Champlain in Huronia
In early 17th century New France the area between what are now known as Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe was inhabited by Hurons. They collected furs from distant tribes for transport to French settlements on the St. Lawrence River and thence to Europe. The Iroquois to the south of Lake Ontario usually traded with the English and Dutch. The rivalry between Huron and Iroquois increased in frequency and ferocity after the founder of New France, Samuel de Champlain, attacked the Iroquois near Lake Champlain. The painting shows a party of Hurons with Champlain and his interpreter Étienne Brûlé, the first Frenchman to live among the Natives, on an arm of Lake Simcoe near Orillia on September 8, 1615. Taking different routes, the two Frenchmen parted in order to circle Lake Ontario, but on October 10, before Brûlé could rendezvous with native allies for an attack from the west, Champlain was defeated by the Iroquois in their homeland south of the lake. Severely wounded, Champlain recuperated in Huronia during the winter before returning to Québec in May, 1616, to continue planning for his dream of a French colonial empire on the St. Lawrence.
Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons
The first planned European community in what is now Ontario was Sainte-Marie, mission headquarters of the Jesuits in the heart of Huronia, 800 miles by canoe from Québec. Erected in 1639 on the Wye River near Midland, it was protected by stone bastions, timber palisades, and French soldiers. The European compound contained residences, a chapel, workshops, stables, barn, and granary, and the Native compound contained a longhouse, church, hospital, and cemetery. Livestock and crops flourished and soon this tiny stronghold became what the Jesuits called "a resort for the whole country, where Christians find a hospital ... a refuge in the height of alarms, and a hospice ...." In 1648, seeking to gain control of the rich trade routes, the Iroquois intensified their attacks on the surrounding Huron villages. Priests ministering to the villagers were tortured and put to death, and from Sainte-Marie alone came six of North America's eight martyrs. Eventually, the Jesuits decided to abandon the mission, and it was set afire at sunset on June 14, 1649. The Jesuit and Huron survivors retreated to Christian Island, where they spent a miserable winter before returning to Québec.
