'Voyageur of worlds’, master of none.

Abstract

Masterminded by Jesuit Superior Paul Le Jeune, the imposition of both Francisation and conversion through Jesuit education initiatives had a significant impact on the Innu and Wendat nations in the seventeenth century. Yet, the extent to which the Jesuit education programmes between 1630 and 1670 clashed with Indigenous culture is still heavily debated amongst historians.This essay will argue that Jesuit education initiatives clashed with Innu and Wendat culture to a greater extent regarding teaching methods and curriculum and yet, will also highlight isolated pockets of accommodationist attitudes. Whilst this essay will also examine the Ursuline nuns, it will primarily analyse Jesuit education methods, curriculum and accommodation towards Innu and Wendat boys. Overall, despite predominantly targeting young boys, the content and approach of Le Jeune’s religious education policies had significant repercussions throughout Innu and Wendat society, regardless of gender or age.   [1] Anderson, The Betrayal of Faith: 8-9; Carol Blackburn, Harvest of souls: the Jesuit missions and colonialism in North America, 1632-1650 (Montreal, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2000), 31. [2] Bruce Trigger, The children of Aataentsic: A history of the Huron People to 1660 (Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1976): 263-4; James P. Ronda, “"We Are Well As We Are": An Indian Critique of Seventeenth-Century Christian Missions,” The William and Mary Quarterly 34, no. 1 (1977), 68; Mairi Cowan, “Education, Francisation, and Shifting Colonial Priorities at the Ursuline Convent in Seventeenth-Century Québec,” The Canadian Historical Review 99, no. 1 (March 2018), 8.