1. Theme 5Theme 5
The Jesuit RelationsThe Jesuit Relations
Kristi Beria

2. Introduction
What are the Jesuit Relations?
 The Jesuit Relations are reports by
the French missionaries of the
Society of Jesus, also known as
Jesuits.
 These reports consisted of news
about colonization, epidemics,
wars, and other events about the
Indians of the Northwest.
 The reports were sent annually to
Paris where they were published
from 1632 to 1673.
 The Jesuits were sent in order to
convert the Indians to Christianity.
 The missionaries lived in the
native villages, learned their
languages, and got to know the
Indians like no other Europeans.
 These writings combine both a
personal narrative and a
ethnographic account of the
customs and beliefs of an
unknown civilization.
 The missionaries often had a
different view of the natives than
did most Europeans.
 They viewed the natives as
“pagans” yet also had sympathies
for them and the way that they
were treated by colonists.

3. Introduction
A History of the Jesuits
 The Jesuits were part of a religious
order, called the Society of Jesus, who
took special vows of poverty and
obedience.
 Every Jesuit was educated and a
college teacher at some point in their
life.
 They gave spiritual advice to laypeople
and to kings.
 One of the main goals of the Jesuits
was to convert “heathens” everywhere.
 Thousands were baptized in India,
Japan, and China.
 In Brazil, they denounced the slaughter
of the Indians by conquering empires.
 French Jesuits arrived in Canada near
the St. Lawrence River in 1625.
 They had contact with natives of the
nations of the Iroquois and
Algonquians.
 Two earlier expeditions to the Acadian
Coast and to Quebec were not
successful.
 The Jesuits returned to Quebec in
1632.
 The goal for the first few decades was
to convert the Montagnais,
Algonquians, and the Huron.
 In the 1640s many adult natives were
converted.
 Jesuits were involved in expeditions
from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi
River in the late 16th
century and the
colonization of Louisiana in the 1700s.

4. Chapter 1-Montagnais Hunters of the Northern
Woodlands
On the Good Things Which Are Found among the Indians
Paul Le Jeune
 They are tall, strong, athletic, and
people.
 They are sharp of mind only lacking
in education and instruction.
 They are more clever than the
peasants that live in European
villages.
 They are successful despite lacking
what the European see as
government.
 They lack the greed or the desire to
accumulate great wealth.
 There is not a word to describe anger
in their language as it is not a
emotion that the Indians give into.
 They are patient and go about their
daily work in happiness.
 The men and women don’t
bicker over who does what chore
and they work peacefully with
each other.
Father Paul Le Jeune writes about the physical and mental characteristics of the
people of the Montagnais tribe.

5. Chapter 1-Montagnais Hunters of the Northern Woodlands
How to Settle Disputes and Discipline Children
Paul Le Jeune
 A young French boy was
playing the drum and hit an
approaching Indian in the head
causing him to bleed.
 As is usual custom in the case
of injury, the Indians
demanded a present of the
French, which would absolve
the boy of any wrongdoing.
 The French ordered the young
boy to be whipped.
 The Indians were shocked and
asked that he be pardoned
since he is just a boy and
didn’t know what he was
doing.
 The French were still going to
punish the boy.
 An Indian threw his robe over
they boy and asked to be
whipped in his place.
 The boy was let go without
any punishment.
Father Paul Le Jeune recounts a story about how an Indian saved a French boy
from punishment.

6. Chapter 2-Jean de Brebeuf on the Hurons
Of the Polity of the Hurons and of their Government
Jean De Brebeuf
 They live together in peace and
friendship and should be praised for
their gentleness despite being savages.
 They develop great friendships and
help each other during sickness.
 Everyone may state his opinion to the
council and is capable of expressing
themselves very well.
 The relatives of a murdered person
prosecute and demand restitution from
a murderer in the form of sixty
presents.
 Sorcerers can be punished by death if
caught in the act itself.
 If a person is caught with something
that belongs to you, you may take it
back along with anything else that you
feel might be of value.
 A person that discovers a trade is
master of that trade and can give his
permission to whomever he chooses to
also participate in that trade.
 They usually only go to war for a good
reason, such as another nation not
paying restitution for a murder.
 Each village has one or several
captains that deal with affairs of war or
affairs of state.
 The captains earn this position by
showing intelligence, courage, and
good conduct.
 The captain’s decisions are based on
what is good for the village and not
upheld by force.
Father Jean De Brebeuf writes about laws and government of the Hurons.

7. Chapter 2-Jean de Brebeuf on the Hurons
Of the Solemn Feast of the Dead
Jean De Brebeuf
 The Feast of the Dead is a ceremony
that the Huron’s use to honor those
relatives and loved ones that have died.
 All the nations are invited and
preparations are made to transport
bodies taken from cemeteries to the
designated area.
 The bodies are taken from the tombs in
front of their relatives and left over
skin and robes are thrown in a fire.
 The bones are cleaned and placed into
bags and wrapped again in fine robes.
 The bodies are taken to the relatives
cabins where a feast has been prepared.
 Presents, such as robes, necklaces, or
kettles are also made for the deceased.
 Nations from all over bring their dead,
wrapped in robes, and put them on
display for all to see.
 At a certain time the relatives all hang
their dead on poles that have built over
a large pit that has been dug.
 The pit is lined with robes and the
bodies are then placed in it and the
relatives sleep and cook their meals at
the graveside.
 Some of the robes are then cut up and
thrown to the gathered crowd.
Father Jean De Brebeuf writes about the Huron Feast of the Dead.

