This document provides an overview of the Jesuit missions in New France (Canada) in the 17th century. It discusses the founding of missions among the Huron and Algonquin peoples, as well as challenges faced including disease outbreaks and attacks from the Iroquois Confederacy. It also summarizes early explorations down the Mississippi River by Jesuit missionary Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet in 1673.

1. The Jesuit RelationsLori HealyHIST 140 Sec 71258December 7, 2010

2. Introduction- The Society of Jesus in Europe and AbroadThe Jesuits were members of a religious order, the Society of Jesus. They took special vows of poverty and obedience that distinguished them from regular parish priests. They were men who sought personal Christian perfection in a tightly organized association. The Jesuits specialized in encompassing education, literary and scientific activities, pastoral care, and overseas missions. They also sponsored devotional societies for laypeople. They preached to illiterate peasants and gave spiritual advice to kings. Missions abroad to convert the heretics and heathens were part of the Jesuit program from the start. When they came to North America in the early seventeenth century, they began studying the languages and cultures of the native peoples they encountered.

3. Introduction- The Canadian MissionsThere were two unsuccessful beginnings to the Jesuit enterprise in New France. There was the Acadian expedition and a short-lived establishment at Quebec.Most missionary priests were recruited from the Jesuit colleges of France. The idea of servicing in North America was unappealing to most Jesuits. A minority were inspired by what they had heard and read about America and became desperate to sacrifice themselves. Most of those who left France never returned, either because they finished their careers in Canada or were killed in the Iroquois wars. Some Jesuits tried to convert Montagnais and Algonquin who frequented the posts at Quebec and Three Rivers. Others traveled far into the interior to convert the Hurons. For many years, the Jesuit mission to New France was troubled with disappointment and frustration. The missions began to show signs of success in the 1640s, when more natives accepted Catholicism.

4. Disease and Medicine- Influenza Epidemic of 1637In the fall of 1636, the Huron villages were struck with a fever, most likely a strain of influenza originating in New England. The missionaries and their servants were inconvenienced for a time, but the Hurons were devastated. The disease spread slowly throughout the winter but during spring it struck hard. The number of dead multiplied. As the Hurons lost more people they started to do curative rituals. They believed that the medical emergency had something to do with the presence of the French missionaries.

5. Disease and Medicine- Huron Medical PracticesThe aoutaerohi is a remedy for the disease aoutaerohi. This term comes from the name of a little demon as large as the fist, which they say is in the body of the sick person. There are as many as twelve kinds of dances that constitute the many sovereign remedies for sickness. Only a dream or the sorcerer can determine what is the proper remedy for a given disease.There are three games that are popular among the Hurons; lacrosse, dish, and straw. Lacrosse and dish are good for the health. By playing these three games it can help to cure diseases in the town.

6. Diplomacy and War- Iroquois Attacks on the Algonquins, 1647After a brief truce, war resumed in the spring of 1647. It started when a Huron-French diplomatic mission to the Mohawk country was accused of treachery and evil magic and the emissaries, including the Jesuit Isaac Jogues, were killed. The Mohawks launched raids into the St. Lawrence and Ottawa valleys.The raids were stealth like and they would ambush them. The objective was to kill some of the enemy’s warriors and to capture prisoners. Women and children would be ritually adopted, accepted as new family members, and integrated into the captors’ community.

7. Diplomacy and War- The Hurons Annihilated, 1649In the late 1640s, Iroquois armies were stepping up attacks against the Huron country farther west. The Iroquois seemed intent on destroying an entire people. With guns and well-established military traditions they terrified all their opponents. The Hurons were taking by surprise in March 1649 by a large Iroquois invasion. The attackers destroyed two outlying villages. Although the heart of the Huron country was not directly affected, they were frightened by this attack. Over the years their military strength had been reduced by population loss. After years of trying, the Jesuits had finally succeeded in converting many Hurons. The Huron nations collapsed as a result of the Iroquois blows on 1649. Many individuals and families surrendered to the enemy and became adopted Iroquois.

8. Missions To The IroquoisThe French often suggested that God was one of the great ambitions of the Jesuits. Some abortive attempts were made in the 1650s during pauses in the fighting, but success came only after 1667, when a comprehending and lasting peace was established. Many factors had conspired to change the situation around that time. The English had taking over the Hudson Valley, technology and other influences were having their usual disturbing effects, epidemics were taking a severe toll, and imported alcohol was devastating the natives. The Iroquois were anxious to end the costly conflict with their northern neighbors. Two French invasions convinced them to come to terms with the French. The Jesuits worked among the Five Nations of the Iroquois League until 1684, when war resumed and the French missionaries were expelled. The Mohawks came to predominate among the mission Indians. The Iroquois converts of Canada developed their own distinct way of life.

9. Missions to the Iroquois- Mission of Sault St. Louis/ KahnawakeThe majority of Mohawk migrants settled across the St. Lawrence from Montreal. They built a traditional Iroquoian village and called it Kahnawake. Kahnawake was a hybrid, however, it was shaped by Christianity, but yet remained profoundly Iroquoian in its language and culture. There was a period from 1676 to the 1680s of intense religious activity that swept the community.

10. Exploring the MississippiJesuits were occasionally involved in French voyages of exploration. They served as chaplains as they scouted potential new mission fields. The most famous missionary-explorer was Jacques Marquette. He helped to open the route from Canada, via the Great Lakes, to the Mississippi River. The Mississippi was well-known to the missionaries, fur traders, and officials of New France.

11. Exploring the MississippiMarquette and Jolliet traveled to Green Bay and then to the Wisconsin River. The Wisconsin connected them to the Mississippi. They traveled south to the point where Arkansas and Louisiana met now. They knew they were near the Gulf of Mexico, and fearing the hostility of natives downriver, as well as the Spanish they decided to turn back.However; they were still far from the military outposts of Florida.