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Oblate Defeat:Father Lefebvre, Reverend Stringer, and the Battle for

Mackenzie Inuit Allegiance,1892-1894

Primary data from diaries

and correspondence

Draft h

Intellectual Property

Corrections and Suggestions Invited

Walter Vanast

McGill

[email protected]



Worldly Issues

Between 1892 and 1894 an Anglican and a Catholic missionary (an Oblate of Mary Immaculate)

competed for the allegiance of the Mackenzie Delta Inuit, and when Oblate lost, it set a trend for the

tribe¶s religious course for much of the following century. So the strife is worth a look and might

show light not only on local events but on evangelization elsewhere. The questions one might pose

are many.

To what extent did a cleric¶s warm personality help shift ³heathens´ to the Christian side, and to his side

in particular where churches competed? Did the faith of non-mission whites such as Hudson¶s Bay

Company traders affect native response? Was a ³heathen people¶s´ contact with an already

Christianized tribe (in this case, the Gwich¶in branch of the Dene people) of import? Why did tribes

act in unison and (seemingly) of a sudden when new religious ideas were about? What was the part of

chiefs1, whose influence, in the case of the Inuit, is downplayed in non-mission literature? Was it

crucial for clerics to befriend them, or would time spent with others have brought similar results?

Though religious faith per se is beyond understanding, worldly issues affecting it are fair game for

study. In the case of missions to the Mackenzie Inuit, one might look at three prior decades of

intermittent evangelization that had brought no converts; vagaries of mission funding (the Church

Mission Society in London had in the 1880s begun to demand that the Anglican Church in Canada

take over and pay for evangelization of the country¶s own native peoples), and the shortage of

mission recruits in Europe (hence the use of young clerics from Eastern Canada).

Ethnic pride played a role in that Stringer came from Ontario, spoke English, and thoroughly believed

in the God-given rule of the British Empire; Lefebvre, from Quebec, spoke French. Prior missionaries

to the Inuit had (except for R. McDonald) were born in Europe. Most Oblates were from France, and

held a sense that those from other nations lacked strength for missions. In Britain the Church

Missionary Society had begun to insist that the Angican Church in Canada train and fund its own

mission recruits. Canadians, the argument went, could do as well as Britons if only they made the

effort.

The status and efficacy of senior clerics also played part. On the Catholic side, two ageing bishops

(Faraud and his auxiliary Clut) in the late 1880s saw weakness on the Anglican side, and found two

1

Toweachiuk for the Catholics; Kokhlik and Takochikina for the Anglicans.



recruits in Quebec to work at Fort McPherson: Constant-Alarie Giroux to take care of the region¶s

Catholic Gwich¶in and draw Anglican ones to his faith; Camille Lefebvre to convert the Inuit. Giroux

in early 1890 moved there, built a simple mission, and remained year round. Lefebvre stayed with

him two summers in a row, and on the first brough with him a vigorous young French Oblate priest,

Father Grouard, who, acting as Bishop¶s Faraud¶s representative, was there to inspect and encourage

this new start.

The Protestant bishop was William C. Bompas, a bizarre man who related poorly to people, spent much

time alone translating the Bible, and supposedly finding a form of poetry in it that others had failed to

see. His arrival in the North in the mid-1860s when still a low-level cleric had soon been followed by

friction with the senior cleric (W.W. Kirkby), which was resolved temporarily by letting Bompas

give in to his endless desire to travel, a so-called traveling commission. It did not resolve issues, as

Bompas spent too much time south of the Mackenzie in the Athabasca District, and when that failed

to change, Kirkby left. .

When a new diocese was set apart that included the Mackenzie, Bompas was put in charge. He disliked

HBC men and their sins with liquor and women, made few friends, accused the Anglican Church of

adopting Catholic tenets and not caring whether natives belonged to Rome or Canterbury. Though he

married, his wife was absent for years and they had no children. One wonders about his sexual

orientation, but nothing about it appears in the archives, (except perhaps the unusual circumstance of

his 1906 death, seated in his library with an native girl¶s head on his lap). He became a figure of

bemusement and ridicule among those who saw him the most, but was much made of outside as a

courageous and highly competent missionary.

Bompas¶s negative attitude toward native catechists may have helped the Catholic Church consolidate

its hold among the Dene people along the Mackenzie River. Had he not been replaced in 1890

[check] the Inuit, too, might have gone to the Anglican side. But the new Bishop, William Reeve,

himself sought new recruits in in Toronto. There, in 1892, at Wycliffe College he met a senior

student, Isaac Stringer, who agreed to go that same year to go to Fort McPherson to counter the

Catholic threat and convert the Inuit to the Protestant side.



used force to maintain it. Hence no Inuit reached Fort Good Hope on the Mackenzie ( initially situated

two days¶ canoe travel south of the Delta).

A few decades after its founding Good Hope was moved further south, but in 1840, in part to continue

its links with the Gwich¶in, the HBC built Fort McPherson on the Peel. Killings by Gwich¶in

occurred if bands from the Delta approached (the former had guns, the latter did not), so it was not

until 1853 that Inuit entered the site. Thereafter they established a pattern of visiting in large numbers

in spring, and leaving a week or two later for the outer Eastern Channel to hunt belugas (small white

whales). In September a few came back to meet the HBC trader as he returned with new goods from

his summer journey to Fort Simpson, HBC headquarters on the Mackenzie.

That seasonal pattern changed after the Wrigley started service. The Inuit still arrived at McPherson after

ice had left the Delta, but many stayed till the steamer arrived and discharged its goods. During this

visit their number was larger than before, but almost none came in September, if they came at all. The

only time a missionary could now meet them at Peel¶s River was in late June and early July, and if he

arrived himself on the Wrigley, there was but a day or two of contact before they took off.

To spend more time with the Inuit, clerics had no choice but to visit their home at Kittigazuit (called the

Eskimo Village by whites) in the outer Eastern Channel of the Delta, and stay through August and

early September. Another means was to reach them by snowshoes on the ice in late fall or in spring.

In the case of the latter, the missionary could travel south with the Inuit in their umiaks, or women¶s

boats, to McPherson. So if mission success had to do with the number of contact days with potentialconverts (a very large if), then a cleric like Camille Lefebvre, who was loath to travel under hard

conditions, had a disadvantage vis-à-vis an opponent such as Isaac Stringer, who relished such

challenges, and always felt best on the trail.

II. Whalers

Two years after the Wrigley appeared on the Mackenzie, other steam vessels, larger still and in far

greater number, altered the Inuit¶s world. In 1889 whalers from San Francisco first came west along

the coast from the Behring Strait to the mouth of the Mackenzie²though driven by sail they had

extra power from steam engines, which lessened fear of getting stuck in summer ice. Finding many

whales, they returned the next year and set up base at Herschel Island, off the Yukon Coast near the

Delta. Overwintering there, they hunted off the edge of the ice in spring and as soon as conditions



permitted, resumed hunting with ships. That way not a day of whaling was lost. So vast were profits

that by 1895 a dozen ships and six hundred men spent the entire cold season waiting for another

chance to get rich.

The whalers brought with them Inuit from Alaska, then referred to by whites as Nunatagmiut, whose

number, about two hundred, equaled that of the region¶s main original group of native people, who

lived in the Eastern Delta. Whites referred to the latter with local terms such as Kogmolliks (meaning

people from the East) or Kukpugmiut (people of the large water) and it is they who are the subject of

the story told here. For until the arrival of the Nunatagmiut, bands from the Delta¶s western side

seldom went far south in the Delta or visited Fort McPherson.

Tension between Nunatagmiut and Kukpugmiut

What that happy story does not tell is that the Kukpugmiut were a jealous people²though they took to

Stringer during his summer stays in the Eastern Delta, they were concerned about his visits

immediately afterwards to the Nunatagmiut at Herschel Island . And when in 1897 he moved there

fulltime it was proof he had abandoned plans to live at Kittigazuit. His home was now among

Nunatagmiut, a people who had only recently arrived in the region, and who were, in many a sense,

intruders.

Though the Kukpugmiut traded with whalers, they otherwise kept their distance, and with few

exceptions took no employ with the fleet. Kokhlik, their chief, led the tribe in keeping to its ownways.

Liquor, Nunatagmiut, and Conversion

The whalers¶ presence altered the Kukpugmiut¶s world. Within a week¶s travel by boat or sled across

the mouth of the Delta they had access to a white community many times their own size, with

tobacco, tea, a wide variety of trading goods, and alcohol brought from San Francisco.

The whalers used liquor, among other things, for access to native women, and to barter for meat and

furs. Most of that affected the Nunatagmiut, but the Kukpugmiut in the early 1890s began a pattern of

fall and spring travel on the ice to the ships, and whalers sent Nunatagmiut delegates with liquor and

other items to trade in the Eastern Delta.



Stringer was in the Eastern Delta in the 1894 spring when Inuit traders from the ships arrived and the

chief and many others got drunk. Determined to stop the traffic, he composed an appeal to the

whalers in conjunction with others at Fort McPherson (visitors such as his bishop and an HBC

inspector, along with the local HBC clerk) and in summer presented it to the captains in person. It

cost him no friends, as he was liked by officers and crews, and it raised the respect he held.

Early Mission history.

From the time in the late 1850s that competing Anglican and Catholic clerics first appeared in the

Mackenzie District, the region¶s Indian almost uniformly joined the Roman side. Contrary to what

Anglican clerics said back home, they had almost no converts. The swath of Roman adherents

extended to Point Separation, the upstream tip of the Mackenzie Delta, where Inuit terrain began.

Here, near the river¶s northernmost point, was the only instance of a sharp tribal division along

Christian religious lines. Adherent to Rome was the south-eastern branch of the Gwich¶in (a Dene

tribe then referred to by whites as Loucheux), who lived along the (Arctic) Red River and the nearby

Mackenzie; adherent to Anglicans were Gwich¶in to the west and north on the Peel and across the

mountains in the Yukon.

