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appropriate to mention him here. Lafitau’s work was arguably ahead of his time,
setting him apart from contemporaries and from the writers of the Enlightenment:
He stressed the importance of describing cultures in terms of themselves, and
in his view the [savages] of the New World were men, the Iroquois were
people in their own right, and their customary ways were worthy of study. This
was a new kind of primitivism that would transform generic savages into
specific Indians. Although many of his comparisons seem farfetched today,
and his inferences from them unjustified, he was more competent than his
contemporaries and more mature because of his unique way of utilizing field
observations to criticize earlier sources on the Iroquoian peoples and of
employing their customs as a means of understanding the nature of antique
society and culture. (Dictionary of Canadian Biography 2000)
Father Lafitau was able to be published through the help of his brother, but his
work was arguably not given its full dues by the scholarly community until
anthropologist Arnold Van Gennep praised Lafitau, applauding his systematic sense
and pointing to him as an inspiration for modern French ethnology. Other early
anthropologists such as Louis Henry Morgan, Sir John Myers, and A. R. Radcliffe-
Brown also claimed him as a “pioneer” in the discipline (Dictionary of Canadian
Biography 2000).
One last Jesuit affiliated with the Seneca mission does not appear to have
published biography: Father D’Heu (Bihler 1956:95-96).
The Seneca Iroquois
The Senecas, along with the Cayugas, Mohawks, Onondagas, Oneidas and
Tuscaroras comprise the Iroquois Confederacy. The French traders who first
encountered the Senecas translated their name as the Tsonnontouans. One will find
both Senecas and Tsonnontouans mentioned in the Jesuit Relations and various
secondary sources; hence it is important to remember that both terms refer to the same
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