Differences Between The Jesuits And Native Americans

When Jesuits arrived in North America in the early seventeenth century, neither they nor their Native American neighbors had any idea of the vast cultural and religious boundaries that separated them. Throughout their encounters, the Jesuits failed to see the Native Americans as anything but inferior. This hindered their ability to understand the native culture and to accomplish their goal of converting Indians to Catholicism. The Native Americans had no frame of reference with which to regard the Jesuits and were therefore unable to develop a thorough understanding of European life. Through trial, communication and conflict French missionaries and Native Americans did eventually develop a limited understanding of each other’s language, religion …show more content…
Distinct similarities and differences can be found when examining Native American religious beliefs and Catholicism. The Native Americans believed that spirituality connected them to the natural world. Jean Brébeuf, a Jesuit who thoroughly studied religious practices of the Huron Indians, described the natives as “addressing themselves to the earth, the rivers, the lakes, the dangerous rocks, and above all, to the sky, in the belief that these things are animate and that some powerful spirit or demon presides there.” The Jesuits, who rejected this type of spirituality due to their devout Catholicism, viewed the Native American’s myths and rituals as either right or wrong. If a myth happened to bear resemblance to a story from the Bible, then the Native Americans were simply mislead, but according to Jean De Brébeuf, “had some knowledge of the true God that was more than merely natural.” However, if they did not recognize God as part of their belief system, the Jesuits would be quick to reject indians because, as the French missionary Jean De Brébeuf described, they had “become worse than beasts in His sight.” They also struggled to accept the Native American’s “drunkenness and debauchery,” which according to Jean Pierron, they were, “madly attached to.” The Jesuits unwillingness and inability to relate to the Native Americans ultimately prevented them …show more content…
Some Jesuits were even killed or captured as a result of native conflict. Since the missionaries were allies with some native groups and didn 't view them all as the enemy, Jesuits were able to see some of the admirable traits the natives possessed, even in times of conflict. They were also able to take advantage of the desperation that Native Americans felt in times of conflict. Jesuits saw battle as an opportunity to convert natives who were about to be defeated. Paul Ragueneau, who in 1649 was living with the Huron when a band of Iroquois attacked, described the mindset of Native Americans in this position, “Never was their faith more alive, nor their love for their fathers and pastors more keenly