The Hurons Catholic Traditions: A Summary

After analyzing the lifecycle of the seventeenth century Huron and modern day Ontarians, there were some obvious similarities as well as differences. A child in infancy in either century is valued and unconditionally adored by all around. In both centuries, children are raised in ways that encourage success in their adult life, whether it is by accepting roles, or embracing freedom. In the adolescent years the major difference between Huron of the seventeenth century was the pride they had in puberty, where as in modern day southern Ontarians many of the youth are embarrassed by puberty. And finally in death, irrespective of the time period, there is a great amount of respect given to the deceased, and some form of remembrance ceremony is held.

The film, Black Robe, depicts the first contacts between the Huron Indians of Quebec and the Jesuit missionaries from France who came to convert them to Catholicism. Despite some of the controversial portrayals in the film, much of what was produced represented both the Huron and Jesuit perceptions of one another; the Black Robe displayed both the Jesuit frustrations with the Natives unwillingness to learn about Christianity and the Huron social mocking of the ‘black robes’. Portraying the religious, social, and economic interactions, the film, complemented by the journal of Le Jeune, Bruce Trigger’s book The Jesuits and the Fur Trade, and Neal Salisbury’s writings in Religious Encounters in a Colonial Context, gives a convincing portrait of both the Natives and the Jesuits side of the encounter.

Before the Europeans came to Canada, Natives had their own culture, traditions and norms. These differences were obvious to the Europeans who sailed to Canada, their interactions with the Native peoples proved these vast differences. One major difference noted was that the Iroquois organized their societies on different lines than did the patrilineal western Europeans. Iroquois women “by virtue of her functions as wife and mother, exercised an influence but little short of despotic, not only in the wigwam but also around the council fire.” “She indeed possessed and exercised all civil and political power and authority. The country, the land, the fields with their harvests and fruits belonged to her … her plans and wishes modeled the policy and inspired the decisions of council.” The Europeans were astounded by this way of life.

Serra’s difficult task of converting Native Americans was complicated by the military. Serra did not agree with the military that was trying to establish a “reputation, a stage for distinction and personal honor” (Corrigan 19). Serra had a tough time working along with

This primary source explains the Huron Indian was trying not to be influenced in a religious way by the Jesuit missionary, because the beliefs, lifestyles, and areas are totally different between the Indians and Europeans. Therefore, the Indians wanted to be save their own culture. The Jesuit missionary was the biggest intended audience from the Indians, because the Indians’ purpose was to keep their religious independence in the area. The Indians also tried to show their pride by refusing the missionaries’ ideas and suggestions. This document demonstrates that the relationship between the Indians and Europeans were not ideal since there was a conflict which the Indians avoided to take the belief of the Jesuit into the area, although the missionaries

The Indigenous people of America are called Native Americans or often referred to as “Indians”. They make up about two percent of the population in the United States and some of them still live in reservations. They once lived freely in the wilderness without any sort of influence or exposure from the Europeans who later came in the year of 1492, and therefore their culture is very different from ours. The Iroquois are northeastern Native Americans who are historically important and powerful. In the following essay we will discover some differences between the religious beliefs of the Native American Iroquois and Christianity to see if culture and ways of living have an effect on the view of religion, but we will also get to know some similarities. I am going to be focusing on the Iroquois, which are the northeastern Native Americans in North America.

At one instance in the movie, it showed many natives tempted into switching faith, due to desperate times. It also showed the Huron’s “converting” through baptism, as a last-ditch effort to be saved from a disease. This was a big focus in the movie, due to its story revolving around the Jesuit priest. It gives a view on how the natives slowly started to rely more on the Europeans. Besides the impact the Europeans had on the natives faith, they were also very clever when it came to making deals with the natives, and they often used each

Protection, civilization, assimilation: An outline history of Canada’s Indian policy by John L. Tobias, 1991.

