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

We have never performed our duties in greater quiet and with more freedom
than this year. Father Raffeix arrived at La Conception at the end of the month
of July; and, a month afterward, I returned to St. Michel whence I had gone
forth a year before, — Both because the village had been entirely consumed by
fire, and because I alone remained at Tsonnontouan. Here, I have experienced
all the satisfaction that I could hope to obtain from our Christians, — through
their assiduous attendance in the chapel, night and morning, at prayers, and
Their punctuality in coming every Sunday to the instruction that I give them
before Mass; and through the Zeal that several of them manifest in taking the
part of the faith when any irreligious men speak against it. (JR 57:190-191)
In addition to the details of his ministry, it is worth noting for the sake of
archaeology that the burned village Garnier mentions could refer to the Bunce or
Cherry Street sites. Both these were satellites of the Ganondagan community (Jordan
2004:12) and thus might be associated with the St. Michel mission.
Furthermore, even though reliable quantitative data is not often present in the
Relations, Garnier does provide his Superiors with a sense of how many people had
been baptized so far: “Since the month of July, 1672, I have baptized 43 children —
29 of whom already enjoy the happiness that baptism has procured for them, while
several of the others still linger — and 12 adults, 9 of whom died shortly after their
baptism, giving me many evidences of their predestination” (JR 57 198-199). The
“happiness” Garnier speaks of in this passage would refer to eternal paradise in
Heaven, which again strengthened the association that many non-coverts made
between death and baptism.
Volume 58 concludes parts of the Relation of 1672-1673 before mentioning
subsequent events. As far as the Iroquois missions are concerned, the prologue would
lead one to believe that nothing had profoundly changed. However, Father Francis
Xavier (1682-1761) while in residence at the mission of St. Marc [to the Fox tribe]
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