Julien Garnier (born at Connerré, France, 6 January 1643; d. in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, 1730) was a French

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionary to Canada, who wrote the first known dictionaries of the

Seneca language Seneca (; in Seneca, , or ) is the language of the Seneca people, one of the Six Nations of the (Iroquois League); it is an Iroquoian language, spoken at the time of contact in the western part of New York. While the name ''Seneca'', attested ...

Life

Garnier entered the Society of Jesus in 1660; after two years as a novice, he sailed for Canada in October 1662. There he taught grammar at the Jesuit college, while studying theology under

Jérôme Lalemant Jérôme Lalemant, S.J. (; Paris, April 27, 1593 – Quebec City, January 26, 1673) was a French Jesuit priest who was a leader of the Jesuit mission in New France. Life Lalemant entered the Jesuit novitiate in Paris on 20 October 1610, after wh ...

and learning Indian languages in preparation for missionary work. In 1668, Garnier became the first Jesuit to be ordained in Canada.Quinn, Stanley. "Julien Garnier." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 14 January 2018 He went first to the Oneida, but in a few months changed the field of his labours to the Onondaga mission. Garaconthié, the Onondaga chief, received him with every evidence of friendship, and, at his request, rebuilt the chapel of St. Mary. On the arrival of other missionaries in 1671, Garnier set out with Father Jacques Frémin for the

Seneca Nation The Seneca ( ; ) are a group of Indigenous Iroquoian-speaking people who historically lived south of Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes in North America. Their nation was the farthest to the west within the Six Nations or Iroquois Leag ...

country. There he found a bare handful of Christian Indians at the Gandachioragou mission. He immediately began to preach and baptize; and he persevered after his chapel was destroyed by a fire which wiped out the entire village. His missionary work saw significant success among the Senecas, for whom conversion offered valuable military and trading alliances, as well as access to medicine. When trouble arose in 1683 between the French and the Senecas, Garnier went with de Lamberville to Governor de la Barre to urge compromise and moderation. He was unable, however, to dissuade the latter from his policy of repression.Pouliot, Léon. “Garnier, Julien”, ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', vol. 2, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–
/ref> When de la Barre led troops against the Senecas, they summarily defeated him, leading de la Barre to return to England in disgrace. His replacement, de Denonville, betrayed the Seneca leaders under a flag of truce, before marching through their territory and burning their villages. The missionaries were recalled at the outbreak of these hostilities, and were unable to return during the following twenty years of conflict. During that time, Garnier lived at the settlements of Sault-Saint-Louis, Lorette and Caughnawaga. In 1701, the treaty of Montreal allowed Garnier to return to his mission among the Senecas. There he remained until 1709, when Schuyler's expedition once more made it necessary for him to return to Canada. His departure marked the end of missionary work among the Senecas; his notes and letters remain one of the principal and most accurate sources of information on this division of the Iroquois. In 1716, Garnier became superior of the missions in New France. He passed his remaining years among the various settlements along the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

, retiring from active life in 1728.

References

;Attribution * The entry cites:

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garnier, Julien 1642 births 1730 deaths 17th-century French Jesuits French Roman Catholic missionaries 18th-century French Jesuits Roman Catholic missionaries in Canada Jesuit missionaries in New France