The document summarizes the Jesuit Relations, which were reports written by 17th century French missionaries in North America about their efforts to convert Native Americans. The relations provide detailed descriptions of the culture and daily lives of the Iroquoians, Algonquians, and Hurons. They observed topics like native spirituality and health practices. Disease spread rapidly among the natives, which they didn't understand. Conflict escalated as European weapons were introduced. Many Jesuits and Hurons were killed by the aggressive Iroquois in 1649. Missionaries like Father Marquette also explored the Mississippi River region and encountered many tribes.

1. The Jesuit Relations Natives and Missionaries in Seventeenth-century North America By: Kevin Lelja

2. Introduction (pp. 1-19) The Jesuit Relations are basically the reports and writings of French Missionaries during their efforts to convert the Native Americans in what is Canada today in the 1600’s. The relations have an obvious bias they are very detailed and descriptive and continue to be a great source to learn about the French and Natives. The French missionaries spent most of their time writing about the Iroquoians, Algonquians and Huron's.

3. Introductin Most of the missionary priests were well established financially from their work in the Jesuit colleges of France. Before the Jesuits arrived in North America French fishermen and explores had come into contact with the natives of the North East Americas. The Jesuit missions showed signs of success around 1640. The Jesuits were also active in Latin America, France and Canada

4. Chapter 1 The first published Jesuit relation is by a priest by the name of Father Paul le Jeana who lived from 1592-1664. Father Paul le Jeana was impressed with the natives physical prowess and compared them to the statues of Roman emperors.

5. Chapter 1 The Indians believed in two main gods, one who created the world and another who restored it. Father Paul le Jeane would observe how the natives went about their daily lives and wrote about it in great detail. He was fascinated with Indian culture and was very interested in the way they lived off nature The natives lived off the beaver for food and fur and nearly hunted them to extinction.

6. Disease and Medicine The natives were very spiritual when it came to health and sickness They had ceremonies and rituals where they would dance around in and attempt to make all the sick and diseased better They also played games that they claimed were good for their health and would keep them strong. The natives didn’t understand that diseases where physical and they needed to be medically treated.

7. Disease and Medicine The Jesuit missionaries of New France didn’t know much about bacteria, viruses, germs, and diseases because they were already immune to all of them. The natives were suspicious of the missionaries because they had never been so ill until the Jesuits came over and tried to convert them. The spread of Disease was a completely foreign concept to the Jesuits and the natives. There was an epidemic of influenza in 1637

8. Diplomacy and War The Jesuits were not Christian conquerors but rather settlers that settled within native tribes Wars became more deadly and violent with the adaption of European weaponry in the 17th century. Tribal conflict escalated in the 1640’s and peace negotiations took place at Three Rivers in 1645 During this time of conflict the Jesuit Missionaries moved into the region of the Great Lakes and converted many Hurons.

9. Diplomacy and War The Iroquois were the most aggressive and persistent attackers of all the tribes. The Jesuits often referred to the natives as “barbarians” during this time of war. By 1649 most of the Jesuits and Hurons were destroyed by the Iroquois.

10. Exploring the Mississippi The Jesuits often traveled with the French in hopes of finding a new places to set up missions. The Mississippi was well known to missionaries , fur traders, and officials. Jacques Marquette was the most famous of the missionary explorers.

11. Exploring the Mississippi Father Marquette learned countless things on his explorations of the Mississippi, including the vast selection of animals the Americas had to offer. Marquette came into contact with many tribes but it was the Illinois that he became most familiar with.