La huictiesme nous arriuasmes aux trois Riuieres, le seiour y est fort agréable, la terre sablonneuse, la pesche en son temps tres-abõdante. Vn Sauuage rapportera quelquefois dans son Canot douze ou quinze Esturgeons, dont le moindre sera par fois de la hauteur d’vn homme. Il y a quantité d’autres poissons tres-excellens. Les Français ont nõmé ce lieu les trois Riuieres, pource qu’il sort des terres vn assez beau fleuue, qui se vient dégorger dans la grande Riuiere de sainct Laurens par trois principales emboucheures, causées par plusieurs petites Isles, qui se rencontrent à l’entrée de ce fleuue, nommé des Sauuages Metaberoutin. Ie décrirois volontiers la beauté de ce lieu, mais ie crains d’estre long; Tout le pays entre Kebec & ceste nouuelle Habitation, que nous appellerõs la Residence de la Conception, m’a semblé fort agreable, il est entrecoupé de ruisseaux & de fleuues, qui se déchargent d’espaces en espaces dans le Roy des fleuues, c’est à dire, dans la grande riuiere de S. Laurens, qui a bien encore en ce lieu là quelque deux à trois mille pas de large quoy qu’il soit à trente lieuës au dessus de Kebec.

On the eighth, we arrived at the three Rivers. We found living there very agreeable; the ground is sandy, the fish very abundant in its season. A Savage will sometimes bring in his Canoe twelve or fifteen Sturgeon, the smallest of which is occasionally as long as the height of a man; besides these, there are also a number of other very good fish. The French have named this place the three Rivers, because there emerges here a very beautiful river which flows into the great River saint Lawrence through three principal mouths, caused by several little Islands which are found at the entrance of this river, which the Savages call Metaberoutin. I would like to describe the beauty of this place, but I am afraid of being tedious. The whole country between Kebec and this new Settlement, which we will call the Residence of the Conception, seems to me very pleasant; it is intersected by brooks and streams, which empty at short distances from each other into the King of rivers, that is, into the great river St. Lawrence, which is, even at this place, fully two or three thousand paces wide, although it is thirty leagues above Quebec.

— Le Jeune’s relation, The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Volume 8: Quebec, Hurons, Cape Breton, 1634-1636 (1897)

 

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Few passages of history are more striking than those which record the efforts of the earlier French Jesuits to convert the Indians. Full as they are of dramatic and philosophic interest, bearing strongly on the political destinies of America, and closely involved with the history of its native population, it is wonderful that they have been left so long in obscurity. While the infant colonies of England still clung feebly to the shores of the Atlantic, events deeply ominous to their future were in progress, unknown to them, in the very heart of the continent. It will be seen, in the sequel of this volume, that civil and religious liberty found strange allies in this Western World.

The sources of information concerning the early Jesuits of New France are very copious. During a period of forty years, the Superior of the Mission vi sent, every summer, long and detailed reports, embodying or accompanied by the reports of his subordinates, to the Provincial of the Order at Paris, where they were annually published, in duodecimo volumes, forming the remarkable series known as the Jesuit Relations. Though the productions of men of scholastic training, they are simple and often crude in style, as might be expected of narratives hastily written in Indian lodges or rude mission-houses in the forest, amid annoyances and interruptions of all kinds. In respect to the value of their contents, they are exceedingly unequal. Modest records of marvellous adventures and sacrifices, and vivid pictures of forest-life, alternate with prolix and monotonous details of the conversion of individual savages, and the praiseworthy deportment of some exemplary neophyte. With regard to the condition and character of the primitive inhabitants of North America, it is impossible to exaggerate their value as an authority. I should add, that the closest examination has left me no doubt that these missionaries wrote in perfect good faith, and that the Relations hold a high place as authentic and trustworthy historical documents. They are very scarce, and no complete collection of them exists in America. …

— Francis Parkman, Preface; The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century (Boston: Little, Brown, And Company. 1867)

 

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commentary by Roger W. Smith

The Jesuit Relations, Relations des Jésuites de la Nouvelle-France, were chronicles of the Jesuit missions in New France written by Jesuit missionaries in the seventeenth century. The reports were written annually beginning in 1632 and ending in 1673. They were originally written in French, Latin, and Italian.

