THE OHIO VALLEY-GREAT LAKES ETHNOHISTORY
ARCHIVES: THE MIAMI COLLECTION
It is noted that the following work from the Miami Archives should be read and
considered within the historical context in which it was composed and printed.
The opinions expressed and the language used do not reflect the opinions or
standards of the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, but are, rather,
indicative of thought in that historical moment during which the document was
published.
Jesuit Relations
Vol. 54, (1669-1671)
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pp. |
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p. 197. Of the Mission of Saint Francois Xavier on the 'Bay of Stinkards,' or Rather 'Of Stinking Waters.'
On the third of November, we departed from the Sault, I and two others. Two Canoe-loads of Pouteouatamis wished to conduct me to their Country; not that they wished to receive instruction there, having no disposition for the Faith, but that I might curb some young Frenchmen, who, being among them for the purpose of trading, were threatening and maltreating them.
We arrived on the first day at the entrance to the Lake of the Hurons, where we slept under the shelter of the Islands. . .
p. 199. On the eleventh, we embarked, notwithstanding the contrary wind, and crossed to another Island, and thence to the mainland, where we found two Frenchmen [65] with several Savages. (see *)
p. 203. After we had continued our Voyage, until the twentyfifth, amid continual dangers, God indemnified us for all our hardships by causing us to chance upon a Cabin of Pouteouatamis, who were engaged in fishing and hunting at the edge of the wood. They regaled us with all that they had, but especially with fene, which is the nut of the beech-tree, which they roast, and pound into flour.
p. 205. On the twenty-seventh, while we were trying to paddle with the utmost vigor possible, we were perceived by four Cabins of Savages, named Oumalouminek, who forced us to land; but as they were pressed by hunger, and we were at the end of our provisions, we could not remain long together.
On the twenty-ninth, as the Mouth of the River which we were to enter was frozen over, we were in great difficulty. [69] We thought of making the rest of the journey to the rendezvous by land; but, a furious wind having arisen during the night, we found ourselves enabled, owing to the breaking up of the ice, to continue our Voyage. We finished it on the second of December, on the eve of saint Francis Xavier's day, when we arrived at the place where the French were; and they helped us to celebrate the Day with the utmost solemnity in our power-- thanking him for the succor that he had procured for us during our voyage, and entreating him to be the Patron of that Mission, which we were about to start under his protection.
On the following day, I celebrated holy Mass, at which the French, to the number of eight, paid their Devotions. As the Savages had gone into winter quarters, I found here only one Village of different Nations-- Ousaki, Pouteouatami, Outagami, Ovenibigoutz [i.e., Ouinipegouk]-- about six hundred souls.(see **) A league and a half away was another, of a hundred and fifty souls; four leagues distant, one of a hundred souls; and eight leagues from here, on the other side of the Bay, one [70] of about three hundred souls.(see 6)
p. 207. All these Nations have their fields of Indian corn, squashes, beans, and tobacco. On this Bay, in a place that they call Ouestatinong, (see ***) twenty-five leagues away, there is a large Nation named Outagami, and a day's journey from them there are two others, Oumami and Makskouteng.(see ****) Of all these Peoples, a portion gained a knowledge of our Faith at saint Esprit point, where I instructed them; we shall do so more fully, with Heaven's help.
In the matter of our sustenance, we have had a good deal of trouble. Scarcely have we found material to make our cabin; all that we have had for food has been only Indian corn and acorns; the few fish that are seen here, and that but seldom, are very poor; and the water of this bay and of the rivers is like stagnant ditch-water.
The Savages of this region are more than usually barbarous; they are without ingenuity, and do not know how to make even a bark dish or a ladle; they [71] commonly use shells. They are grasping and avaricious to an extraordinary degree, and sell their little commodities at a high price, because they have only what is barely necessary. The season in which we arrived among them was not favorable for us; they were all in a needy condition, and very little able to give us any assistance, so that we suffered hunger. . .
p. 209. [72] Of the Mission to the Ousaki.
The Village of the Ousaki is the first where I began to give instruction. As soon as we were provided with a cabin there, I assembled all the elders, to whom, after relating the news of the peace with the Iroquois. . . .
In the month of January I purposed to go and
carry the Gospel to another Village, but it was impossible for me to go and
settle down among them. I tried to make up for this by frequent visits.
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* Probably on St. Ignace. JRM. See map A21. Allouez.
**** This village site has been identified near the town of
Berlin, Wisconsin, on the upper Fox River, Kellogg, Early Narr. of the
Northwest,
p. 84 fn. 1.
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6 (p. 209).-- It has generally been supposed by historical writers that the mission of St. Francois Xavier, thus founded by Allouez, was from the first located at the entrance to the Fox River, at or near the present city of Green Bay, Wis. But the reader will notice that, when the Father set out upon his journey to the Fox and Mascouten villages in the following spring (p. 215 of this volume), he spent an entire day in reaching the entrance to the Fox River. Moreover, upon his return from that trip, he made another to the Menomenee village, at the mouth of the river of that name,-- which, he states, was "eight leagues from our cabin" where he had made his winter quarters. Upon his first arrival in the preceding December, he found six Frenchmen there, who are mentioned by Allouez at the beginning of this letter as engaged in trade among the Pottawattomies-- the tribe who had requested the Father to come to them and correct the behavior of these very traders. It is evident that the latter had established a temporary trading post, and that with them Allouez wintered, making their cabin a center for various missionary excursions among the tribes dwelling on the bay shore. His statements cited above indicate the probable location of the French at the mouth of the Oconto River, nearly midway between the Menominee and Fox Rivers.
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