archaeological and textual records - eCommons@Cornell - Cornell ...

the Algonquians promised to cease hostilities (JR 53:51). With the diplomatic matters
settled, Garakontie then cemented his sixteen-year alliance with the French by seeking
baptism, having previously studied the faith for many years with Chaumonot at
Onondaga (JR 53:51). The Bishop of Montreal personally conferred the sacrament,
while the Governor of Quebec acted as Garakontie’s godfather. Representatives from
all of the Five Nations, the Huron, Algonquians, Ottawas, and Mohicans witnessed
Garakontie’s public conversion (JR 53:53). Although it is recorded that Garakontie
lived out his life as a practicing Christian, it is arguably his benevolence towards the
French and the Jesuits that generated a symbiotic kind of relationship, which he used
to further his own political influence (Richter 1985:5).
As much as the Jesuits may have tried, a “diplomatic conversion,” such as
Garakontie’s, never took hold on Seneca land. The converted chief, Annonkenritaoui,
who was allegedly cured of the thigh canker (JR 44:21) is never mentioned again after
volume 44. We may also recall that in volume 60, Julien Garnier’s 1672 letter reveals
that inclination the village leaders previously expressed towards embracing the faith
was ultimately nullified by the rumored movements of the French army (JR 56:57).
Thus, the pattern, if there is one, of Seneca conversion seems to point to the
potentially displaced and disenfranchised members of any given village, the refugees
or “captives.” The Jesuit Relations are ambivalent regarding the socio-economic status
of the Hurons, Neutrals and others living on Seneca land, which leaves a great deal
open to speculation. Building on Fremin’s earlier account of “the Believers” and “the
Faithful” (JR 54:85), following the burning of St. Michael, when the villagers lost all
homes, stored food and possessions, Fremin reported to Garnier that he had never
101