History 308
Indian-European Encounters in Early
North America:
The Huron Feast of the Dead
Spring 2009
Prof. Erik
Seeman
T Th 8:00-9:20am
Park Hall 534
Clemens 17
645-2181 x534
seeman@buffalo.edu
Office:
Tues. 1-3
Goals: In the 1620s,
Huron Indians living north of Lake Ontario were visited by French
missionaries attempting to convert them to Catholicism. Over the
next three decades, Hurons and the French lived uneasily together,
until the Huron confederacy was destroyed by Iroquois attacks in
1649. This course uses the death practices of both groups to
illuminate the similarities and differences in religious sensibilities
that came into contact in early North America. In particular, we
will examine the Huron Feast of the Dead, a ritual that occurred every
ten years in which decomposed bodies were taken down from scaffolds and
reburied in a central pit. We will compare and contrast this with
French burial practices, which likewise included the veneration of
human remains (saints’ relics) and reburial of dry bones (in charnel
houses). We will see that in their attitudes toward death and
dying, the French and Hurons were more like one another than they are
like us. We will compare this specific example of cross-cultural
encounter with others from elsewhere in North America.
UB Learns: Go to UB
Learns for study questions, lecture outlines, powerpoint images, and
useful links.
Assignments: Requirements
for this class are attendance in lectures, three three-page papers, and
a final research paper of 8-10 pages.
•Three-page papers: These will be based on the assigned readings.
•Class participation: Even though this is a large class, you are
expected to participate regularly in class discussion. Attendance
will also be factored into class participation.
• Research paper: There are numerous primary sources documenting
the French-Huron encounter: descriptions written by explorers and
missionaries, as well as archaeological remains. Based on these
sources you will write an 8-10-page paper on a topic of your choosing.
Grading:
Three-page papers:
15% each
Class
participation: 10%
Research
paper: 45%
Plagiarism Policy:
According to the UB Undergraduate Catalog, "Students are responsible
for the honest completion and representation of their work, for the
appropriate citation of sources, and for respect for others' academic
endeavors. By placing their name on academic work, students
certify the originality of all work not otherwise identified by
appropriate acknowledgments." A student found to be in violation
of these guidelines will receive a sanction appropriate to the severity
of the infraction, up to and including receiving an "F" for the course.
Readings: There are no
books assigned for this class. Readings marked with (Reserve) may
be accessed through the UB Libraries online catalogue by clicking on
“Course Reserve.” Readings marked with (EENA) are accessible
through the Early Encounters in North America database through the UB
Libraries website.
Week One: Models of Indian-European Contact
Jan. 13: Introduction
Jan. 15: New Worlds and Middle Grounds
Readings: James H. Merrell, “The Indians’ New World: The
Catawba Experience,” William and Mary Quarterly 41 (Oct. 1984):
537-65 (Reserve)
Georges E. Sioui, “Preface” and “Introduction” in Huron-Wendat:
The Heritage of the Circle (1999), xi-xxi (Reserve)
Week Two: Origins of Wendake I
Jan. 20: Movement and Migration
Jan. 22: Agriculture and Kinship
Readings: Gary Warrick, “Precontact Population of the
Wendat-Tionontaté,” in A Population History of the Huron-Petun,
A.D. 500-1650 (2008), 154-91 (Reserve)
Jesuit Relations 10:125-39 (EENA)
Week Three: Origins of Wendake II
Jan. 27: Religion
Jan. 29: Deathways
Readings: Elisabeth Tooker, “Religion,” in An Ethnography of the
Huron Indians, 1615-1649 (1964), 72-148 (Reserve)
Week Four: Catholicism and Colonization
Feb. 3: Religion and Deathways
Feb. 5: Columbus and Exploration – three-page paper due in lecture
Readings: John Bossy, “Kith and Kin,” in Christianity in the
West, 1400-1700 (1985), 14-34 (Reserve)
R. Po-Chia Hsia, “France,” in The World of Catholic Renewal, 1540-1770
(2005), 68-75 (Reserve)
Week Five: Arrival of Europeans
Feb. 10: Champlain
Feb. 12: Sagard
Readings: H.P. Biggar, ed., The Works of Samuel de Champlain, 6
vols. (1936) vol. 3, pp. 136E-168E (EENA)
Gabriel Sagard, “Our Arrival at the Huron Country,” in Long Journey to
the Country of the Hurons, ed. George M. Wrong (1939; orig. 1632),
68-89 (Reserve)
Week Six: Jesuit Missionaries
Feb. 17: Brébeuf
Feb. 19: First Conversion Attempts
Readings: Joseph P. Donnelly, S.J., “Jean de Brébeuf,” in
Jean de Brébeuf (1975), 1-18 (Reserve)
Jesuit Relations 10:11-67 (EENA)
Week Seven: Feast of the Dead
Feb. 24: The Kettle
Feb. 26: Archaeology – three-page paper due in lecture
Readings: Kenneth E. Kidd, "The Excavation and Historical
Identification of a Huron Ossuary," American Antiquity 18 (April 1953):
359-79 (Reserve)
Week Eight: Religious Encounters
Mar. 3: Epidemics and Deathbed Scenes
Mar. 5: Joseph Chiwatenhwa
Readings: Jesuit Relations 13:85-125, 15:77-99 (EENA)
Week Nine: Resistance
Mar. 17: Sainte-Marie
Mar. 19: Traditionalists
Readings: Jesuit Relations 19:81-119 (EENA)
Week Ten: Destruction
Mar. 24: Iroquois Attacks
Mar. 26: Martyrdom – three-page paper due in lecture
Readings: Jesuit Relations 33:139-47, 34:25-37, 34:123-37 (EENA)
Week Eleven: Legacy
Mar. 31: Women
Apr. 2: Diaspora – research paper topic due in lecture
Readings: Karen Anderson, “Chain Her By One Foot,” in Chain Her
By One Foot: The Subjugation of Native Women in
Seventeenth-Century New France (1991), 192-223 (Reserve)
Bruce G. Trigger, “The Huron of the Upper Great Lakes,” in The Children
of Aataentsic: A History of the Huron People to 1660 (1976),
820-40 (Reserve)
Week Twelve: Comparative Perspectives
Apr. 7: New England
Apr. 9: Mexico – bibliography due in lecture
Readings: James Axtell, “Reduce Them to Civility,” in The
Invasion Within: The Contest of Cultures in Colonial North
America (1985), 131-78 (Reserve)
Week Thirteen: Research Week
Apr. 14: No lecture – work on research paper
Apr. 16: No lecture – work on research paper – thesis statement
due via email
Readings: none
Week Fourteen: Presentations
Apr. 21: Brief Research Presentations
Apr. 23: Brief Research Presentations
Readings: none – work on research paper
Research paper due in the History Department by noon Thursday April 30