One reason why the Catholic church did so well along the Mackenzie was natives¶ long exposure to

French-speaking men from Quebec. From the late eighteenth century on, when Montreal-based

traders entered the district, their oar-driven boats were powered by Quebec voyageurs from deeply

religious Catholic homes. Many stayed on site and had children with native women. When in 1858

competing Christian clerics arrived on the Mackenzie on the same HBC brigade (a group of vessels),

the crews favored the Catholic priest and eased his contact with natives. As it was, Dene flocked to

the former and ignored his Protestant opponent.i

Because of the early connection to voyageurs, French was the main European language along the

Mackenzie River, and combined with native terms served as a commercial and social bridge between

low-rank fur trade employees and native people.

Why Gwich¶in along the Mackenzie became Catholic has to do with those same dynamics²Fort Good

Hope, founded in 1804, sat within their terrain just a day or two¶s travel south of the Delta. The

extent to which French played a role in the local white economy is reflected in one of the post¶s early

names²Fort de Nancy (after a trader¶s daughter). When in 1826 the Hudson¶s Bay Company took



joined ageing Father Séguin at Good Hope. The summer after saw the arrival at Fort Norman (on the

Mackenzie near Great Bear Lake) of Father Camille Lefebvre, another novice from Quebec. He

joined Séguin and Giroux in early 1900. As soon as he reached them, Giroux left for Fort McPherson

to start building a mission.

Fort McPherson in 1890

In 1890 Fort McPherson had for decades consisted of two main structures: the HBC post and the

Anglican mission. When that year the Oblates sent Father Constant-Alarie Giroux to build a structure

(a small chapel combined with a residence), they faced two strongly anti-Catholic characters, each of

mixed blood, born in what is now southern Manitoba, and trained at the Anglican school at the Red

River Settlement to go north as missionaries. Though Joseph Hodgson, the HBC man, had left the

mission for the fur trade, he remained an ordained deacon. Yet solidarity was not what it seemed:

Hodgson detested the archdeacon, and few people got along with the latter and his Loucheux wife.

Victory turned into Disaster

The Oblates¶ withdrawal, as Isaac Stringer found out, did not translate into adoption of h is creed or to a

change in native ways. After Father Lefebvre had lost the Roman cause, the Inuit did not become

Christian. Part of that, one might argue, was due a social insult to Kokhlik, the Kukpugmiut chief, by

the white community at Fort McPherson just days after he had declared he would no longer visit the

Catholic side, and told the priest not to visit the Inuit in the Delta.

After having left his own son with Stringer an entire winter to live with the missionary in the latter¶s

room at the mission, Kokhlik was denied access to a dinner at the HBC post to which all of

McPherson¶s important whites (other than the priests ) were invited. His attitude toward the

Protestant mission shifted abruptly, and though he and Stringer retained respect for each other

(Kokhlik sold him meat in 1899 his camp by the Eskimo Lakes when Stringer was short of it at

Herschel Island) warmth toward the mission and the Christian cause never returned.

In 1900 Inuit were still taking on extra wives, and the next year when Stringer left the North, there was

not a single native Christian to show for his work. It took nearly another decade of mission work (by

a cleric much less liked, and often feared) for Inuit conversion to occur²a wave that included nearly

all the tribe.



Stringer had used every technique known to missionaries: handing out and trading much-sought-after

southern goods, visiting Inuit in their homes (missionizing from below), developing close

relationships with the chiefs (missionizing from above), taking a young man home with him for the

winter to Fort McPherson (extraction), traveling with the Inuit on their sleds and in their boats during

their spring migration and showing he could shoot caribou with a gun as well as they (they said he

was ³as good as a Kukpugmiuk) , becoming a trader (from 1897 on he lived in and operated the

trade-post of the Pacific Whaling Company on nearby Herschel Island), teaching the Inuit to sing

hymns and other songs (they loved music), and bringing his wife north so that his family grew up

among his future congregation. None of this made any visible difference.



1877

Petitot¶s psychiatric disorder, as intrusive as ever,

spoils a visit to the Inuit at Fort McPherson

1878, 03, 22. Séguin to Fabre, OAR

Je serais peut-être resté plus longtemps avec eux [les Loucheux] , mais je craignais pour le P. Petitot, car

il n¶était pas content de ceux qui avaient été au fort, il les avait entendu (commîson ordinaire) débiter

mille calomnies aux Esquimaux à son sujet et il était surexcité autant qu¶on peut l¶être. Il avait la

figure comme lorsqu¶il avait eu autre fois des accès et je craignais en restant plus longtemps avec eux

de le voir tomber dans un de ces accès. Nous arrivâmes saint et sauf le 1 juillet à Good Hope. Le P.

Petitot étant assez bien rétabli quelques jours après il se mettait à peinturer notre petite chapelle. . .

1881 and 1887

Father Séguin¶s Fears

that Protestants will gain Inuit hearts

1881

Seguin¶s visit to Fort Mission

comes to nil as he does not know their language

1882, 06, 06. Séguin to Fabre, OAR.

Je fus reçu à ce poste [Peel¶s River] à bras ouvert pour ainsi dire, par les serviteurs catholiques qui

m¶avaient fait demander pendant l¶hiver. . . Les Esquimaux font aussi bien pitié. Il y en avait 35

loges. C¶étaient nos plus fidèles visiteurs, ma tente en était encombrée toute la journée. Mais je

n¶avais point d¶interprète pour les instruire. Ils ne veulent point du ministre, qui a une femme comme

eux. Jusqu¶à présent ils résistent à toutes les sollicitations des ministres, mais s¶il ne nous arrive

point de renfort à Good Hope, je crains bien qu¶ils n¶embrassent l¶hérésie, car il vient [illegible],

l¶automne prochaine, un frère morave du Groenland pour s¶occuper de leur conversion. En somme,

mon voyage a été à peu près inutile.



1887

Séguin thinks the Anglican Loucheux who visit McPherson

would all turn Catholic if a priest stayed longer nearby each year. Many dislike the

Protestant faith, and four claim to have visited heaven and come back with

new religious tenets.

Séguin to Fabre, 1887, 06, 01, OAR.

A pareille époque l¶année dernière j¶avais le bonheur d¶être en compagnie de Mgr. Clut. Mais Sa

Grandeur est bien loin d¶ici maintenant et depuis qu¶elle m¶a quitté je suis resté seul avec le bon frère

Kearney. Aussitôt après le départ de Monseigneur je me rendis comme à l¶ordinaire sur les terres des

Loucheux.

Je les trouvai bien peinés de ce que Sa Grandeur n¶avait pas pu m¶accompagner chez eux. Pour marquer

leur douleur, les pauvres gens, surtout les femmes, se prenaitent le nez entre le pouce et l¶index et se

le tortaient dans tous les sens en criant chacun de son coté: ³chi chia ane chi chia ane,´ ce qui veut

dire c¶est ma faute, c¶est ma faute. Si le Grand Priant est malade et n¶a pas pu venir me voir. Si mon

idée (personnifié par le nez) n¶était pas si mauvais, il n¶en aurait pas été ainsi; pour ta peine attrape

cela. Et ils torturaient leurs nez à qui mieux mieux et jusqu¶a le faire saigner.

Tout le temps que je restais avec eux ils disaient tous les jours un chapelet pour la guérison de Sa

Grandeur et ils promirent de continuer après mon départ. J¶espère que le bon Dieu aura écouté leurs

prières et que Monseigneur pourra venir bientôt les visiter et donner le Saint Esprit par la

confirmation que la plus grand nombre n¶ont pas encore reçue.

Si un prêtre pouvait rester plus longtemps que j¶en fais au milieu d¶eux, je ne doute pas qu¶avant peu de

temps, la plus grande partie des Loucheux de Peel¶s River²qui sont maintenant protestants²se

feraient catholiques. Ceux qui ont envie de bien faire sont de plus en plus dégoutés de leur

protestantisme.

Dans un seul hiver il y a eu quatre des leurs qui ont été faire un voyage, disent-ils, au ciel et ils en sont

revenus avec chacun un sorte de religion. Le ministre a tout approuvé et les a établis priants pour

leurs parents. Chacun veut faire prévaler son idée et ce sont parmi eux des disputes sans fin. . .



1887

An HBC Steamboat began service on the Mackenzie

Séguin to Fabre, 1888, 06, 06, OAR

Le printemps dernier nous avons eu le plaisir de voir à Good Hope un steamboat que la compagnie à fait

construire pour le transport de ses marchandises et de ses pelletteries. En le voyant ma première

pensée a été celle-ci. Jusqu¶à présent nous avons été comme des enfants abandonnés. . . [Oblate

visitors to diocese will now be able to come further north, to Good Hope, etc. ]

1888 Spring

Giroux learned that a new Oblate priest, Father Constant-HilarieGiroux ,

would come to Good Hope in midsummer

Giroux

J¶ai été ordonné le 17 juillet 1887 dans le scholasticat [St. Joseph] d¶Archville par le vénérable Mgr.

Grandin.ii

Séguin to Fabre, 1888, 06, 06, OAR

Par l¶exprès du printemps, arrivé ici le 18 Avril, j¶ai reçu une bonne nouvelle. Mgr. Faraud m¶annonçait

dans sa lettre qu¶il m¶envoyait le jeune Père Giroux et qu¶il m¶arriverait au milieu de l¶été. Deogratias.