In order for Europe’s influence to be successful across the world, they had a guide written by Father Jean de Brébeuf, called “Instructions for The Fathers of Our Society Who Shall Be Sent to The Hurons.” In this small guide, Father Jean, writes instruction for other European members to follow in order to be successful in their influence in the new world. The thought of being the superior race, followed them to the new world, so embracing a culture that they thought was low-class, was a big change to the European men. “As to the other numerous things which may be unpleasant, they must be endured for the love of God, without saying anything or appearing to notice them.” They did not do anything that contradicts the Natives belief, as they were trying to convert them to the “idealized” culture. They were doing so in a way that the Natives did not realize they were being converted. So, the Europeans change their normal customs in order to gain their trust. In which they accommodate to non-European

Along with the preservation of their autonomy, the First Nations women and communities did not want to convert to Christianity and the customs that came with it because they were attached to their traditions and did not want to give them up. The Huron and Algonquian communities maintained that they would not physically discipline their children because they feared that suicide would result from punishment. Therefore the Huron and Algonquian avoided discipline at all costs because nothing was more important to them than their children’s lives.

The Europeans and the Jesuits unknowing brought much more than economic interests and the word of God. They brought with them disease, which in time will lead to major epidemics in the New World. This becomes a major obstacle to their work with the Indians. As if the death of the Native Americans were not bad enough, the Jesuits face a religious problem as well. During the epidemic, the Jesuits would baptize the ill taking comfort in the fact that the dead are brought to eternal life. The Indians did not quite share this view. Sadly, the Indians came to believe that baptism was associated with death and not the Catholic association of death into new life. In the Annual Letter of 1592, the writer expressed, “On the one hand it is a great

One example of these accounts was written by Jean de Brébeuf, a French Jesuit, who lived amongst the Huron in order to save their souls from damnation by converting them to Christianity. His account is very short covering only several pages over a span of two years and so provides only the most general overview of his time there and then only what he deemed was important for his superiors in Europe to know. De Brébeuf’s mission as a servant of God to convert these ‘savages’ from their pagan ways through preaching and gift giving to. In addition, it is also important to remember the circumstances in which this account was recorded, as de Brébeuf was only one of two Jesuits in a community of 30,000 Huron and so found himself completely immersed in Huron culture and practices. While he often writes accounts in which he belittles the Huron by calling writing, “they are very lazy, are liars, thieves, pertinacious beggars” , he also attests the respect he has of them. Thus it is important to note that de Brébeuf was also a man of understanding and not blind devotion to the conversion of these people.

Associated with their attention to the spiritual needs of conversion, the priests endeavored to eliminate ‘heathen’ practices among those Indians that they baptized.[x] The non-Christian people of the Americas were not simply to be converted; they were to be civilized, taught, humanized, purified and reformed. The Indians to be converted were strangers speaking in many unfamiliar tongues. In most cases, when the Friars first encountered them, they had been only recently conquered and subjugated, and even if not actively hostile they were likely to retain covert antagonisms. In their experience all Spaniards were exploitative.

Every person on this planet has a set of beliefs and values that they implement into their daily lives, helping them understand the world, humanity, and themselves. This set of beliefs and values can be called a worldview. The worldviews and ways of knowing of Indigenous Peoples (in this paper, specifically Indigenous Peoples of North America) have existed for centuries, yet often they remain in juxtaposition with Western (in this paper, specifically Eurocentric) ways of knowing and Western worldviews. One way of knowing is reliant on science, order, and the

The book “The fall of Natural man; The American Indian and the Origins of Comparative Ethnology” was written by Anthony Pagden in august 1983. The book gives a new explanation of the introduction of intellectual context and argument made by various sixteenth-century spanish thinker about the new world by the old. This book was the first study of the pre-Enlightenment methods by which Europeans tried to describe and describe American Indian society with his own society. The book is rich and complex, but also confusing. It deals with an issue which of great interest to people studying origin of new world. But the book disappoints the anthropological readers as the title of the book and the content is not satisfactory.