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Of course, the missions of New France were unlike any classroom, hospital or
almshouse in Europe (Axtell 1985:77). The general uncertainty of living conditions
included disease, hunger, French-Indian diplomacy and inter-tribal warfare. This
called on the Jesuits to take real steps to understand their audience, both for the sake of
gaining converts, as well as for sake of self-preservation—even if martyrdom was
looked upon as a glorious ending.
Given that the Iroquois already had a well-developed set of spiritual beliefs
and values, for the Jesuits it was perhaps not so much a matter of making their charges
“find God,” as it was a matter of re-conceptualizing native beliefs in a Christian light,
and debunking the various indigenous traditions that the Jesuits regarded as
superstition or devil-worship. As one might expect, this was not a simple undertaking.
Spreading the faith first demanded that the Jesuit missionaries have a working
knowledge of existing Iroquoian beliefs, followed by the ability to deploy tactics that
would supplant indigenous beliefs with Catholicism—all the while without generating
any hostility from their hosts.
Unfortunately, the Jesuit Relations do not depict the actual process of
conversion in great detail, instead opting to focus on the great deeds and charity of
those already converted (Richter 1985:7-8). What follows thus, are some historical
accounts of “Jesuit pedagogy” in action, which is perhaps a step in the right direction
if we are to learn anything about how and why people converted. While most of the
accounts are from Seneca lands, in the interest of being as thorough as possible, I have
also provided pertinent examples other from proximal and contemporary Iroquoian
missions.
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