Even Under The Guns Of The Picket Fort Of Orleans, Which Had
Changed Its Name To Ile St. Marie, In
Remembrance of their former
residency, the tomahawk and scalping-knife reached them; on the 20th May,
1656, eighty-six of
Their number were carried away captives, and six
killed, by the ferocious Iroquois; and on the 4th June, 1656, again they
had to fly before their merciless tormentors. The big guns of Fort St.
Louis, which then stood at the north-west extremity of the spot on which
the Dufferin Terrace has lately been erected, seemed to the Hurons a more
effectual protection than the howitzers of Anse du Fort, so they
begged from Governor d'Aillebout for leave to nestle under them in 1658.
'Twas granted. When the Marquis de Tracy had arranged a truce with the
Iroquois in 1665, the Huron refugees prepared to bid adieu to city life
and to city dust. Two years later we find them ensconced at Beauport,
where others had squatted on land belonging to the Jesuits; they stopped
there one year, and suddenly left, in 1669, to pitch their wigwams for a
few years at Cote St. Michel, four and a half miles from Quebec, at the
Mission of Notre Dame de Foye, now called St. Foye. On the 29th December,
1673, restless and alarmed, the helpless sons of the forest sought the
seclusion, leafy shades and green fields Ancienne Lorette. [315]
Here they dwelled nearly twenty-five years. The youths had grown up to
manhood, with the terrible memories of the past still fresh on their
minds. One fine day, allured by hopes of more abundant game, they packed
up their household gods, and finally, in 1697, they went and settled on
the elevated plateau, close to the foaming rapids of St. Ambroise,
now known as Indian, or Jeune, Lorette.
"Tis here we shall now find them, 336 souls all told, [316] living in
comparative ease, successful traders, exemplary Christians, but fast
decaying Hurons.
"The Hurons," says Ahatsistari, [317] "are divided into four families:
that of the Deer; of the Tortoise; of the Bear; of the Wolf. Thus,
the great Chief Francois Xavier Picard - Tahourenche - is a Deer, and his
son Paul is a Tortoise, because (Her Highness) Madame Tahourenche is a
Tortoise; a lithe, handsome woman for all that.
"Each family has its chief, or war captain; he is elected by choice. The
four war captains chose two council chiefs, the six united select a grand
chief, either from among themselves or from among the honorary chiefs, if
they think proper."
We append a letter, from Sister Ste. Helene, descriptive of Indian
customs, in 1730. Civilization and Christianity have sensibly modified,
some will say, improved the Red Skins since then.
INDIAN DRESS - LOVE MAKING-FEASTS - BURIALS.
From a MS. Letter of Soeur Ste. Helene, published by Abbe Verrault.
"Would you like to learn how they dress - how they marry - how they are
buried? First, you must know that several tribes go completely naked,
and wear but the fig-leaf.
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