Amerindian Views of French Culture in the Seventeenth Century

CORNELIUS J. JAENEN Amerindian Views ofFrench Culture in theSeventeenth Century Our historiography hasbeenmoreconcerned with FrenchandCanadian viewsof theAmerindiansthanwithaboriginalopinionsandevaluations of theFrenchculturewithwhichtheycameintocontactduringtheseventeenth century?Yet, the mostelementarycanonsof historicalinterpretationrequire that the valuesand belief systems of both partiesconcernedin the contact experience beconsidered. In general,it hasbeenassumed by historiansthat not onlydid Frenchmenconsidertheir civilizationsuperiorto the aboriginalculturesof North Americabut alsothatthe nativetribesmen viewedFrenchculturewith aweand admiration,that theyoften attempted to imitatethe Europeans,and usuallyaspiredto elevatethemselves to the superiorlevelof thewhiteman.Thisinterpretationwasfirmlyestablished in EuropeanandCanadianliteraturebyCharlevoix,Raynal,Chateaubriand, andBossange. a • Thisistherevised version ofa paperreadattheseventh annualNorthernGreatPlains HistoryConference,Universityof Manitoba,2oOct. •972 2 Thisorientation isillustrated inthefollowing importantwritings: Henri Baudet,Paradise on Earth.Some Thoughts onEuropean Images ofNon-European Man (New Haven•965);Gilbert Chinard,L'Amdrique etler•veexotique dans lalittdrature franfaiseauXVIIe etauXVIIIe si•cle (Paris•9•3);Ren6Gonnard,La ldgende dubon sauvage (Paris•946);GeorgeR. Healy,'The French Jesuits andtheIdeaoftheNobleSavage,' William andMaryQuarterly, xv, no2,April •958, •43-67; Douglas Leechman, 'The Indian in Literature,'Queen's Quarterly, I, no2, summer•943, •55-63; RoyHarveyPearce, TheSavages ofAmerica. A Study ofthe Indianand the IdeaofCivilization (Baltimore•953);DonaldBoydSmith,French Canadian Historians' Images ofthe Indianinthe'Heroic Period' ofNewFrance, x534-x663(unpublished Master's thesis, Universit6Laval•969) 3 D. Dainville,pseudonym (AdolpheBossange), Beautds del'histoire duCanada oudpoques remarquables, traits intdressans, mceurs, usages, coutumes des habitans duCanada, tantindigbnes que colons, depuis sadgcouverte jusqu'd ce jour(Paris•82•); F.-X. Charlevoix, Histoire etdescription gdndrale delaNouve!le-France avec lejournal historique d'unVoyage fait parordre duRoidans l'Amdrique septentrionale, 3vols.(Paris•744);F.R.Chateaubriand, LeGgnie duChristiansime (Paris•8o2);J.F.X. Lafitau,Mceurs des Sauvages amdriquains compards auxmceurs des premiers temps (Paris•724);G.-T. Raynal, Histoire philosophique etpolitique des dtablissements etdu commerce dans les deux Indes(Geni•ve•78o) Vol. LvNo 3September•974 262 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Not until the mid-nineteenth centurywasthere any notabledeparture from this acceptedapproachto French-Amerindianrelations.While it is true that a few earlier French writers had been critical of the ideas and ideals of their compatriotsin comparisonwith native behaviour, suchcritical observations were invariablymotivatedby desiresfor politicaland social reforms,by religioustoleration,or by scepticism whichrelatedto France more thanto North America.Clodor/•,Abbeville,de L/•ry,Boyer,Sagard, andLescarbot madeguardedcriticisms of Frenchbehaviourandinstitutions employingAmerindian examplesto strengthentheir arguments. 4 MaximilienBibaudwasthefirstFrench -Canadian todepicttheAmerindiansin a consistently favourable light. He wasfully conscious, moreover, that the aborigineshad resistedfrancization and, in the majority, had rejected conversion? NapoleonLegendrepleadedeloquentlyin •884 for an impartialandjust treatmentof Amerindianhistory,but hiswasstillavoiceof one cryingin thewilderness. 6 It isthereforeonlyquiterecentlythatthesources for thetraditionalviews of thecontact experiencehavebeenre-examinedmorecriticallyandthatthe accepted interpretations havebeenchallenged. In •9o3,L•on G•rin began tostudythenatives of NewFrancein a newconceptual framework,buthis workwentlargelyunnoticedbyhiscontemporaries. In •925, F.W. Howay attemptedtopresenttheaboriginalcase andhispioneerworkwasfollowed by DiamondJenness' TheIndiansof Canada(•932) and A.G. Bailey'sThe Conflict ofEuropean andEastern Algonkian Cultures, •5o4-• 700 (•937)-More significant stillin settingthestagefor athorough-going revision of Amerindian historyhave been the writingsof JacquesRousseau,L•o-Paul Desrosiers , and Andr/• Vachon. 7 To delineate Amerindian views of French culture and civilization at the 4 Clauded'Abbeville, Histoire delaMission des P•resCapucins eni'lsledeMaragnanetterres circonvoisines (Paris•6•4); PaulBoyer,Vdritable Relation detout cequis'est fait etp(•sd auvoyage que Monsieur Bretignyfit di'Amirique Occidentale (Paris•654);J.deClodor6, Relation dece qui s' est passd dans ies lsles etTerre ferme dei'Amdrique (Paris•67 •);JeandeL•ry, Histoire d'un Voyage fait enieTerre duBrdsii, autrement dite Amdrique (La Rochelle•578);MarcLescarbot, Histoire deiaNouveile France (Paris•6o9);GabrielSagard-Th•odat, LeGrand Voyage duPays des Hurons(Paris•63• ) 5 MaximilienBibaud, Biographie des Sagamos Iilustres dei'Amdrique septentrionale (Montr6al •848) 6 NapoleonLegendre,'Lesraces indig•nesdel'Am6riquedevantl'histoire,' Mdmoires dela SocidtdRoyale duCanada, n, •884, sec. i, •5-3 o 7 L•o-PaulDesrosiers, Iroquoisie, •534-• 646 (Montr6al•947);Jacques Rousseau, L'Indien et notre milieu(mimeographed LavalUniversitytelevised course,•966);Andr• Vachon, 'L'Eau-de-vie danslasoci•t•indienne,'Canadian Historical Association Annual Reports, •96o, •-3 •. The authorhasbeenmuchencouraged in thislineof research byWilcombE. Washburn. The debttothewritings of ClarkWissler, HaroldDriver,EdwardSpicer, AnthonyF.C.Wallace, BruceTrigger,andWilliamFentonisalsoacknowledged AMERINDIAN VIEWS OF FRENCH CULTURE 263 timeofcontact intheseventeenth centuryisextremelydifficultbecause, first of all,anunderstanding of bothFrenchcultureandAmerindianculturesis necessary. More informationaboutFrenchculturein the seventeenth century isavailablethan aboutMicmac,Montagnais,Algonkian,Huron, and Iroquoiscultureswhichweredescribed by Frenchtravellers,missionaries, and tradersasseenthroughtheir ownunderstandingof suchculturesand interpreted accordingto their valuesand beliefs. The missionaries,as France's foremost cultural ambassadors at the time tended to undervalue tribalcustoms andpractices, buttheysoonfoundthattheAmerindianswere secure,well-adjusted...