The Jesuits were known for their ardor in distributing Catholicism in the New World. Father Le Jeune. a Gallic missionary. was non an exclusion. He spent old ages going and learning the necessities of the Christian faith in New France. In his commentary. he noted that the Indians. contrary to popular sentiment. were eager to larn the Christian religion. Harmonizing to him. the Native Americans were ‘but scholars of religion. simple. and condescending to the Christian faith and its priests.
’ However. this did non ensue in mass transitions. In his commentary. Le Jeune noted the equalitarianism and openness of some folks. peculiarly the Hurons and the Montagnais. These were symptoms of pandemonium. Father Le Jeune besides criticized the mobile life style of the folk he encountered – handling it as a mark of non-civility. The missionaries were shocked at the evident influence of priest-doctors in certain folks.
Indeed. in order to discredit the priest-doctors. the missionaries established schools. seminaries. and other centres of larning. The Christian faith ( Catholicism ) became the emblem of civilisation and political integrity. Some folks accepted Christian baptism but most of them merely ignored the missionaries. In response. the Gallic male monarch increased the figure of missionaries working in New France. Le Jeune noted that this was due to the ‘ignorant’ nature of the Indians.
Apparently. many of Le Jeune generalisations about the Native Americans were either inaccurate or uncomplete. For illustration. his intervention of nomadism seemed to transpirate from his belief that ‘permanency’ is the primary index of societal integrity. This is non the instance even in classical anthropology. Bibliography America Firsthand ( Marcus and Burner. America Firsthand: Readings from Settlement to Reconstruction. Volume1. Eighth Edition 2009 )
