Le Grand Voyage du Pays des Hurons 1632 Gabriel Sagard

Gabriel Sagard, OMR ( ''fl.'' 1614–1636) was a French

lay brother Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choi ...

and member of the

Recollects The Franciscan Recollects () were a French reform branch of the Friars Minor, a Franciscan order. Denoted by their gray habits and pointed hoods, the Recollects devoted their lives to an extra emphasis on prayer, penance, and spiritual reflecti ...

, a reform branch of the

Order of Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (commonly called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; Post-nominal letters, postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a Mendicant orders, mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis ...

known for its strict poverty. He was among the first Christian missionaries to

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

, and is notable for his writings on the colony and on the Hurons (or Wendat). Sagard's origins, and the dates of his birth and death are obscure. Some historians say he was christened Théodat, others believe that Théodat was his religious name, which, however, is less likely as his signature on his works is under the name of Gabriel (see illustration). Sagard arrived in

28 June 1623. He was sent to accompany Father Nicholas Viel, where they joined four other members of their Order who had been there since 1615, led by Father Denis Jamet. In August, Sagard traveled to a Huron village on the southern shore of

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is shared on the north and east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south and west by the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the lake is derived from early French ex ...

, where he began his missionary work and study of the Huron language. In July 1624, he was ordered by his superiors to return to France. All record of him ends some time around 1636. Sagard seems to have either left the Order or he may simply have died while still a friar. Sagard worked with the Hurons. Sagard is remembered for his writings on New France and the Hurons-

Wyandot people The Wyandot people (also Wyandotte, Wendat, Waⁿdát, or Huron) are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of the present-day United States and Canada. Their Wyandot language belongs to the Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian language f ...

, ' (Paris, 1632). His ' (1636) included a revised and expanded ' and ' (Dictionary of the Huron Language). An English translation of ' by historian George M. Wrong was published by the Champlain Society in 1939 as ''Sagard's long journey to the country of the Hurons''. It is available online at the Champlain Society website. An authoritative edition of the dictionary of the Huron language was edited by John Steckley and published in 2009. In 2022, environmental historians Jennifer Bonnell and Sean Kheraf cited Gabriel Sagard – and specifically his description of giving a French domestic cat, which was exotic and non-indigenous creature North America, to his Indigenous Wendat hosts in 1632. They suggested that Sagard's gift functioned as both a "tool of diplomacy" and a "creature of empire" and that it also "illustrate the methodological challenges at the heart of the

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

field of animal history." The

geographic township The term township, in Canada, is generally the district or area associated with a town. The specific use of the term to describe political subdivisions has varied by country, usually to describe a local rural or semirural government within the co ...

of Sagard in Quebec, Canada, was named in his honour.

References

External links

''Sagard's Dictionary of Huron''
- The earliest and one of the most complete dictionaries of the Huron language * *
Champlain Society Digital Collection
* *
Excerpt from ''The Long Journey to the Country of the Hurons''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sagard, Gabriel Roman Catholic missionaries in New France Recollects Roman Catholic missionaries in Canada French Roman Catholic missionaries Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Franciscan missionaries French Franciscans