8. Chapter 7-Martyrs and Mystics
How Father Isaac Jogues was taken by the Iroquois and What He
Suffered on His first Entrance into their Country
Jerome Lalemant
 Father Isaac Jogues and his traveling
companions are ambushed and captured
by the Iroquois.
 The Father was beaten and stabbed for
offering a fellow prisoner words of
encouragement.
 The Iroquois also tore out some of his
fingernails with their teeth.
 As the Indians were dividing up their
booty, Father Jogues baptized as many
captives as he could.
 After a thirteen day journey the captives
were lined up and sent through a gauntlet
of Iroquois to be beaten with sticks or
thorns.
 The Father’s life was spared in order to
make him a public spectacle.
 The captives were placed on a stage
and beaten, burned, and tortured again.
 The captives were taken to different
villages to be tortured and beaten by
other clans.
 After being taken back to the original
village, Father Jogues had a finger cut
off .
 In the evening, they were staked to the
ground and the children of the village
were allowed to inflict pain and torture
upon the captives.
 Father Jogues’ friend and companion is
killed by a hatchet to the head.
 After many months of being held
hostage, Father Jogues was able to
escape to a Dutch settlement.
Father Jerome Lalemant writes about the suffering that Saint Isaac
Jogues suffers at the hands of the Iroquois.

9. Chapter 7-Martyrs and Mystics
Catherine Tegahkouita: An Iroquois Virgin
P.F.X. De Charlevoix
 Catherine was a Mohawk woman who
lost both mother and father when she
was young.
 She lived with her aunt and uncle, who
was the chief authority in the village.
 She had weakened eyesight due to
having smallpox as a child.
 She preferred to be alone and went
about her daily chores without having
to be told to do them.
 She embraced Christianity after
spending time with missionaries who
came to her village.
 Catherine shared her joy with a few
fellow women after a visit from Father
Jacques de Lamberville’s arrival.
 She studied and prayed all winter in
order to become a full Christian.
 Her family was not happy with her
conversion and tried to marry her off,
which she refused.
 She escaped to a Jesuit community
called La Prairie de la Magdeleine.
 There, she made prayers, work, and
spiritual conversation her main goals in
life.
 After attempts again to marry her off
again, she took a vow of virginity and
to be the spouse of the Jesus Christ.
 Catherine adopted different ways of
self flagellation such as sleeping or
rolling on a bed of thorns or burning
her feet.
 She soon grew ill and took very little
help from anyone and ate very little.
 Catherine died in 1680.
 She was the first Native American
woman to be given the honor of being
venerated and beatified.
Father Pierre Francois Xavier Charlevoix writes about a Mohawk woman
who became a saint.

10. Chapter 8-Exploring the Mississippi
Description of the Village of Makoutens; What Passed there between the Father
and the Indians. The French begin to enter a new and unknown country and
arrive at the Mississippi.
Journal entries by Jacques Marquette
 After leaving Green Bay and the Wild
Rice People, Father Marquette and
Louis Jolliet reach the “Fire Nation”.
 This is the farthest that the French have
gone in their explorations.
 The village of Maskoutens is made up
of three nations: Miamis, Maskoutens,
and Kickapoos.
 The father thinks that the Miamis are
the most civil while the others are rude
and no better than peasants.
 The village had a cross erected in the
middle of town and is decorated with
offerings from the natives.
 The elders were assembled and the
natives were told that Monsieur Jolliet
was there to discover new lands and
that Father Marquette was there to
illuminate the natives of the gospel.
 Two guides were given to the travelers
to help them on their journey.
 The travelers went by canoe down the
Meskousing River, also know as the
Wisconsin.
 Fertile lands, woods, and prairies were
seen on the banks of the river.
 There were many different types of
trees such as oak and walnut.
 The travelers also saw many deer and
bison, which they called cattle.

11. Chapter 8-Exploring the Mississippi
Of the Great River called Mississippi; Its most notable features; of
various animals…Of the first villages of the Illinois , where the French
Arrived.
Journal entries by Jacques Marquette
 The Mississippi current flows gently
southward.
 There are mountains on the right and
plains of the left.
 There were large fish that they hadn’t
seen before.
 The main game is wild turkey and
pisikious, or wild cattle.
 The cattle are larger than their
domestic cattle and will feed many
people.
 Their hides are used by the Indians for
robes.
 They traveled for a long time without
seeing anything other than animals and
birds.
 On June 25 some human tracks were
spotted on the water’s edge.
 After leaving two people to guard the
canoes, Father Marquette and
Monsieur Jolliet went off to explore.
 A large village was discovered near the
banks of the river.
 They shouted to make themselves
known and four old men were sent to
speak to them..
 The Indians stated that they were
Illinois and gave the two men a
calumet, or pipe, in friendship.
 Father Marquette and Monsieur were
invited back to the village of the
Illinois.