Preface:

The reason why I chose to include my research paper into my ePortfolio was because it showcased my further learning in this course. This paper incorporates some of the ideas and interpretations of my primary document analysis essay, however, it also goes further and more in depth of my ideas. This paper also supports my main purpose of this ePortfolio, which is; History is not just about the facts and information, but also the interpretations of others.

Research Paper:

During the period when the Jesuits lived among the Huron Indians to convert them to Christianity, they influenced the views and identity of the Huron. This paper explores the Jesuits’ recording of shifts in Huron religion, beliefs, customs and morals, and their overall way of living as documented in The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents. Ultimately, the relationship between the Jesuits and the Hurons led to conflicting ideas and beliefs and a strained relationship between them.

The main focus of the Jesuits’ exploration to the Huron territory was to promote their strict Christian religion to the Huron population in an effort to change their “savage” ways of thinking into a more civilized Christian way of thinking. The Jesuits believed that the world and all living things were created by God, as well as heaven and earth. Heaven was the place where the sinless went when they died, while hell was for the sinful and unholy after death. The Jesuits tried to promote their beliefs to the Hurons. The Hurons, though, already had their own grasp on their origins and creator. The Hurons did not believe in God, but a woman named “Eataensic… who made earth and man”[1]. “Eataensic is know to care for the souls… and make men die… thus she is wicked”[2]. It was believed that “Eataensic fell from the sky and when she fell, she was with child”[3]. “Her child was also thought to be her assistant, Jouskeha who helps her govern the world”[4]. “Jouskeha [takes] care of the living things and of [all] the things that concern life… he was believed to be good”[5], compared to Eataensic. This acknowledgement towards greater beings showed that the Hurons could think more complex ideas even though the Jesuits thought other wise.

When the Jesuits questioned the Hurons on the idea of life after death, the Hurons advised that the life “of the soul which they believed to be corporeal”[6] was eternal and souls are “neither punished or rewarded in the place where souls go after death… and so they do not make any distinction between the good and the bad… they honor equally the internment of both”[7]. The place the Hurons described was the “‘village of souls’, where life was believed to resemble life on earth with its daily round of eating, hunting, and war making”[8]. When the Jesuits preached to the Hurons about “one God, creator of heaven and earth… and even about hell and paradise”, a Huron would reply “that this [belief] is good for your country, but not for ours”[9]. With tensions arising between contrasting beliefs, “other Hurons found sinister political motives behind the preaching of hell… hell was a weapon of intimidation used by the [Jesuits] to force [their religion] on them”[10]. These acknowledgements towards the creator and the origins of man angered the Jesuits because “it was so evident that there is a Divinity who made heaven and earth… but the [Hurons] misapprehended him grossly”[11]. These beliefs of the Hurons showed that they were capable of formulating ideas of their origins and the creator of the world and resources around them. This also shows that due to forced opinions on the Hurons from the Jesuits, the Hurons were able to make their own decisions and follow their own beliefs and not the views of others.

With the Jesuits trying to promote their beliefs of Christianity to the Hurons, the idea of Baptism came into perspective. The Jesuits believed that Baptism purified the person and washed away their sins for the entrance into heaven and that Baptism should only be performed if the person was on “the verge of death or the Jesuits were sure that the [person] would not apostatize”[12]. Some Hurons began to believe that the miracle of Baptism, “might restore health”[13], however, others thought otherwise. With the small pox epidemic coming into full force in this time, Baptism was a way to spread the influenza. “Since the Jesuits baptized only those on the verge of death, many Hurons concluded that the rite was the immediate cause of death”[14]. The Hurons also believed that the Jesuits “‘had a secret understanding with the disease’ and used Baptism to spread it”[15] and “since the Jesuits had already provided grounds to the [disease], it was suspected that they were engaged in genocidal black magic”[16]. The small pox epidemic brought lots of tension between the Hurons and the Jesuits in this time. The Jesuits were trying to help the Hurons to successfully enter heaven by getting baptized, however, the influenza influenced the views of the Hurons towards the Jesuits, which made the Jesuits seem to be trying to wipe out the population. The Hurons should have been more accepting in the Jesuits’ effort to help them, instead of criticizing them.

The Hurons had some strict customs such as, the Hurons “only have one wife… and they do not marry their relatives… however distant they may be”[17]. This development of a rule shows that the Hurons were able to think rationally and make a structure within their community. It was believed by the Jesuits that the Hurons were “lascivious, very lazy, liars, thieves, and beggars”, but in contrast to this, the Hurons were pleasant people who had great morals and showed “great love and union… exchanged gifts, showed remarkable hospitality towards strangers and would share with them the best they had”[18]. These morals and the way they portrayed themselves within the community and towards others showed that the Hurons were kind, generous people in addition to their flaws.