Comprising reports to their superiors in France, the Relations concerned the missionaries’ interactions with various North American tribes and their activities for the purpose of converting the indigenous peoples.

The missionaries made major efforts to study and understand indigenous cultures and to learn native languages.

The Relations included descriptions of the natural landscape and climactic and geographical conditions not encountered in France; also of warfare and martyrdom. An example of the former is Paul Le Jeune’s description of a journey through the woods with a band of Montagnais people, in which he describes physical hardships of carrying a great deal of belongings in the cold, with little food. The latter includes narratives of Jesuit missionaries being killed or maimed. For example: the missionaries Isaac Jogues, who died after being captured by the Mohawks, and Jean de Brébeuf. Much attention is devoted to Indians who became converts to Catholicism.

Beginning in 1896, Reuben Gold Thwaites, secretary of the Wisconsin Historical Society, led a project to translate into English, unify, and cross-reference the original Relations. Thwaites and his associates compiled 73 volumes. The Thwaites edition is posted here.

By the Jesuit missionaries, the natives were called sauvages (savages). The designation in many respect seems apt.

The indigenous (Indian) peoples had a rich vocabulary for concrete things, but no words for or conception of (concepts designating) abstract ideas or terms. Most notable (they always took captives, when possible, alive) was their ferocity and cruelty in torturing their captives.

There are passages of beauty in these relations, in which the natural landscape – woods, lakes, and streams; mountain and sky, snow and ice — are described. There is much of interest about native customs and practices. There are moving stories of religiosity, hardship, and courage.

But the descriptions of torture and martyrdom are such that one cannot bear to read them.

I became acquainted with the Jesuit Relations from reading, in its entirety, Francis Parkman’s monumental work France and England in North America. Parkman’s The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century (1867) comprises the second and third of eight volumes.

 

— posted by Roger W. Smith

  July 2023

 

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individual volumes (PDF)

 

Vol. I
ACADIA: 1610-1613

1 jesuits01jesuuoft

 

Vol. II
ACADIA: 1612-1614

2 jesuits02jesuuoft

 

Vol. III
ACADIA: 1611-1616

3 jesuits03jesuuoft

 

Vol. IV
ACADIA AND QUEBEC: 1616-1629

4 jesuits04jesuuoft

 

Vol. V
QUEBEC: 1632-1633

5 jesuits05jesuuoft

 

Vol. V, pp. 168-169 (defective in above PDF)

vol. 5, pp 168-169

 

Vol. VI
QUEBEC: 1633-1634

6 jesuitrelationsa06jesuuoft

 

Vol. VII
QUEBEC, HURONS, CAPE BRETON: 1634-1635

7 jesuitrelationsa07jesuuoft

 

Vol. VIII
QUEBEC, HURONS, CAPE BRETON 1634-1636

8 jesuits08jesuuoft

 

Vol. IX
QUEBEC: 1636

9 jesuits09jesuuoft

 

Vol. X
HURONS: 1636

10 jesuits10jesuuo1ft

 

Vol. XI
HURONS AND QUEBEC: 1636-1637

11 jesuits11jesuuoft

 

Vol. XII
QUEBEC: 1637

12 jesuits12jesuuoft

 

Vol. XIII
HURONS : 1637

13 jesuits13jesuuoft

 

Vol. XIV
HURONS AND QUEBEC: 1637-1638

14 jesuits14jesuuoft

 

Vol. XV
HURONS AND QUEBEC: 1638-1639

15 jesuits15jesuuoft

 

Vol. XVI
QUEBEC AND HURONS: 1639

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Vol. XVII
HURONS AND THREE RIVERS: 1639- 1640

17 jesuits17jesuuoft

 