New HBC trade rules and hunger had kept the Hareskins away from Fort Good

Hope in winter, and only a few had shown up at Easter. Their number was swelled

by seven Inuit families who had taken a week and a half to reach there, and

remained on site another. Seguin thought the Loucheux a a more religious tribe

than the Hareskins, which made it a pity

there was permanent mission among them. Many had become the prey of Protestant

missionaries, and that for want of Oblate priests. For for a large number it was in

name only, and they yearned to join the Catholic Church. But a priest was too far

off so they were likely to stay as they were. The only ones who had joined the Roman

Church were fifty families along the Mackenzie.Séguin to Fabre, 1888, 06, 06, OAR



L¶automne dernier les sauvages étaient partis pour le bois mal contents des nouveaux règlements de la

Compagnie, [et] n¶ont fait que de rares apparitions pendant l¶hiver. A Pâques seulement il en est

venu quelques uns. Sept familles Loucheuses sont venues grossir leur nombre. Ils ont mis dix jours

pour venir de leurs camp, et sont restées ici huit jours. Le manque de vivre seule les a fait partir.

Quand ils sont prêts du prêtre et de la maison de Dieu, ils ne savent plus s¶en aller. Ils sont bien plus

religieux que les Peaux de Lièvres et c¶est bien dommage qu¶il n¶y ait point de mission établie parmi

eux. Ce serait les sauvages ui donneraitent le plus de consolation à leur missionnaires. Mais ils sont

devenus en grande partie, faute de prêtres, la proie des protestants. Les ministres au nombre de 4 ont

quatre stations parmi eux. Nous n¶avons que les cinquante familles dont les terres longent la rivière

Mackenzie. Un grand nombre qui appartiennent au protestantisme, mais de nom seulement,

voudraient bien devenir catholiques, mais le prêtre est trop loin pour eux, et faute de mieux ils restent

ça que l¶on les a fait.

1887-1890

Prelude to a new mission:

Fathers Giroux and Lelebvre

A sub-plot in this story concerned the Canadian nationality of the two priests who founded the

Oblates¶ Fort McPherson mission in 1890. Nearly all Oblates in the Mackenzie Valley watershed

were French, and there was a perception on the part of some that such an origin was essential to

carrying out the most diff icult tasks. Problems inF

rance, however, made it hard to find recruits,so the elder Bishops of the Northwest, Grandin and Faraud (both of French birth) sought

candidates in the novitiates of Quebec and located two candidates, Constant-Alarie Giroux and

Camille Lefebvre.

Because the Mackenzie was so distant and because it included the Arctic Coast (it was said to

extend all the way to the Pole), being assigned to that region was one of the greatest honors that

could be bestowed on a newly ordained Oblate.

In 1887 Father Constant-Alarie Giroux was ordained in Archville, Quebec, and by the next

summer had joined Father Séguin at Good Hope.



Father Camille Lefebvre, ordained in Québec in 1889, asked Bishop Faraud to pray that he might

all his life as a missionary he would be saintly and zealous.iii

Meeting Faraud in western Canada in

Julyiv, and was given the task of converting the Mackenzie Inuit. Father Giroux was assigned to

the Gwich¶in.v

By October Lefebvre reached Fort Norman,vi

where he spent the winter studying the Hareskin

Indian language (not useful to his future work in the Mackenzie Delta). vii

Father Giroux thanked the bishop profusely for sending Lefebvre (they were from the same

Quebec town and had studied at the same collegiate)

viii

and submitted in deep obedience to ordersto start McPherson¶s ³double mission.´ The bishop, he responded in the groveling style then

expected of clerics, was capable of all, would do all that was necessary to make the mission

succeed, and thereby save many souls. God never let his children down, and would make the new

venture come about. ix

In April, when Lefebvre reached Good Hope, Giroux left from there for McPherson to cut logs for

a mission. x Initially he was the guest of Joseph Hodgson, the HBC clerk, who had himself come

north decades earlier as a teacher in the Anglican missions--though he had left churchly employ,

he had remained an ordained deacon. Hodgson¶s wife, a Dene from further south on the

Mackenzie, took tender care of Lefebvre¶s feet, injured and frozen during the snowshoe journey to

the post--a rapid one, as he went north with the so-called ³express´ or ³packet´, the team of two

native men and a sled who delivered the winter mail from post to post, tramping north from Fort

Simpson in the fastest time possible..

Lefebvre¶s first summer at McPherson

Lefebvre

In June Father Emile Grouard visited the Mackenzie on the HBC steamer for a tour of inspection

for Bishop Faraud. At Good Hope he picked up Father Lefebvre and left him at Fort McPherson

for the summer.xi

Hodgson laconically noted in the post journal that Lefebvre had come ³to try to

evangelize the Esquimaux. ´ The latter usually left shortly after the steamer unloaded its goods,

but were kept from leaving by a contrary wind.xii Yet Lefebvre¶s contact with them, it seems, was



minimal, and other than a vague comment that there were signs he might succeed in future, he left

no record.

Lefebvre asked his bishop for permission stay the winter, as that would permit quicker learning of

the Inuit language, and thereby let him do more for these ³poor abandoned´ souls. It might take

years of effort to make them grasp Christian truths, and besides, given the work that also had to

be done among the Gwich¶in, there was work enough for two priests.

What he failed to mention was that Inuit would not be at the post the next ten months, and that

instruction in Inuktitut would come from a local translator, George Greenland, who worked for

the HBC and the Anglican mission, but who was willing to earn extra income behind his

employers¶ back. Born among the Inuit of the Eastern Delta (whom whites referred to at the time

as the Kukpugmiut) George had been been left at some point at Fort McPherson, and had at an

early age in xxxx gone south with Father Petitot to Good Hope to help compile an Inuit dictionary.

Language and George would turn out to be Lefebvre¶s Achilles¶ heel. Although no one realized it

yet, he had no no aptitude for learning tongues. And George¶s irascible ways turned people

against himself and those he represented.

Lefebvre¶s request to stay year-round at McPherson was not granted, as he was needed in winter

at Good Hope to assist the agingFather Séguin, and the vicariate lacked recruits to take up that

duty. What also concerned the bishop was scarcity of food at McPherson. So on Sept. 1 the young

priest headed south. xiiixiv

1891

Lefebvre¶s second summer

at Fort McPherson

When in mid-June the next year Lefebvre returned to McPherson, he was astounded by the work

Father Giroux had done. Logs for a building fifty by thirty feet had been cut in distant woods and

hauled to the fort, though early thaw had prevented dragging in the largest pieces.

Séguin at Good Hope



Le P. Lefebvre m¶a été d¶un grand secours pendant la mission, soit pour le chant soit pour enseigner les

prières aux petits et aux grands qu¶il réunissait chaque jour à midi. C¶est le 15 juin qu¶il est parti en

squiff avec un jeune sauvage [Beziulle] pour se rendre à Peel¶s River ou l¶attendait avec impatience

le P. Giroux qui y était seul depuis le 1er Septembre dernier.xv

McPherson Codex

June 20. Arrivée du P. Lefebvre à 2 h. a.m. avec Beziulle.xvi

Séguin at Good Hope

Le premier juillet je recevais de leurs nouvelles. Le P. Lefebvre avait fait un heureux voyage et était

arrivé là la sixième journée. Le P. Giroux était en bonne santé et avait fait de l¶ouvrage comme

quatre, ayant tous les bois rendus en place pour une maison de 50 pieds sur 30, sauf 21 morceaux des

plus gros que la fonte des neiges lui avait empêché de charroyer.xvii

When the Inuit arrived and stayed two weeks, Lefebvre had the field to himself, but he

accomplished little, for language remained the barrier though he had taken some lessons from

George. But then a break occurred: a sick man, Kapalayak, stayed behind when his people went

home and just before his death was baptized Joseph Kapalayak by Lefebvre²which according to

Catholic doctrine of that time meant he received God¶s grace and after a period in purgatory

would reach heaven. Lefebvre was about to bury the man when interference by George stopped

him.

George had been willing to secretly teach Lefebvre the Inuit language, but would not go so far as

to help the fathers send Kapalayak to an after-world different from that of the Anglican church,

as retribution from McDonald and Hodgson might have been nasty. So he arranged for a native

Anglican catechist, a Gwich¶in), to lay Kapalayak to rest. When in early August Lefebvre left for

Good Hope, there was nothing to show for his work.xviii

1892Lefebvre·s third summer at McPherson.



In June 1892 Lefebvre went north again to McPherson, this time to for a year-round tenure that

was meant to last a long time. From now on he planned to see the Kukpugmiut during their spring

visit to the post, and in summer to visit their homes in the outer Delta, where they hunted belugas.

Codex [date?]

Arrivée définitive du P. Lefebvre.xix

Codex (Nadeau), WV version

Father Lefebvre arrived, this time to live year-round with Father Giroux, and resumed taking language

lessons from George Greenland. Nadeau¶s words ³Chaque printemps, il attendra l¶arrivée des

baleinières esquimaudes remontant la Peel jusqu¶à MacPherson, chargées de fourrures, puis, la traité

finie, il descendra avec ses ouailles séjourner à l¶embouchure du Mackenzie, tâchant de pêcher les

âmes de ses pêcheurs de baleine.´xx

In July Bishop Clut visited the mission.

Séguin

[Le père Lefebvre] n¶aura pas beaucoup d¶Esquimaux à présenter pour la confirmation, car jusqu¶ici il

n¶a fait qu¶un baptême [Joseph Yapalayak] et son baptisé est mort quelque temps après.xxi

While headed north on the Wrigley, Clut had as fellow passenger Isaac Stringer, a novice Anglicanmissionary (ordained the deacon level) whose task it was to to convert the Inuit, and counter

Lefebvre¶s efforts.

Lefebvre

A Protestant minister arrived here recently on the [Hudson¶s Bay] Company steamer. He was barely off

the boat when he began to equip a canoe to go and spend the rest of the warm season with the

Eskimos, down by the sea. Like a good shepherd, I could not ignore the danger that was about to face

my sheep, which, alas, still roamed far away from their proper home [i.e.Rome]...

