‘The Jesuits Mission Proves We Were Here’: 18th Century Jesuit Missions Aiding 21st Century Tribal Recognition.

Andrew R Beaupre

‘The Jesuits Mission Proves We Were Here’: 18th Century Jesuit Missions Aiding 21st Century Tribal Recognition.

Year: 2019

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Jesuit Missions, Plantations, and Industries" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Records indicate that during the French colonial period, Jesuit fathers established four mission congregations within the territory now known as Vermont. These missions were established to preach to both French colonists and Native converts on Ilse La Motte, on the Missisquoi River in Swanton, at Fort Saint-Frederic on Lake Champlain and in the area known as the Koas on the Connecticut River. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the Abenaki peoples of Vermont have had a long and difficult road to gain state and federal recognition. These descendant communities have invoked the existence of Jesuit Missions to the Abenaki as proof of the current tribal governments legitimacy. This is intriguing considering the blame for cultural destruction is often laid at the feet of Jesuit Missionaries. This paper examines the relationship between historical and archaeological evidence of French Jesuits and the legal legitimization of the Abenaki of Vermont.

Cite this Record

‘The Jesuits Mission Proves We Were Here’: 18th Century Jesuit Missions Aiding 21st Century Tribal Recognition.. Andrew R Beaupre. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, St. Charles, MO. 2019 ( tDAR id: 449038)