Vol. XVIII
HURONS AND QUEBEC: 1640

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Vol. XIX
QUEBEC AND HURONS: 1640

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Vol. XX
HURONS AND QUEBEC: 1640- 1641

20 jesuits20jesuuoft

 

Vol. XXI
QUEBEC AND HURONS: 1641-1642

21 jesuits21jesuuoft

 

Vol. XXII
QUEBEC AND HURONS: 1642

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Vol. XXIII
HURONS, QUEBEC, IROQUOIS: 1642- 1643

23 jesuits23jesuuoft

 

Vol. XXIV
LOWER CANADA AND IROQUOIS: 1642- 1643

24 jesuits24jesuuoft

 

Vol. XXV
IROQUOIS, HURONS, QUEBEC: 1642-1644

25 jesuuoft

 

Vol. XXVI
LOWER CANADA, HURONS: 1642- 1644

26 jesuits26jesuuoft

 

Vol XXVII
HURONS LOWER CANADA: 1642 1645

27 jesuits27jesuuoft

 

Vol XXVII (facing pages)

27 facing pages Binder1

 

Vol. XXVIII (page 113 missing)
HURONS, IROQUOIS, LOWER CANADA: 1645- 1646

28 jesuits28jesuuoft PAGE 113 MISING

 

Vol. XXVIII, pp. 113-115

vol 28, pp 113-115

 

Vol. XXIX
IROQUOIS, LOWER CANADA, HURONS: 1646

29 jesuits29jesuuoft

 

Vol. XXX
HURONS, LOWER CANADA: 1646-1647

30 jesuits30jesuuoft

 

Vol. XXXI
IROQUOIS, LOWER CANADA, ABENAKIS: 1647

31 jesuits31jesuuoft

 

Vol. XXXII
HURONS, LOWER CANADA: 1647-1648

32 jesuits32jesuuoft

 

Vol. XXXIII
LOWER CANADA, ALGONKINS, HURONS: 1648-1649

33 jesuits33jesuuoft

 

Vol. XXXIV
LOWER CANADA, HURONS: 1649

34 jesuits34jesuuoft

 

Vol. XXXV
HURONS, LOWER CANADA, ALGONKINS: 1650

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Vol. XXXVI
LOWER CANADA, ABENAKIS, 1650-1651

36

 

Vol. XXXVII
LOWER CANADA, ABENAKIS: 165 I – 1652

37 jesuits37jesuuoft

 

Vol. XXXVIII
ABENAKIS, LOWER CANADA, HURONS: 1652-1653

38 jesuits38jesuuoft

 

Vol. XXXIX
HURONS: 1653

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Vol. XL
HURONS, LOWER CANADA, IROQUOIS: 1653

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Vol. XLI
LOWER CANADA, IROQUOIS: 1654- 1656

41 jesuits41jesuuoft

 

Vol. XLII
LOWER CANADA, IROQUOIS: 1632- 1657

42 jesuits42jesuuoft

 

Vol. XLIII
LOWER CANADA, IROQUOIS: 1656- 1657

43 jesuits43jesuuoft

 

Vol. XLIV
IROQUOIS, LOWER CANADA: 1656- 1658

44 jesuits44jesuuoft

 

Vol. XLV
LOWER CANADA, ACADIA, IROQUOIS, OTTAWAS: 1659- 1660

45 jesuits45jesuuoft

 

Vol XLVI
LOWER CANADA, ACADIA, IROQUOIS, OTTAWAS: 1659- 1661

46 jesuits46jesuuoft

 

Vol. XLVII
IROQUOIS, LOWER CANADA: 1661 – 1663

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Vol. XLVIII
LOWER CANADA, OTTAWAS: 1662 – 1664

48 jesuits48jesuuoft

 

Vol. XLIX
LOWER CANADA, IROQUOIS: 1663- 1665

49 jesuits49jesuuoft

 

Vol. L
LOWER CANADA, IROQUOIS, OTTAWAS: 1664-1667

50 jesuits50jesuuoft

 