The bishop arrived just as most of them were taking to their boats, but time remained to shake hands.

Three families, including the chief mentioned above, had not yet broken camp. When I told the

bishop of the minister¶s intent to go to the Arctic Ocean, he answered ³That¶s unfortunate²if he gets



there, your infidels may give themselves to him, leaving none for you.´ ³There¶s a remedy,

Monseigneur,´ I answered, ³A chief here [Toweachiuk, or Squint Eyes] holds me in high regard. If

you give permission, I¶ll leave with him, live with him, and return with the Eskimos who visit the fort

in the fall.´ ³Yes,´ he replied, repeating it twice, ³it must be done.´xxii

On July 22 Lefebvre left for Kittigazuit with Toweachiuk, whom he considered his protector.

Stringer diary

Huskies leaving. Toweachiuk up to mission. Priest left with him.xxiii

Codex

Le P. Lefebvre part avec Toredzek [i.e. Toweachiuk].xxiv

Lefebvre

I left McPherson; happy knowing I was ahead of the minister. Sitting in the omiark (a whale-skin bark),

I occupied the place of honor beside my adopted father. The dogs came behind, and then the women.

It¶s for a good reason they sit further back, for they have the heavy task of moving the large paddles

from morning to night. Still, they know how to fulfill that role without getting too tired, for, most of

the time, they let the paddles rest on the water. Besides, the Eskimo are rather happy-go-lucky on

their trips; as long as they have food, they show little concern for the future.

[At Kittigazuit] I profited from the general levity by paying a brief visit to each house and made on this

occasion a small distribution of gifts. You should have seen the joy with which they received me,

constantly repeating the word mat chi (mer ci pronounced in the Eskimo way). All wanted to follow

me from house to house, but the narrow entrance passage prevented them.

Most of the men I had not seen ... now began to arrive [having ended the day¶s hunt]. They spent all

evening with us, drinking tea, which they are as eager to get this as we are a good glass of wine.

I had spent eight days amongst my infidels when, as I walked on the beach reciting my breviary, I saw

the approach of a canoe with three men. I soon realized it was the minister accompanied by his two

acolytes, one of which was the well-known interpreter George.



On seeing them, my heart began to pound; but, putting all my faith in God, I continued to pray. A few

hours went by and the new arrival, accompanied by his interpreter, started a visit to all the camps.

Poor Devil! His entry into the village was less than triumphal and he was almost chased out.

Up until now the Eskimos had seemed completely aloof to my mission, and it took this interference from

the minister to make them aware that I was no ordinary stranger. ³You are our honorable minister,´

they kept saying from that day on, ³the other one is nothing but a white trader, for he takes a wife like

the rest of us. We don¶t care for him.´xxv

Stringer Diary

As we paddled up the inlet a young man came out in a kaiyak bringing an invitation from one of the

chiefs named Towaachiuk (or ³squint eye´) to go to his tent. The Roman Catholic priest was staying

there, so, as we had a tent with us, we paddled up past the village and pitched our tent about two

hundred yards away from the nearest camp.xxvi

Stringer letters

There is a Romanist priest here and he is doing what he can to work against me. He has been at Peel's

River for more than a year but never came down amongst the Huskies till I came.xxvii

The priest had been giving presents all around²mostly needles and sweeties²and I was continually

hearing of this and of how good he was to them. However, I stuck to my plan and gave away very

little except to some sick people and to the chiefs when leaving. Things were looking rather ³blue´

for me when I was there about a week. I went up one day with George to the chief¶s tent [i.e. that of

Takochikina, the junior chief]. He did not receive me very cordially. After a while he said he did not

see why I did not give them more presents. He thought there was no use in my staying any longer

and that I had better leave the village. George told me what he said.

Perhaps you know that I sometimes become rather determined and stubborn. Well, I did then. I knew a

great deal depended on that day and that visit to the chief. I just said to myself²I am here now, and

here I am going to stay till I have to go. I think I prayed pretty hard in silence also. I did not say

much²a few earnest words as to the object of my visit and the way they seemed to misunderstand

that object.



I don¶t know how it came about, but I know that in a very short time the chief asked me to come into his

private room. He said he wanted to go to heaven and wished to know more about it. I had a very

satisfactory talk and from that time this chief was my friend.xxviii

I put in the time as best I could. Walked around the village a good deal and got acquainted with the

children. I did not see much of the priest. I called on him once and had a friendly chat, but we were

not very friendly, I imagine. He tried in different ways to put the Huskies against me. Time will tell

how he succeeded. He gave the Huskies many crosses and I had the satisfaction of seeing some

thrown in the water. I am not a bigoted anti-Romanist but when I see a man doing what he can to

oppose me, I am human enough to find a little pleasure in anything that indicates the lessening of his

influence, especially as it increases the chances of the pure Gospel being preached as I believe it

should be.xxix

Stringer diary

Aug. 7. One woman said that the priest told them they would go to heaven, but their children would

have to stay here. They wanted their children there too. Other women told me that the priest told

them not to go near me [and] that I did not want to see them because I pitched my tent up so far from

them. One woman had a cross tied around her neck. I told them the Gospel simply.xxx

Stringer diary

Aug. 08. But why so discouraged? I think there is a combination of causes. I do not feel very wellmyself. It is a dull day. The morning¶s work has not been all encouraging. The whole work is difficult

and needs much patience. It is discouraging to have that priest working dead against one. Not

knowing the language it is a little uninteresting. But I must take all these [problems] to a higher

being. I must not be thus cast down. There is a brighter day coming on.xxxi

Aug. 9. Taligoak [one of the men] asked why I did not give them tea or something. The priest gave each

one two needles. I was a miser. This put me out of sorts again. I wonder what will be the result of all

this. Will my refusing them what they ask do good or harm in the end? I wish I knew what to do. I

shall go on in my usual way . . . [I] ReadRomanism and H oly S cripture C ompared . . . . Priest told

the Huskies that I was not a minister--only men who wore dress like he were ministers.

Aug. 10. Huskies began to complain that I did not give them anything. The priest gave them something.

If I would give them a little tea now and again they would like it better. George¶s cousin said they



were like a lot of children or dogs. They did not know anything about a God and all they thought of

was what they could get. They grabbed at everything like children. This seemed very true.xxxii

August 13. Went with George up to see young chief [Takochikina]... Priest passed us.xxxiii

August 15. The priest just left for the Fort, and I am not sorry that he has gone.xxxiv

When Stringer turned homeward and stopped at Singigizyooak, he again met Father Lefebvre

and chief Toweachiuk. But several things turned in Stringer¶s favor. His men had shot some

caribou on the way south from Kittigazuit, and since the Inuit lacked food, he shared it. Then

Toweachiuk left, so that the priest no longer had someone to care for his best interests. This was

followed by the arrival of Takochikina, the junior chief with whom Stringer had developed a good

relationship at Kittigazuit. By the time Stringer left, all present had expressed their loyalty to his

faith. As he left and his boat drifted from shore, Takochikina shouted he wanted the minister for

his religious guidance, not the priest who sat nearby (and who had no way to get home).

Stringer diary

Aug. 18. Reached Singigizyooak...Three camps there. Toweachiuk there. Priest also. We went ashore

and camped on way between camps. Put up tent and got things ready. Gave some meat away.

Aug. 19. Toweachiuk came over as also did other Huskies. A couple more arrived. Talking around fire.

Priest came over with accordion. Chatted for a while then went on. . . Over with Huskies. Had a

good talk with them about God and Jesus.

Aug. 20. Toweachiuk preparing to start. He came over to our tent first, and we had a chat with him. [He]

Started off. . . Priest went over to another tent. . . . Young chief [Takochikina] arrived with four

others. Came over to our camp after a while. Gave them a thigh of beef and some tea and they had a

feast. We had dinner in tent. Talked around fire. Spoke to Huskies. They all assured me they would

be Protestant. . . . Chief and others in talking. . . . Very encouraging for us in leaving.

The priest looked rather disconsolate sitting beside the chief as we left. The chief yelled to us that he

hoped I would come back soon. He wanted me for their minister, not this man (the priest). If we see

any Indians, tell them to come after this man, he said. And so we left Singigizyooak.xxxv

Stringer letters



While at this place, a good many Huskies arrived and we were able to treat them to fresh meat and some

things I had in the cache. We spent a few pleasant days here and were much encouraged.1xxxvi

Before we left, Takochikina arrived with a good many others and he urged me to go back in the winter

to stay with them. As we started off, the whole crowd was standing looking²priest and all. The

chief (Takochikina) seemed earnest in his good wishes. He urged me to come back soon. And when

we were out a piece he yelled, again telling me to be sure and come²that he wanted me for the

minister to this people²not this priest. Thus the tables were turned and the chief who a short time

before said he did not want me with them now urged me to come back soon. Truly our ways are not

God¶s ways. I have not seen any of them since, but I hope to soon again.xxxvii

Lefebvre had not realized how quickly the Steamer Wrigley¶s July trip had changed the Inuit¶s

longstanding pattern of each year returning to McPherson in early September, which is when the

post¶s trader arrrived with new goods from Fort Simpson. Now new goods all arrived in late June

or early July, much trading occurred at that time, and there was no point for Inuit to go the post a

second time. But it was not until he Lefebre was at Singigizyooak and Toweachiuk left, that the

reality hit him of having no way to go home. No one would take him until he showed a willingness

to pay. But a day or two into the journey the Inuk who headed the boat soon changed his mind

and dropped the father off on shore (without returning the fare) so that the father was reduced to

walking along shore. After the indignity inflicted on him at Singigyzooak, he had now been

fleeced, and the story of his scrambling south could only increase the ridicule now attached to him.

