Yesterday I did a hike to "The Martyrs Shrine"

Hello all together.
Near to Midland is an old shrine. The church is dedicated to the first martyrs of Canada. They were Jesuit missionaries in the first half of the 17th century, and they were murdered at this place by members of the tribe of the Iroquese. But let me tell you the story as well I can.

Around 1620 french people founded a settlement near today´s city of Quebec. From this settlement several ships and boats started to explore the Ste. Lawrence River and the big lakes (Lake Ontario and Lake Eire, then Lake Huron too). The settlers traded primarily with members of the First Nation of the Quendat (called Hurons by the French - but they don´t like this name). In the year 1636 an expedition started with a few canoues following the river Ottawa and they came after a travel of 1200km to the southern Georgian Bay. On a rather certain place about 2km away from the shore of the Lake, at the Wye River, the members of this expedition, 5 Jesuits and a few other persons founded a settlement on an area which was given them by the Quendat who had been living there for generations.

The missionaries started to build a little rectory, with a chappel and the Quendat seemed to accept them. They helped the missionaries through the rough and harsch winter. And in the following year the little settlement increased by coming of some other people - some more Jesuits, but also some religious motivated volunteers, who had been not priests or brothers of the religious order of the Jesuits.

So a little settlement was coming up, a few Quendat asked for baptism, and they also began to trade ... This project seemed to be good for every party - if there were not ....

You have one thing to know: The ancestors of American Natives and European People had seperated developments for I guess 25 000 years, so their sicknesses and their immun system too. And so happened in this little community something what nobody knew in this ages. Simpl sicknesses of the European people made Natives really hard sick even so hard that many of them died. And so you can guess that after a while the Natives made a connection between the presence of the European and the diseases which broke out in their "Longhouses" and villages. Also the Quendat began to struggle inside their communities, and this circumstance was been connected too with the presence of the European. Additionally the Iroquese, traditional enemies of the Quendat and also enemies of the French began to attack the settlement. During several of those attacks 5 Jesuits and some Quendat died. A council of the Quendat decided to negotiate with the Iroquese - the Iroquese demanded the retreat of all French of this area. So the last Jesuits and a few baptised Quendat destroied the settlement with fire and went back to Quebec.

Today there are no Quendats left except the progeny of those Quendats in Quebec who fled with the Frech in 1648. Today lives the tribe of the Obijewan in the southern Georgian Bay on Christian Island. Perhaps it will be possible to go to this island - the secretaries of St. Magareth´s Parish told me, that they will arrange this.

You can see a few pictures from the museum "Ste Marie among the Hurons" - just five minutes away by foot from the shrine; perhaps you know this pictures - but after my short essay it could be that you will recognize some pictures better.
God bless you