In terms of the Hurons’ overall way of living, in this time, resources were difficult to acquire, and the Hurons had to be as resourceful as possible. The Hurons’ “houses were of various sizes and some of them were more than two hundred feet long… Two rows of sturdy saplings were stuck in the ground about twenty-five feet apart, then bent to meet so as to form an arch”[19] and were “covered with cedar bark, some others with… ash, elm, fir, or spruce bark”[20]. The Jesuits believed them to be “built in the crudest fashion”[21] and “compared them to bowers or garden arbors”[22]. These homes “sheltered from six to a dozen families, according to the number of fires… Privacy in these homes was none”[23] and had limited features to accompany the many families. There was “no cellar… [no] window nor chimney, only a miserable hole in the top of the cabin, left to permit the smoke to escape”[24]. “Along the sides of the cabins, about four feet from the ground, extended raised platforms, were where the people slept”[25]. The Hurons used the fires for warmth and the “earth for their bedstead… bark or rush mats from the forest for mattresses and pillows… and animal skins or the clothes the were wearing for sheets”[26]. The Hurons made the most with what the environment could offer and what little they could come across, and with this they were able to construct homes that aided in their survival and best suited the type of lifestyle they wish to live. The Jesuits did not give the Hurons an adequate amount of praise for their resourcefulness and methodical thinking in making their homes and their overall way of survival.

The Jesuit Relations among the Hurons influenced the view and the identity of the Hurons in many ways such as their religion, beliefs, customs and morals, and their overall way of living. These aspects contributed to the identity of the Huron population. Their religion and beliefs showed that the Hurons could formulate ideas about their creator and life after death. In terms of customs and morals this showed that the Huron thought logically and sensibly when developing rules and guidelines for the community to follow. With the overall way of living, this revealed that the Hurons could think methodically in constructing their homes that would best suit their needs for survival. Overall the Jesuits did not give enough credit to this well-rounded population of rational, intelligent thinking people but criticized their ways because it did not follow their ideology which put a strain on the relationship between these two groups.

 

Endnotes:

[1] Brébuef, “Relations of what occurred among the Hurons in the year 1635,” in S.R Mealing (Ed), The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, The Carleton Library No. 7 (1963), p. 44.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid., p. 45.

[8] James P. Ronda, “‘We Are Well As We Are’: An Indian Critique of Seventeenth-Century Christian Missions,” The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 1 (January 1977), p. 70.

[9] Brébuef, “Relations of what occurred among the Hurons in the year 1635,” p. 44.

[10] Ronda, “We Are Well As We Are,” p. 71.

[11] Brébuef, “Relations of what occurred among the Hurons in the year 1635,” p. 43-44.

[12] Ronda, “We Are Well As We Are,” p. 72.

[13] Ibid.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Ibid.

[16] “Jean de Brébeuf on the Hurons” and “Disease and Medicine,” in Allan Greer (Ed), The Jesuit Relations: Native and Missionaries in Seventeenth-Century North America, The Bedford Series in History and Culture (2000), p. 90.

[17] Brébuef, “Relations of what occurred among the Hurons in the year 1635,” p. 44.

[18] Ibid., p. 45.

[19] Thomas Guthrie Marquis, “In Huronia,” The Jesuit Missions: A Chronicle of the Cross in the Wilderness, Toronto: Glasgow, Brook & Company (1921), p. 23.

[20] Brébuef, “Relations of what occurred among the Hurons in the year 1635,” p. 41.

[21] Marquis, “In Huronia,” p. 23.

[22] Brébuef, “Relations of what occurred among the Hurons in the year 1635,” p. 41.

[23] Marquis, “In Huronia,” p. 23.

[24] Brébuef, “Relations of what occurred among the Hurons in the year 1635,” p. 41.

[25] Marquis, “In Huronia,” p. 23-24.

[26] Brébuef, “Relations of what occurred among the Hurons in the year 1635,” p. 42.

Bibliography:

*Brébeuf, “Relations of what occurred among the Hurons in the year 1635,” in S. R. Mealing (Ed), The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, The Carleton Library No. 7 (1963): 39-47.

*“Jean de Brébeuf on the Hurons” and “Disease and Medicine,” in Allan Greer (Ed), The Jesuit Relations: Natives and Missionaries in Seventeenth-Century North America, The Bedford Series in History and Culture (2000): 37-93.

*Marquis, Thomas Guthrie, “In Huronia,” The Jesuit Missions: A Chronicle of the Cross in the Wilderness, Toronto: Glasgow, Brook & Company (1921): 17-28.

*Ronda, James P., “‘We Are Well As We Are’: An Indian Critique of Seventeenth-Century Christian Missions,” The William and Mary Quarterly Vol. 34, No. 1 (1977): 66-82.

Link to the article:

Ronda: http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.tru.ca/stable/pdf/1922626.pdf

*Other sources are books