Lefebvre was fortunate in that, after a difficult overnight march, he found a Gwich¶in who gave

him passage the rest of the way. On Sept. 1, he reached McPherson.

Lefebvre

Aug. 18. I got the idea of hiring a family (since the Eskimos would not undertake such a trip without

compensation) to take me home. A favorable reply soon arrived.xxxviii

In an assessment of the trip for his bishop, Lefebvre claimed the Inuit were attached to him rather

than the minister and at the same time spelled out reasons why he might loose the battle. In effect,

he was preparing the bishop for a defeat--not because of shortcomings on his part, but because of

the unfair advantages enjoyed by his opponent. The Protestants, to put it another way, were

playing dirty.



Despite their oft-repeated declaration [that they will be loyal to me and not the minister], I am far from

believing myself absolute master of this terrain. I worry greatly that these poor unbelievers, tied as

they are to material values, might let themselves be swayed by the various temptations the Protestant

minister is likely to offer them the next time he visits them.

For, besides his one-thousand-louis salary, he also receives quite a large number of trunks [filled with

gifts for the Eskimo]²I myself saw them come off the boat. What have I to do battle against such

riches? Nothing, except for my faith in the goodness of divine grace. If God is for us, who can be

against us?xxxix

The 1892-93 winter

Stringer was secretly engaged to Sadie Alexander, a lively young woman in Ontario, but saw no

way to leave the North to be married. His absence, he feared, would let Lefebvre win. Ironically,

he thought Lefebvre was making strides in learning the Inuit language.

Stringer to Sadie

A Roman Catholic priest has been here three years now and is working among the Eskimo. He has quite

a start of me in learning the language and I must do my best for the first few years in order to teach

those people what I believe is the truth.xl

If the priest of Romanism were not here I could go home anytime, but I feel sure that one short year's

absence would give him a greater foothold. And Sadie, much as I long for home, and much as I

would like to have you here my first duty is the work. I believe I have been truly called of God to

this place and with His blessing I mean to do the little I can do till he shows me I can leave.xli

The 1893 Summer

In early 1893 Stringer visited the whalers at Herschel Island and reached McPherson just before

the Inuit arrived for their annual visit. Cause for worry was the conduct of Lefebvre, who left for

Kittigazuit shortly after the minister got home. The tactic made no sense, since most Inuit were at

McPherson and few remained in the village in the outer Delta.

Stringer letter



The day I came home [from Herschel Island] the Roman Catholic priest started for the village

[Kittigazuit] and is away yet. The most of the Eskimos came here and I don¶t see in what way he

would gain any advantage by going. Nearly every day I have had the Eskimo up to the church and

have taught them through the assistance of George Greenland.xlii

I hope to be with him [i.e. Father Lefebvre] soon. He is bestirring himself since I came. He does not

appear to have made much impression yet, but he is working very slyly and must be watched or the

Eskimos may become Romanized and my work be in vain.xliii

When Stringer reached Kittigazuit it seemed the priest¶s going north early had badly hurt the

Anglican cause.

Stringer diary

Aug. 4. Went for walk up beach. Fine day. Mosquitoes bad. Met priest as I was returning. Had a little

chat with him and passed on. . . . According to first appearances the priest appears to have got a

foothold. He has been dealing out tea and sugar very freely, giving them feasts quite frequently, and

in that way getting them together. He has learned a good deal of the language. I must give him the

credit for all he has done. But I don't by any means despair. I can only do my duty. Truth will prevail

sometime, and if this work is not for me I must be resigned to it. However, I think there is something

for me here yet to do.

Aug. 5. Went to council house and lo, the priest was there. I went in and sat down and told him not to let

me interrupt him. We had a chat then about the country, the fort etc., and the Huskies. Most of the

Huskies left after a while and I did also. . . . [My helper] Kenneth returned. Priest had big talk with

him about religions etc.

Aug. 6. The priest is to start tomorrow for the fort. . . . Had chat with him and asked him to take letter to

archdeacon. Also asked him to help himself to moose meat [Stringer had killed a moose on route

north and left a cache]. Our intercourse so far has been friendly. . . . Heard tonight that priest is

getting a cripple to go with him to fort.

Aug. 7. Wrote letter to archdeacon in council house. Ate breakfast, intending to go over to priest with

letter immediately afterwards, but while we were eating we saw the priest's craft out on the way.xliv

Stringer letter



The first few days were very trying and I came to the conclusion that I could not stand this very long.

But times have changed and I am quite at home now. The Romanist priest was here some time

before I was and had gained some ground. I could not come any sooner as I had to stop till the

steamer arrived at the fort [so the bishop could consecrate me to the priesthood]2.

A few days after I came here the priest left for the fort and I have been here ever since. At first I had a

regular string of requests for tea, sugar, tobacco, matches, knives, and in fact I was asked for nearly

everything I possessed. I gave more away than I did last summer, but my supplies soon ranshort and

since then I have had peace. I have been out of tea for some time, but one of the chiefs kindly lent

me a little.xlv

Oblate Codex

1893, 08, 22. Retour avec P. Lefebvre arrivé du 16 avec Toshen.xlvi

While at Kittigazuit, Stringer learned of the priest¶s attempt to apply the well-known tactic of

extraction: the taking of a ³heathen´ from his home to a mission site to learn the evangelizers¶

language and the Christian faith. Sent back to the tribe later, it was hoped the convert would help

bring souls to the Christian. Thus, Lefebvre had tried to have a crippled Inuk come south to Fort

McPherson with him (possibly a male with severe rheumatoid arthritis). But arrangements fell

apart, and the priest went home alone.

Stringer, however, obtained Kalukotok, teenage adopted son of Kokhlik, the Kukpugmiut¶s senior

chief. The boy stayed at McPherson from September through June, sharing Stringer¶s room at the

mission house. Stringer had up to then eaten with Archdeacon McDonald, but after Kalukotok¶s

arrival he cooked his own meals.

Stringer letter

One of the things that encourages me the most is that I have a real live Husky boy living with me and

that his friends were willing that he should come with me. It seems hard for the Huskies to part with

a boy. I felt that it would be hard to get one. The priest tried to get different ones this last summer

and the summer before, but failed. I asked the chief Kokhlik (who adopted the boy) if he would let

2

Stringer had been ordained a deacon in Toronto in 1892 before coming north. In 1893 Anglican Bishop William Reeve at Fort McPherson

ordained him to the priesthood.



him come with me . . . his wife . . told me with tears in her eyes that I might have the boy for this

winter.xlvii

1893-1894

During the winter George Greenland gave Lefebvre further lessons in the Inuit tongue, and

plotted how to make the Inuit from visiting Stringer. The latter knew of the deception, and both

Greenland and Lefebvre lost out.

Stringer letter

Feb. 2. I find George Greenland as unstable as ever. When I returned from Herschel Island in December

last, I found that he had been teaching the priest. He came to me with a long story about how the

priests had got him into debt and then would not take payment in any other way. There was a good

deal of truth in this but I imagine that gain or the desire of gain is at the bottom of it so far as

George¶s willingness is concerned. The priest said that when their bishop came down in the spring

he would give him presents. They also paid him at the rate of a skin for half an hour¶s teaching,

which is twice as much I was paying him. He has gone on giving me lessons at the old rate and

seems as well pleased as before. But I have learned to depend on him only while having him in hand

with a rein on him, so to speak. However, I should not trouble you with these little things.xlviii

When the Inuit came to McPherson, Lefebvre used fear, warning them they would burn in hell if they continued to see Stringer. Pressure, however, was a tactic that never worked in dealing with

the Kukpugmiut, who were very proud. And that held especially for Kokhlik, their chief. Lefebvre

lost what gains he thought to make and was warned never again to visit the Inuit at their home in

the Eastern Delta.

Stringer diary

July 2. Met the chief [Kokhlik] ... He and some others came into the archdeacon¶s room and told us that

they had determined not to go to the Roman Catholic mission any more. It seems that today he

[Father Lefebvre] rang the bell for them and they did not turn up as expected. He told them yesterday

through George that those who wished to be saved were to come when he rang the bell. So today,



when some came in afterwards, he tore up a book of Husky words3, threw it into the fire and told

them if they were going to be Protestants they would be burned like that, but if they would turn [to

the Catholic faith] he would save them.

He was quite angry at the time, and frightened some of the Huskies, who came right over to tell us about

it. They said they were not going again to hear him. The archdeacon and I had a long talk with them.

They seem quite determined, and I hope and trust they will be steadfast. . . . Had chat with

archdeacon. The Hand of God seems to be in the whole matter, and I trust the Eskimo will soon

accept the Gospel in all its fullness.xlix

George Greenland lost influence on both the Anglican and Catholic Side,

as he had offended all parties, including the Inuit.

Stringer letter

This spring a number of Eskimos came here as usual. The archdeacon and I have been doing what we

can to teach them. George Greenland has not been as satisfactory as one would wish. A week ago

Sunday he got them to attend the priest¶s service. The priest told them when he would the bell the

next day, those who wished to be saved were to come. Well, next day when he rang the bell none

came and when a few stragglers happened in after a while he became angry, tore an Eskimo book in

pieces and threw it into the fire, saying that was the way the Eskimos would be burned if they went

on as they were going (meaning, I suppose, coming to our mission).

The Eskimos were frightened. But while this was going on the chief (Kokhlik) and several others came

over and told the archdeacon and me that they had decided not to be on the fence any more and

would have nothing more to do with the priests. Then the frightened Eskimos came in and described

the scene with the priest. Then George came in to me, saying he had bad news. Told of how the

Eskimos refused to go to the R.C. mission and now he had got a bad name because of it (I don¶t know

what he meant by a bad name) and he thought he should not interpret for anyone now.

