established a routine based on the rules of their order. They grew a half-bushel of wheat for sacramental bread and had a keg of wine available for Mass. They gave the Indians cloth and knives in return for their daily food. The Daily Routine
With the growing sense of success and the committment of the people of Quebec, 12 workmen were sent in 1638 to build a wooden chapel in Ossossone. In winter, as incentive to devotion, they kept a fire buring in the chapel. By now they had about 60 converts but had baptized only one healthy adult male. But after 7 years of dubious success, and in accordance with Jesuit tradition which seeks new leadership on a regular basis, leadership of the Huron mission fell to Lalemant. It was he who decided to consolidate activities in one location that would act as a refuge from the chaos and superstition the Fathers experienced in the native villages.
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