Black Robes and Buckskin: A Selection from the Jesuit Relations

In Spiritu Sanctu: Inculturation and the Aboriginal Relations

in spiritu sanctu: inculturation and the aboriginal relations He who only sees New France through the eyes of flesh and of nature, will only see woods and crosses; but if he then looks at this through the eyes of faith and a strong calling, he will see only God, virtue and grace; he will perceive such consolations , that, were I able to give all of Paradise in exchange for New France, I would do it.1 In the late sixteenth century, the essayist and political functionary Michel de Montaigne wrote an essay about a French exploration party to the New World, and the people they encountered. The essay, entitled ‘‘Des cannibales’’ (‘‘Concerning Cannibals’’), earned him recognition and praise as one of the first cultural or moral relativists of the Early Modern era. In his essay Montaigne argued that many of the practices of this reportedly cannibalistic society into which purportedly cultured Frenchmen had stepped were in fact much more civilized and humane than some European customs. At the end of the essay, Montaigne feigned overhearing a European observer (and by extension the reader) who, in response to Montaigne’s argument, would raise an eyebrow and exclaim, ‘‘Not at all bad, that.—Ah! But they wear no breeches . . .’’2 This ironic 1. ‘‘Qui ne void la Nouvelle France que par les yeux de chair et de nature, il n’y void que des bois et des croix; mais qui les considère avec les yeux de la grace et d’une bonne vocation, il n’y void que Dieu, les vertus et les graces, et on y trouve tant et de si solides consolations, que si je pouvois acheter la Nouvelle France, en donnant tout le Paradis Terrestre, certainement je l’acheterois.’’ (Relation, 1635) 2. Michel de Montaigne, ‘‘On the Cannibals,’’ Essays, trans. Michael Screech (London: Penguin, 1991), 92. The original reads, ‘‘Mais quoy! Ils ne portent point de hauts de chausses!’’ (But, hold on here! They don’t wear pants!) twist at the end of the essay indicts the European observer as more concerned with appearances than reality, with façade than inner being, with ornamentation than with right behavior. Discerning the Barbarian’s Breeches A half century after the publication of ‘‘Des cannibales,’’ when the first Jesuits arrived in New France (la nouvelle France as French Canada was known at the time), they came with the usual European mind-set: to bring Christ to the natives, shape them up, and provide them with the benefits of civilization. Only a few years later, in the letters they wrote home (called relations), these Jesuits were admitting that the Native Americans possessed virtues of which they had been unaware, and that the two cultures shared some similarities in their worldviews that might allow for the translation of concepts necessary to the success of the Jesuits ’ spiritual enterprise in New France. The Jesuits learned to respect the natives, rather than condescend to them, and they wanted to convince other Europeans of the merits of their encounters. The Jesuits had begun to discern that these ‘‘barbarians’’ might just wear their own sort of breeches. The voices of these ‘‘barbarians’’ have been silenced by historical circumstances . Most of them were illiterate, and therefore unable to leave written accounts of themselves. Yet we are not reduced to reasoning from absences, because of field letters the Jesuits wrote home which were publicized as the Jesuit Relations. The Relations—and other, lesser known, writings—are filled with references to natives, their helpful and heroic acts, how they responded to Christianity, how they assisted the Jesuits, and what characterized their piety before and after baptism. These references assist us in creating a composite portrait of native responses to, and a retrieval of their experiences with, the Jesuits in the New World. Although this way of listening is, of necessity, limited, we sometimes hear a call-and-response: the native stance spurs a change, or reaction, on the part of their European interlocutor as well. In a lovely historical irony, the Jesuits, who relied on natives, especially native women, to be their interpreters, in the Relations themselves become the translators for those otherwise silenced native voices. We hear the voices of aboriginal people as these are translated from one language to another 2 In spiritu sanctu: Inculturation and the Aboriginal Relations and then written down by the Jesuits. The natives are not present in any immediate way...