Through the Eyes of a Priest Historical relationships between early European and Native American civilizations was very troublesome to say the least. Even when we examine the Europeans who were considered to be more on the friendly side of the Native- Euro relations spectrum, we constantly see ethnocentricities revealed through their writings and anecdotes. One such case is within Father Jean de Brébeuf’s writing of The Mission to the Hurons. On one hand it allows us the opportunity to examine the customs, beliefs and everyday lives of 17th century Huron people, however we must take his observations and commentary with a grain of salt for much of it is written within a fairly narrow perspective. Nevertheless, it does offer us an unfiltered version of some of the more common European sentiments of 17th century Native American societies and people, and that alone may be what is most valuable to us in the present day.
As a Jesuit priest, Brébeuf’s writing was meant to serve as a manual of sorts for future missionaries making the journey to Huronia. Along with detailing the challenges and struggles they faced, he was quick to offer methods and instructions for ‘winning over’ the hearts of the Natives. This strategy would of course prove instrumental in the efforts of the French gaining more converts and Native allies than their British counterparts, due to their realizing “that Indian people were more likely to accept a new religion if they did not have to give up being Indian in order to become Christians” (Calloway, 124). Yet even still with this more tempered approach, Brébeuf’s writing reveals many of his own prejudices and critiques of the Huron people and culture; “They are gluttons…they are very lazy, are liars, thieves, pertinacious beggars, heathens…conduct yourself as to not be troublesome to even one of these Barbarians” (Calloway, 127). In saying these