After a few questions I saw that he was playing a part and trying to get me to coax him and of course

reward him. He had tried the same thing often before and I felt this was a good time to let him have

his own swing. So I simply said alright, he could please himself. Since that I have not asked him to

3

Perhaps Lefebvre¶s throwing a dictionary of the Inuit language into the fire reflected his frustration at learning the language²his outburst

had to do with more than the Inuit¶s failure to obey his commands.



interpret and I believe he is working in an underhand way against me. He may be able to do some

harm but I hope not much. He has not much time, for the Eskimos soon will be off and I¶ll be with

them.l

In the 1893 summer HBC clerk Hodgson had been transferred south and replaced by John Firth,

a fervently anti-Catholic Scot

Stringer diary

July 17. Mr. Firth [said that]... the priest was [i.e. had been planning on] going down to the Huskies this

spring, but that [instead] he was going to Good Hope... He seems to have come to the conclusion that

it would be useless to visit the Eskimos.li

Stringer letter

The priest is not keeping me company this summer. The Huskies did not encourage him to come down

and told him they did not want to have anything more to do with him. So he... went on a visit to

Good Hope instead. He boasted that he was going to make great efforts and would join the Huskies

to his faith this summer. But he found that things did not go as favorably as he had fondly anticipated

and I know you will be pleased to learn that his boasting was in vain. And it was not that I tried to

put the Huskies against him, for during my stay with them in the spring I said little or nothing about

him and nothing at all to depreciate him. But he has not given up yet I imagine, and next year I

expect to see him make another attempt. We can only pray that the truth may prevail.lii

Lefebvre came back from two Dene men from Good Hope, who would him cut building logs and

planks that winter. But it would be for expansion of the Oblates¶ Fort McPherson building, as

Stringer thought.

The R.C. priest took the strong hint that was given him by the Huskies and did not attempt to visit the

village. He went to Good Hope instead and brought down two men to help saw boards for their

house here.liii

Codex

July 19. Départ du P. Lefebvre pour Good Hope.liv

Aug. 25. Retour du P. Lefebvre de Good Hope avec Yeta et Alex qui doivent scier cette hiver.lv



Fort McPherson, 1894-95.

Oblate attempts to win over Anglican Gwich¶in

Having abandoned missionizing the Inuit, the two Oblate priests focused on drawing the Anglican

members of the Gwich¶in tribe into the Catholic fold. That effort, too, came to nothing. By March,

Father Lefebvre was off to Arctic Red River with his native helpers to build a residence-cum-

chapel at that site. Since xxxx there had only been a rough structure that accommodated the

fathers during summer visits. In June, Father Giroux left McPherson as well. The mission

building, put up with such difficulty five years earlier, now stood empty.

Stringer Diary

Nov. 11. Sun. The Arch preached on the history of the Christian Church with special reference to

Romanism. Text 2 Thess.2: 13, 14.lvi

The Priests have been telling the Indians that thousands of

Protestants have become Romanists and are trying to influence the Indians in that way. So the Arch

spoke pretty plainly and forcibly today for about an hour at both Indian and English services and I

think it will do much good. [At Indian prayers] Arch again preached on Romanism. Text 2 Pet. 2:

11.4

The Mackenzie River [Gwich¶in] chief, although an Romanist, stopped for prayers. We had a

chat with him afterwards.

Nov. 14. Mr. Firth... told me of a conversation he had yesterday with Père Giroux on Romanism vs.

Protestantism and the talk amongst the Indians about what the priest had told them about 700,000

converts in the U.S.

Nov. 16. I read Evangelical C hur chman papers in search for Roman-Catholic vs. Protestant statistics re

perverts [i.e. converts from one denomination to the other]. Arch McDonald called and told me how

Mr. Firth had been to see the priest re his recent controversy.

Dec. 9 Sun. Much talk today and yesterday about Philemon and Stephen [both Gwich¶in] getting

married. It seems the R.C. Priest [Giroux] has been trying to get her married to his boy. She is

undecided apparently between the two religious persuasions. Stephen is willing to marry Phile but

4

(11) Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusations against them before the Lord. (12) But these, as

natural brute beasts, made to be tak en and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption. (verses 10 and 14 refer to sins of the flesh). The rest of the chapter contains much invective against certain types of

sinners. (Verse 22): But it is happened to them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that

was washed to her wallowing in the mire.



wishes to see his mother first. Phile is willing to marry Stephen and she sent word to the Archdeacon

today asking him to get her away from here that she might get away from the priest's influence. I

wonder what the result will be.

Dec. 26. Spoke to some [Gwich¶in] Roman Catholics about religion. Several wanted tea for fur but I

refused.lvii

Codex

March, n.d. Le père Lefebvre va équarrir à la Rivière-Rouge le bois nécessaire pour y construire une

maison-chapelle, où nous transportons notre résidence de la rivière Peel. Car les enfants du

bourgeois Firth, commençant à taquiner les catholiques, leur crient, lorsqu¶ils les voient se diriger

vers la mission au son de la cloche: ³Sainte Marie, Sainte Marie,´ et nos sauvages étant obligés de se

retirer dans les maisons de tous ces protestants lorsqu¶ils viennent pour chaque fête, il devient évident

que leur foi se trouve en danger, vu que ces gens sont tout-puissants dans le pays.lviii

Stringer diary

June 28. The Husky priest . . . started for Red River last night.



Part B

What Happened After

1. Lefebvre

After losing the Inuit¶s goodwill, Father Lefebvre remained at McPherson¶s Catholic mission with

his colleague and senior priest Constant-Hillarie Giroux, whose role it was to cater to the

Gwich¶in. For a year the two of them tried for a face-saving victory by coaching Protestant

Gwich¶in to join the Catholic church. That, too, failed, and by 1895 they had left the building in

Fort McPherson (started with great difficulty by Father Giroux just four years earlier) and moved

to a new mission structure a days¶ travel south at the Arctic Red River. It was here, among the

Catholic Gwich¶in, that they stayed.

Father Lefebvre made summer journeys through the Delta, but never on the eastern side, on the

route taken by the Inuit he had offended. Using the Central and Western Channels, he went to

Herschel Island to purchase goods from the whalers to supply the Catholic mission. During those

journeys, he invariably met Isaac Stringer, who visited the whalers each summer as well, and who

from 1897 on ran their supply base. It was he who handed out to the priests the goods they had

ordered from the Pacific Whaling Company in San Francisco..

It would have been easy for Isaac and his wife to treat make the visiting Oblates ( a priest and

religious brother traveled together) with condescension, but instead they showed respect and

invited them into their home. Such encounters were easier, one gets the sense, after Father

Lefebvre, in early 1898, left the Mackenzie District.

By then Lefebvre¶s bishop had realized that Lefebvre lacked talent as a missionary²likely for a

number of reasons, but mainly because he had difficulty learning languages other than his own.

He was transferred to Whitehorse, a new city in the Yukon, where whites poured in by the

thousands to hunt gold. But even there, he did not do well (most miners spokeEnglish) and he was

eventually transferred to Edmonton, where he was supply agent for the Catholic Diocese of the

Mackenzie.



Whites at ARR and McPherson ordered goods from San Francisco through the PSWC, which

bought them in the south and sent them north on one of their vessels. Using that route allowed the

sale of goods at Herschel Island at prices much cheaper than they could be had from the HBC,

which shipped goods from Britain via the Atlantic to Canada, cross-country to Edmonton, and

then north to the Mackenzie by cart and boat.

Lefebvre¶s 1895 and 1896 visits to Herschel Island

1895

In the 1895 summer Lefebvre went for goods at the whaling company base at Herschel Island,

where Stringer was also present²he had conducted a mission to the whalers and the

Nunatagmiut²Alaskan Inuit who worked for the whalers, and was waiting to board the J eanie,

the whalers¶ annual supply ship to make his way to San Francisco. From there he would go home

to be married.

Codex

Aug. 19 Départ du P. Lefebvre avec Toshen pour Hershell [sic] Island.lix

Stringer diary at Herschel island.

Sept. 1. Capt. Coffin came ashore and with him was Père Lefebvre, with whom I had a chat. I introduced

him to Captains Murray and Porter and others . . . Père Lefebvre is to take meals with us in Capt.

Murray¶s house.

Sept. 4. The R.C. priest started out today [for the Mackenzie River] with the J ohn and Wint hr op5

with a

whale boat loaded.lx

Codex

Sept. 16. Arrivée du P. Lefebvre à 3 h. p.m.lxi

5

Whaling ships sometimes towed visiting missionaries¶whaleboats toward the mouth of the Mackenzie, letting them loose as close as

possible to the western channel while themselves re maining in deep water.



1896

In 1896 Lefebvre made the journey to Herschel Island with Brother Beaudet, newly assigned to

the Red River mission, and en route met Isaac Stringer and his wife Sadie, who were themselves

headed for the whalers.

Codex

Aug. 17. 3 ½ h. a.m. Le P. Lefebvre, le fr. Louis, Narcisse et Ezin partent pour Hershel¶s Island.lxii

Sadie Alexander Stringer¶s diary

Aug. 22. [Shingle Point] Here we met the R. C. priest bound for Herschel Island... Big fire on. Slept in

tent as usual.lxiii

Aug. 23. Sun. [Shingle Point] Had service with the Huskies who live there as we sat around camp fire.

The priest called on us and seemed friendly.lxiv

ARR Codex

1896, 09, 06. A midi, retour des voyageurs de Hershel¶s Isl.lxv

1897

Tearing Down the Priest¶s House

at Fort McPherson

In early 1897 Stringer bought the priest¶s house at McP and tore it down. The structure that

reflected Oblate hopes for converting the Eskimos was now gone, and nothing remained of

Lefebvre¶s evangelization project.