Vol. LI
OTTAWAS, LOWER CANADA, IROQUOIS: 1666-1668

51 jesuits51jesuuoft

 

Vol. LII
LOWER CANADA, IROQUOIS , OTTAWAS 1667-1669

52 jesuits52jesuuoft

 

Vol. LIII
LOWER CANADA, IROQUOIS: 1669- 1670

53 jesuits53jesuuoft

 

Vol. LIV
IROQUOIS, OTTAWAS, LOWER CANADA: 1669- 1671

54 jesuits54jesuuoft

 

Vol. LV
LOWER CANADA, IROQUOIS, OTTAWAS: 1670-1672

55 jesuits55jesuuoft

 

Vol. LVI
LOWER CANADA, IROQUOIS, OTTAWAS,
HUDSON BAY: 1671 – 1672

56 jesuits56jesuuoft

 

Vol. LVII
HURONS, IROQUOIS, OTTAWAS: 1672-73

57 jesuits57jesuuoft

 

Vol. LVIII
OTTAWAS, LOWER CANADA, IROQUOIS: 1672-1674

58 jesuits58jesuuoft

 

Vol. LIX
LOWER CANADA, ILLINOIS, OTTAWAS: 1673- 1677

59 jesuits59jesuuoft

 

Vol. LX
LOWER CANADA, ILLINOIS, IROQUOIS, OTTAWAS: 1675-1677

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Vol. LXI
ALL MISSIONS: 1677-1680

61 jesuits61jesuuoft

 

Vol. LXII
LOWER CANADA, IROQUOIS, OTTAWAS: 1681 – 1683

62 jesuits62jesuuoft

 

Vol. LXIII
LOWER CANADA, IROQUOIS : 1667- 1687

63 jesuits63jesuuoft

 

Vol. LXIV
OTTAWAS, LOWER CANADA, IROQUOIS, ILLINOIS: 1689-1695

64 jesuits64jesuuoft

 

Vol. LXV
LOWER CANADA, MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: 1696-1702

65 jesuits65jesuuoft

 

Vol. LXVI
ILLINOIS, LOUISIANA, IROQUOIS, LOWER CANADA: 1702- 1712

66 jesuits66jesuuoft

 

Vol. LXVI I
LOWER CANADA, ABENAKIS, LOUISIANA: 1716- 1727

67 jesuits67jesuuoft6

 

Vol. LXVIII
LOWER CANADA, CREES, LOUISIANA: 1720-1736

68 jesuits68jesuuoft

 

Vol. LXIX
ALL MISSIONS: 1710-1756

69 jesuits69jesuuoft

 

Vol. LXX
ALL MISSIONS: 1747- 1764

70 jesuits70jesuuoft

 

Vol. LXXI
LOWER CANADA, ILLINOIS: 1759- 1791

71 jesuits71jesuuoft

Vol. LXXII
FINAL PREFACE, ADDITIONAL ERRATA
INDEX: A-I

72 jesuits72jesuuoft

 

Vol. LXXIII
INDEX: J-Z

73 jesuits73jesuuoft

 

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publication announcement, The Burrows Brothers Co. (1895)

publication announcement

 

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Francis Parkman, “The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century”; France and England in North America, Volume Two (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1867)

Parkman, The Jesuits in North America, vol. 1

Parkman, The Jesuits in North America, vol. 2

 

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secondary sources

 

R, Vashon Rogers, “The Jesuit Relations,” Queen’s Quarterly, April 1898

Rogers, ‘The Jesuit Relations’

 

Charles W. Colby, “The Jesuit Relations,” The American Historical Review, October 1901

Charles W. Colby, ‘The Jesuit Relations’

 

William Bennett Munro, The Jesuit relations : their value as historical material (n.p., 1905).

Munro, ‘The Jesuit Relations; Their Value as Historical Material’

 

Joseph P. Donnelly, S.J., Thwaites’ Jesuit Relations: Errata and Addenda (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1967)

‘Thwaites’ Jesuit Relations; Errata and Addenda’

 

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