The hostility and warfare between the Iroquois and the Huron is historical fact.
The Iroquois did indeed capture and kill Father Antoine Daniel and destroy the village of St. Joseph, known as Teanaustaye. Jesuits Jean de Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalemant later met with the same fate in March of 1649. Captured with hundreds of Hurons, the Iroquois tortured them to death. Those at the mission waited for a second attack, but it did not come. Eventually the Jesuits burned Sainte-Marie to the ground and abandoned it.
With the greater part of their tribe killed or in captivity, the remaining Huron escaped south and westward in 1649. The Huron divided into two groups. One group settled in Quebec, the others continued to migrate, eventually settling in Ohio. The Quebec Wyandots are direct descendants of the Midland Huron.
Even though the life of Etienne Chouart, my eleven-year-old donné, is fictional, young boys did apprentice at Sainte Marie. Christian Hurons lived in the longhouse at the mission, but Tsiko, Satouta, and Soo-Taie are not real people.
Today, one is able to stand in the midst of Sainte-Marie’s replicated buildings and get a true sense of the age. Thanks goes to Paula Wheeler of Hillsdale (Teanaustaye), Jamie Hunter the curator of the Huronia Museum in Midland, Ontario, Professor John Steckley of Humber College, Toronto and the definitive work of Grace Lee Nute. Thanks also go to Anna Gemza, Marjorie Cripps, and Corinne McCorkle, my writing group, Brenda Julie, Susan Onn and Nancy Wannamaker, my avid readers.
Born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Jennifer Maruno came from a book loving family.
Writing as Jennifer Travis, she produced award-winning educational materials for Ontario School Boards. After retirement as an elementary school principal, Jennifer published short stories for a variety of children’s magazines in Canada, Britain and United States. She lives in Burlington, Ontario, with her husband.
Her first novel with Napoleon, When the Cherry Blossoms Fell, was published in 2009.
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