IOS

Apr. 07. Mr. Whittaker started Enoch hauling priests' house.

Apr. 10. Mr. Young and I . . . helped Mr. Whittaker to finish pulling down the priests' house which we

bought from Mr. Firth.lxvi

River.



1897

Lefebvre gets supplies from Stringer

at Hershel Island

When Father Lefebvre and Brother Beaudet reached Herschel Island in 1897, Isaac and Sadie

Stringer had taken over the whalers¶ base and ran it as both a trading post and a mission.

ARR Codex

Aug. 09. Départ du P. Lefebvre, Fr. Louis [Beaudet], Ezin et Henri pour Herschel Is.

Aug. 30. Retour du P. Lefebvre; 5 jours de montée.lxvii

1898

Lefebvre leaves the Mackenzie.

In April 1898 Father Lefebvre crossed the Mackenzie Mountains to La Pierre¶s House, and from

there made his way to the Yukon and a new career among the burgeoning mining community at

Whitehorse. The Oblates had given up on their Inuit mission and on gaining Gwich¶in converts

from the Anglican Church.

ARR Codex

1898, 04, 11. Le frère va conduire le P. Lefebvre à la Pierre House. Que notre bonne Mère le protège

toujours en récompense de son noble dévouement!lxviii

1909-1912

The Inuit join the Anglican Church

After Stringer became the Pacific Steam Whaling Company¶s commissary, the dynamics of his

mission changed greatly as he was lived with his wife Sadie in the company¶s main building. There

the two of them held services with Inuit and gave them classes in writing, English, and other

subjects. At the same time Isaac and Sadie¶s bachelor uncle Will Young, who functioned much like

a religious brother in an Oblate mission and did all the chores, ran the PSWC¶s fur trade post for

natives.

Comment [w1]: check



Now when Inuit came to barter for goods they were put up at the mission and learned Christian

truths while their dogs rested and they themselves were fed. By that means, Stringer turned the

whaler¶s entry into the North, initially considered by him and other clerics be a source of evil, into

a means (from the Christian point of view) of doing good.

By living at Herschel Island four years, Stringer had frequent contact with Nunatagmiut, who

were more open to his teachings than the Kukpugmiut. It may be that their influence in the region

increased after a viral epidemic in 1902, when fewer of them died than among the Kukpugmiut

(eighty of two hundred among the latter). More of them moved into permanent camps in southern

and central parts of the Delta, and more lived among the Kukpugmiut in the Eastern Delta, with

some intermarriage--as between Jimmy Memoganna, a Kukpugmiuk, and Kappak, a

Nunatagmiut, who were baptized during a 1905 visit to Fort Yukon in Alaska and thus became the

first Delta Inuit couple to formally join the Christian faith (I have written up their story

elsewhere). That event and the change in demographics may have swung swung all Inuit toward

adopting the Christian faith. That process began with the baptism of a few at Kittigazuit and

Herschel Island in 1909 during a visit by Stringer (by then bishop of the Yukon) and within three

years included nearly all.

Lefebvre became Purchasing Agent

for the Diocese of the Mackenzie

In 1901 Isaac Stringer moved for several years to Ontario. He then took up a post in the Yukon,

where by 1906 he became bishop. His life now was primarily among whites, and that was also true

of Lefebvre, who was there as well. Soon his bishop (newly appointed Gabriel Breynat) recognized

the priest¶s skills as an organizer, and realized he was more competent in an office than a mission.

So he was made procureur for the Mackenzie Diocese, buying what goods it needed and shipping

them north.

Late Oblate explanations for Lefebvre¶s failure

In 1922 Bishop Grouard blamed Lefebvre¶s failure on the whalers at Herschel Island. Seeing how

badly the whalers lived and thinking them Christian, the Inuit saw no point in joining their faith:

³Alas! They brought their intoxicating drinks. Add to that the morals of the crew, who are in



general not the flower of society and lived nine months each year in utter boredom. The Eskimos,

taught with such care by Father Lefebvre, no longer wanted to become Christians, saying µWhy

change our way of life to that of whites? They are worse than us.¶´ lxix

In referring to the Holy Name of Mary mission and why it had been moved from Fort McPherson

to Arctic Red River, Father Duport said not a word about the failure of Father Lefebvre to

convert the Inuit or to both his and Father and Giroux¶s inability to bring Anglican Gwich¶in to

their side. Instead, he blamed the move on Protestant harassment, by which he meant the taunts of

Archdeacon McDonald¶s native wife and her children. The mission had been moved by the

³strong arms´ of the two fathers.

lxx

1924

The Oblates returned to the Mackenzie Delta

Lefebvre was based in Edmonton, and from there he played a crucial rule in putting together

what was needed to launch the Oblates¶ second assault on the Delta in the 1920s. When the scows

loaded with supplies headed north in 1924, he was aboard. It was a triumphal occasion for the

Catholic cause, as there was material for an Oblate mission, and a combined Grey Nun hospital

and residential school that would also function as orphanage. One would have expected him to

stay with the Oblate vessel all the way to Aklavik, a new settlement well into the Delta on its

Western Branch, where these structures would soon be built.

Lefebvre, however, got off the barge at Arctic Red River. He felt ³at home´ at this mission and

stayed behind while the local priest (who had been alone there for a year) was given a break and

went north with the others. But one might be justified in wondering if Lefebvre did not want to

enter the Delta and see terrain in which he had failed to vanquish Isaac Stringer and the Anglican

Church.

Duport, Alphonse, O.M.I. "Une Visite aux Missions du Vicariat." Missions OMI 59 (Sept. 1925): 33-

44. Letter of 10 Aug. 1924 to Dontenwill. I have a copy.

July 1, 1924. Arctic Red River. There is little t ime. We say mass in the presence of many people. Dear

Father Lefebvre finds himself at home here and feels so well he prefers to stay until the boat has



[gone north to Aklavik and] returned. Father Lécuyer who has spent a whole year here alone [goes

with us] and gets a break of several days.lxxi

Duport, Alphonse, O.M.I. "Une Visite aux Missions du Vicariat." Missions OMI 59 (Sept. 1925): 33-

44. Letter of 10 Aug. 1924 to Dontenwill. I have a copy.

July 1. Arctic Red River: detachée du Fort Macpherson ou les catholiques étaient en butte à des

tracasseries protestantes, transportée definitivement ici par les bras vigoreux des Pères Henri Giroux

et Camille Lefebvre en 1896 ...

Duport, Alphonse, O.M.I. "Une N ouvelle Mission au Cer cle P olaire." Rapport. Missions OMI 59

(1925): 44-54. The later portion was transcribed from the undated letter in the Duportcorrespondence.

Aklavik, qui signifie "la Place de l'Ours Brun" est une petite localite fondée, il y a une douzaine

d'années, par les ministres protestants, afin de soustraire les Esquimaux a l'influence qu'exercaient sur

eux s g mgr breynat et ses missionnaires, dans l'entrevue qu'ils avaient eue avec ces derniers, a Arctic

Red River, ou ils se rendaient, chaque année, en été.

Ils sont très superstitieux et, par suite, fidèles aux quelques pratiques extérieures qu'on leur a enseignées.

Ils en savent très peu, presque rien sur DIEU et ses touchants mystères. La croix que je porte -- ils la

considèrent chaque fois que je passe, masi sans la comprendre. C'est avec une admiration, melée de

pitié, que je les vois -- au premier signe de la cloche, agité par le ministre -- sortir, a la hâte, de leurs

tentes, ou de leurs bateaux, et se rendre, en courant, au temple pour chanter et apprendre a lire, sans

tenir compte des promeneurs étrangers qui les regardent passer. Je me dis, alors: "Que sera-ce donc,

quand ces âmes connaitront notre sainte Religion dans la vérité de ses dogmes!"

Ils semblent, en effet, etre murs pour leur conversion. Evangélisés, en 1870, par nos premiers Pères,

mais sans succès, repris en dernier lieu par les ministres anglicans, il y a, semble-t-il, certitude de les

conduire dans le droit chemin. Cette certitude est basee sur leur intelligence et l'ardeur qu'ils

manifestent a connaitre le bien. Elle repose sur l'attraction qu'exerce sur eux notre sainte Religion,

nos personnes et nos oeuvres. Enfin et pardessus tout, elle est fondee sur la grace de Dieu -- qui ne

permettra pas que des ames, si avides de le connnaitre et de l'aimer, vivent dans l'erreur our ne

puissent le connaitre qu'imparfaitement.



x

Le R. P. Lefebvre... doit descendre ici avec l¶exprès d¶avril... Quelques jours après son arrivée le R. P. Giroux chaussera ses raquettes

pour suivre l¶exprès de Peel¶s River. Il part dans l¶intention de ramasser assez de bois pour la construction d¶une maison à ce poste.1890,

02, 01, Séguin to Fabvre, OAR

xi1890, 07, 13, Lefebvre to Faraud, OAR. Nous sommes arrivés ici, le R. P. Grouard et moi, le 21 juin après avoir laissé le R. P. Séguin à

sa mission à la Rivière où il est venu pour la dernière fois il faut l¶espérer. Nous a vons trouvé ici le Père Giroux plein de santé et nous

avons été surpris de l¶ouvrage quil avait fait dans la court espace de temps qui s¶est écoulédepuis son arrivée. Déjà tout le bois pour

notre petite maison est sur place; il ne nous reste plus qu¶a unir les pièces et mater notre petit chateau. Depuis notre arrivée rien ne s¶est

fait. Le Père Giroux nous quitta le lendemain de notre arrivée pour aller rejoindre le R. P. Séguin, puis pour remonter avec lui à Good

Hope d¶où il redescendra avec tout le linge, provisions etc. nécessaires pour passer l¶hiver ici²il ne veut plus quitter ses chers

