“The Seed of Christianity Among this Barbarism” in Seventeenth-Century New France

This paper investigates Saint Joseph de Sillery, the Jesuit missionaries’ first “experimental” settlement in New France, using an “east-facing” or “Innu-centric” re-reading of the des Jésuites de la Nouvelle France, or The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Travels, and Explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France 1610–1791. In doing so, this paper works to dislodge the common misconception that the Innu peoples involved were passive victims of the Jesuit’s conversion efforts. By examining the Relations against the context in which they were written to distinguish between the Jesuit’s strategic depiction of their missionary agenda and the actual lived experiences of the Innu population who resided at Sillery, this essay re-constructs an internal history of the mission settlement. This alternative perspective challenges the narrative of “cultural suicide,” which is often adopted by scholars based on the Jesuit’s writings. As such, through a careful re-examination of the Relations, this paper exposes the Innu peoples’ use of Sillery as an opportunity to advance their position, therefore deeming the settlement a successful example of cultural preservation and resistance against complete conversion.