The Decision to Leave Christian Island: Huron-Wendat

Fade In: The Decision to Leave Christian Island: Huron-Wendat

Dr. Louis Lesage sitting at a table beside of a map of Christian Island.

(Dr. Louis Lesage, Bureau du Nionwentsio Huron-Wendat Nation)

In our own chapel in Wendake there is a big inscription from, if I am correct, his name is Louis Diaboust. It’s signed Louis Diaboust ami et protecteur des Hurons, Louis Diaboust friend and protector of Huron who has been from what we learned from this writing was sent by the French to Christian Island to bring back the poor Huron Wendat, decimated, starving, dying, and bring them back to Quebec to save them. That’s the story that we have learned.

So this Catherine Labelle finally came back in those writings and said, Woah, it’s different, and so she wrote a book that is presenting new aspects of this little chapter of the movement between Christian Island and Quebec city for my own people and what we learned in that is that in 1648 and 1649 Huron Wendat emissaries were sent from Christian Island to Montreal to Trois-Rivières and to Quebec City to negotiate with the French and with the church the arguments and the element of movement. They negotiate with them saying ok we want to continue to have an important role as diplomat with you, we want to continue to trade, we want to be close to French and the church because French and church were two powerful elements of the colony.

So they went to Montreal, Trois-Rivières and Quebec to negotiate to establish their role that could be in the future and they moved back to Christian Island and presented to the people and said “well you know if we want to continue to have influence on the French and be close to the church and to the power, we need to go to Quebec City.”

Fade out: End credits

Special Thanks: Ron Williamson, Peter Carruthers, Fr. Michael Knox, Louis Lesage

Filming: Nicole Aszalos, Eliza Brandy