Loucheux.

xiiJune 23, 1890. Last week Pères Grouard and Lefebvre arrived here... Père Giroux left his e vening for Good Hope. June 26. Most of the

Esquimaux left and the greater part of the Indians HBC, Peel River journal, HBCA Reel IM 1018, B. 157/a/6. June 23.

xiii

xiv1890, 07, 13, Lefebvre to Faraud, OAR. Le R. P. Séguin . . . ne veut plus quitter ses chers Loucheux. Je voudrais pouvoir en faire autant,

Monseigneur, pour mes pauvres Esquimaux, car en r estant ici je pourrais travailler plus avantageusement au salut de ces pauvresabandonnés. Il a semblé au R. P Grouard et à moi aussi que notre travail ne serait pas infructueux. Il faudra prendre patience sans doute,

car quelques années pourraient s¶écouler avant d¶avoir pu réussir à leur faire comprendre et mettre en pratique les principales vérités de

notre Sainte religion, mais ils nous ont déjà donné espoir à quelques succès. Si je demande à demeurer ici à poste fixe, c¶est afin de

pouvoir étudier plus facilement leur langue, care elle me semble p as du tout facile, puis je crois qu¶il y aura ici de l¶ouvrage pour

occuper deux pères constamment. Le champ est très vaste et indéfriché [uncleared] pour la plus grande partie. Monseigneur, c¶est pour le

coup que vous allez vous récrier, car nous avons déjà beaucoup dépassé vos ordres. Soyez persuadé, cependan t, que nous marchons

toujours en fils soumis, nous voulons faire pour le mieux. Je sais d¶ailleurs que ce serait aussi de votre désir que nous fussions deux ici,

mais deux grands obstacles viennent s¶opposer à la realisation: le manque de sujets [i.e. Oblate staff] et les moyens [money]. Quant au

premier, je crois que la divine Providence s¶en est chargée en vous envoyant deux jeunes Pères cette année. Quant à l¶autre,

Monseigneur, nous nous chargeons de l¶enlever en entreprenant de faire nous-même le transport de nos pièces entre Good Hope et Peel¶s

River, comme le Père Giroux le fait cette année. Quant à la question de vivres, le R. P. Grouard aura l¶occasion de vous en parler: cette

mission offre plus d¶avantages qu¶aucun autre. . .Sept. 1. Codex Hist. McP (Nom Ste. Marie), PAA, 97.109, box 1, item 1. Le Père

Lefebvre retourne à Good Hope avec Edjitso et [?] Sym . June 1, 1891. Lefebvre to Fabre, OAR. [We were making great progress with

the mission, but] ce fut précisément à cette époque qu¶il fallut songer à nous séparer pour un intervalle de 10 mois au moins. Je dus

remonter à Good Hope pour tenir compagnie au R. P. Séguin don¶t l¶âge, les infirmités et les occupations ne permettaient pas de la

laisser seul. C¶est d¶ici que je devrai partir chaque printemps pour aller rejoindre le chère Père Giroux à Peel¶s River et y évangéliser,

autant que la connaissance de la langue me le permette, les Esquimaux qui se rendent à ce poste pour la tr aite de la pelleter ie. Oh! que je

voudrais aussi être à poste fixe à cette mission naissante et où il y a tant à faire, pour cela il me faut absolument un remplacement à Good

Hope. J¶ose espérer que je verrai bientôt mon désir se réaliser.

xv1891, 07, 07, Séguin to Fabre, OAR.

xviCodex Hist. McP (Nom Ste. Marie), PAA, 97.109, box 1, item 1. I¶ve combined the information from the original codex and the one

reconstituted one in Nadeau, which mentions the native helper and gives his name.

xvii1891, 07, 07, Séguin to Fabre, OAR.

xviii1891, 07, 07. Séguin to Fabre, OAR.Les paroissiens du P. Lefebvre, les Esquimaux, ne sont arrivés qu¶après lui. Mais à ce moment, il

m¶écrivait, ils étaient au complet et ne regrettait qu¶une chose, celle de ne pas pouvoir leur parler et de les comprendre.Codex Hist.

McP, reconstituted from Nadeau, Ceux Qu¶il Aima. June ±July [The codex wording suggests Father Lefevre is taking language lessons

from George Greenland.] Codex Hist. McP (Nom Ste. Marie), PAA, 97.109, box 1, ite m 11891, 08, 07. Départ du Père Lefebvre avec

André et Ezin.

xixCodex Hist. McP (Nom Ste. Marie), PAA, 97.109, box 1, item 1.

xxCodex Hist. McP, reconstituted from Nadeau, Ceux Qu¶il Aima, p. 87.

xxi1892, 07, 15, Séguin to Fabre, OAR

xxiiLefebvre, report of 1892 Kit. Visit (transl. by WV) . Origin?. Giroux took Clut south to Good Hope, leaving on Aug. 1 and returning on

Aug. 27.xxiii

IOS diary.

xxivCodex Hist. McP (Nom Ste. Marie), PAA, 97.109, box 1, item 1.



xxv

Lefebvre, report of 1892 Kit. Visit (transl. by WV) (origin?)

xxviIOS to Dear Friends at Home, from McP., 1893, 01, 10, p. 36.

xxviiIOS to Sadie Alexander, from Kit., 1892, 08, 15.

xxviiiIOS to Dear Friends at Home, from McP., 1893, 01, 11, p. 50-51.

xxixIOS to Sadie, 1893, 01, 20, part d,. p. 41-56. [p. 42]

xxxIOS diary

xxxiIOS diary.

xxxiiIOS diary.

xxxiiiIOS diary.

xxxivIOS to Sadie, from Kit., 1892, 08, 15.

xxxvIOS diary.

xxxviIOS to to Bishop Reeve from McP, 1893, 01, n.d.

xxxviiIOS to Sadie, 1893, 01, 20, part d, p. 41-56.

xxxviiiLefebvre, report of 1892 Kit. Visit (transl. by WV). Codex Hist. McP (Nom Ste. Marie), Sept. 1, PAA, 97.109, box 1, item 1.

xxxixLefebvre, report of 1892 Kit. Visit (transl. by WV)

xlTo Sadie, from McP, 1893, 01, 18.

xliIOS to Sadie, July 8, 1893.

xlii1893, 07, 04. IOS to ³Dear Friends at Home,´ from McPh, p. 49-50.

xliii1893, 07, 07. [McP] IOS to Sadie.

xlivIOS diary.

xlvIOS to ³Dear Home Friends,´ from Kit., Aug. 23, 1893, part II, p . 9..

xlviCodex Hist. McP (Nom Ste. Marie), PAA, 97.109, box 1, item 1

xlvii1893, 10, 17. To ³My Dear Friends,´ from McPherson, p. 27.

xlviii1894, 02, 02. To Bishop Reeve, from McPherson, p. 41-76. P.41-44: p. 72.

xlixIOS diary.

lTo Bishop Reeve, from M cP, 1894, 07, 11, p. 8-9.

liIOS diary.

lii1894, 08, 16. To ³Dear Home Friends,´ Part I, from Kitigazuit, p 1-7.

liii1895, 01, nd. [probably written in January] To Bishop Reeve, p. 13.

livCodex Hist. McP (Nom Ste. Marie), PAA, 97.109, box 1, item 1.

lvCodex Hist. McP (Nom Ste. Marie), PAA, 97.109, box 1, item 1

lviIbid.

lviiIOS diary.

lviiiCodex Hist. McP, reconstituted from Nadeau, Ceux Qu¶il Aima, 91.

lixCodex Hist. ARR (Nom Ste. Marie), PAA, 97.109, box 1, ite m 1.

lx IOS diary.

lxiCodex Hist. McP (Nom Ste. Marie), PAA, 97.109, box 1, item 1



lxii

Codex Hist. ARR (Nom Ste. Marie), PAA, 97.109, box 1, ite m 1

lxiiiSAS diary.

lxivSAS diary.

lxvCodex Hist. ARR (Nom Ste. Marie), PAA, 97.109, box 1, item 1.

lxviIOS diary.

lxviiCodex Hist. ARR (Nom Ste. Marie), PAA, 97.109, box 1, ite m 1.

lxviiiCodex Hist. ARR (Nom Ste. Marie), PAA, 97.109, box 1, ite m 1.

lxixGrouard, E., 1922. S ouvenirs de mes S oixante Ans d'Apost olat dans l'At habasca-Mackenzie. Oeuvre Apostolique de Marie Immaculée,

Lyon, 352-3. Quoted in Gualtieri, A.R.C hristianity and Native Traditions . Notre Da me, Indiana: Cross Cultural Publications, 1984,

173, note.2. Tr. by WV. ³Hélas! ils apportaient aussi des liqueurs ennivrantes. Ajoutez à ceci les moeurs des engagés de ces n avires, qui

ne sont pas en général la fleur de la société et qui pendant neuf mois demeuraient dand une oisiveté complète. Scandalisés, les

Esquimaux, instruits avec tant de soin par Père Lefebvre, ne voulaient plus devenir chrétiens²à quoi bien changer notre manière de

vivre pour prendre celle des Blancs? disaient-ils. Les Blancs sont pire que nous!´lxx

Duport, Alphonse, ³Une Visite aux Missions du Vicariat,"Missions OMI 59 (Sept. 1925): 33-44. Letter of 10 Aug. 1924 to Oblate

Superior General Dontenwill, providing a diary of Duport¶s movement north on his way to take supplies to Aklavik. ³July 1. Arctic Red

River: detachée du Fort Macpherson ou les catholiques étaient en butte à des t racasseries protestantes, transportée definitivement ici par

les bras vigoreux des Pères Henri Giroux et Camille Lefebvre en 1896 [WV: the move occurred in 1825.]´

oblate defeat j

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