The Jesuit Relations (17th Century)
Introduction
The Jesuit Relations were yearly reports sent to Paris by 17th-century missionaries. In these reports, Jesuit missionaries recorded their evangelizing efforts, as well as the goings-on and cultures of the Native American peoples among whom they lived in North America.
Things to pay attention to in the "Introduction"...
- Who were the Jesuits? What did they do in the places they were stationed as missionaries? How and why did they leave such an important record of encounters with Native Americans in Canada?
- Who was the intended audience of the Jesuit Relations? Who participated in writing them? What functions did they serve?
- How did the Jesuits think about cultural difference with regard to the Native Americans? How did their ways of thinking differ from our own? Why?
- How do the Montagnais and Huron differ (what groups do they belong to, who are they allied with)? Why are those differences important to the Jesuits?
- What exactly is meant by the words barbarism, savagery, and paganism? What are their opposites?
Relations des Jesuites en Canada, John Henry Walker (1853)
Questions to guide your reading...
Montagnais Hunters of the Northern Woodlands:
- How would you characterize Le Jeune's attitude toward the Montagnais? What aspects of their culture does he respect or admire, and what aspects does he dismiss?
- How are the first two texts different from the second two? How do the differences in subject/genre between these two sets of texts contribute to the impression they give--both of the Montagnais and of Le Jeune's relation to them?
Journal of a Winter Hunt:
- To what extent does Le Jeune describe himself as a member of the hunting party, and to what extent does he separate himself from the group? What things bind him to the group and what things separate him?
On Their Hunting and Fishing
- How does Le Jeune write about the technical skill of the Montagnais hunters, and how does he write about their beliefs regarding hunting? Where do you sense tension between these two elements in his writing? In what respects does he see himself as superior to the Montagnais? How do the Montagnais respond?
- When does he cite the Montagnais accusing people of having "no sense"? What kinds of allegiances are made (and/or broken) by that characterization?
On the Beliefs, Superstitions, and Errors of the Montagnais Indians
- (Where) do you recognize similarities or connections between the Montagnais beliefs and the traditions in which Le Jeune was trained (Christianity and classical antiquity)? When and how does Le Jeune acknowledge and address those similarities? Why might he include them? Why might he emphasize them, or leave them implicit?
On the Good Things Which Are Found among the Indians
- What virtues does Le Jeune attribute to the Montagnais? Where does he think those virtues come from? Why might he present the Montagnais in this way to his European audience? What qualities does he seem to attribute to the French by implication?
Jean de Brébeuf on the Hurons:
- What kind of texts does Jean write about the Hurons? Why and how does he seek out this kind of knowledge about them? What might he hope to gain by communicating it to his French audience?
Of the Language of the Hurons
- Aside from his initial comments on letters and sounds, what kinds of differences interest Jean the most? What do the observations he makes about the language have in common?
- How does linguistic difference cause problems for his evangelizing mission? How does he propose to overcome those problems?
What the Hurons Think about Their Origin
- How does Jean account for the lack of Christian belief in the Hurons?
- What connections does Jean make between Huron beliefs and Christian beliefs? What aspects of the Huron origin stories don't make sense to Jean? What makes the Huron beliefs "ignorance" by comparison to Christian beliefs? What is the hallmark of Christian belief here?
- What prophecy does Jean describe in the last paragraph? Why does he find it hard to believe?