The Huron Carol

In 1625, a young French Jesuit, Father Jean de Brébeuf, ventured to New France to begin his work as a missionary to the first nations there. St. Jean de Brébeuf is known today as one of the North American martyrs. Part of the legacy of St. Jean is Jesous Ahatonhia (Jesus Is Born) — also known as “The Huron Carol” — which he wrote in 1643 in the Huron language to teach the people of the New World how Christ came to save mankind. It is the oldest Christmas carol of North America. The carol not only embodies Christ’s timeless invitation to all, but there is a traceable ribbon of history from its sainted author to the Church in eastern Washington. 

Centuries before the geography of Simcoe County north of Toronto was dotted with suburbs and farms, before the forests were cleared by hand in a land yet to be called Ontario, before “Upper Canada” appeared on British maps (even before there were British maps), there was a vast forest wilderness known in the time of Father Jean de Brébeuf as Huronia — “HVRONVM” in the Latin of the old charts — and the only white men to have trod upon its paths or ridden its waterways were those intrepid missionaries in long black robes: the Je-suits. Among the traditional enemies of the Huron People with whom the Jesuits lived were the Mohawks of the Iroquois League. Although the Mohawks would eventually martyr Brébeuf, the seeds of faith planted by him and his fellow missionaries would take root and grow. One of the fruits of this early evangelization would be the first Native American saint: Kateri Tekawitha, “The Lily of the Mohawks.”

As a young woman, St. Kateri’s family and neighbors opposed her devotion to Christ, so she left home to live in a Jesuit mission village near Montreal, Quebec. Her example of piety and faith was an inspiration. The number of mission villages among the Iroquois grew; by the latter part of the 18th century, there were many conversions to the faith. 

A chief occupation among the villagers was employment in the fur trade, based in Montreal and spreading its fingers deep into the forests and beyond the Great Lakes. 

As French Canadians and Iroquois penetrated the wilderness to seek fortunes in fur, their Catholic faith went with them. Along with the fur trade came Jesuit priests to tend this far-flung flock and establish new missions near their trading posts and among the indigenous peoples. One of the nations to adopt the new faith was the Chippewa Cree, with whom the fur traders intermarried, creating a new people with a distinct culture: the Metís.  

In 1768, at Fort Finlay in Saskatchewan, a son was born to a fur trader father and a Chippewa Cree mother. At the age of 10, the Metís child, Jacques Rafael “Jaco” Finlay, was sent to Montreal to be educated, and was eventually hired by his father’s employer, the Northwest Fur Trading Company. In 1810, as a scout and clerk, Jaco was sent west to blaze a trail for the company and establish a new trading post. He and his party arrived at the confluence of the Spokane and Little Spokane rivers, where he built the post and called it Spokane House. This was the first “white” settlement in the area that would one day encompass the city of Spokane, essentially making Jaco Finlay “Spokane’s first citizen.” (Among his many direct descendants are at least three current St. Joseph parishioners.) 

In addition to Jaco and his family, there were other Catholic Metís, French Canadian, and Iroquois employees of the company. Over a handful of years, the fur trade waned and Spokane House ceased to be profitable. Rather than return east, as they now had many ties in the West, some of the Iroquois chose to live with local tribes. One, Ignace La Mousse, moved to the Bitterroot Valley of present-day Montana to live with the Salish People. He taught his new friends and kinsman about Jesus Christ and the Catholic faith. When the people wished to know more, Ignace said that he had told them all that he knew; to learn more, they must get a black robe — a priest-to come among them. Multiple envoys attempted the 2,000-mile, dangerous journey to St. Louis in hope of enticing a priest to come back with them. Three times, the parties were ambushed by enemies or met mysterious fates and never returned. But a fourth group met success: Father Pierre Jean Desmet returned with them in the spring of 1841. DeSmet and his fellow Jesuit missionaries laid strong foundations of faith among the tribal peoples of the region, and many faithful are numbered among them to this day. The name of this early Jesuit missionary has also lived on in our geography in such examples as Desmet, Ida-ho; Desmet Street in Spokane; and DeSmet Hall at Gonzaga University.

Circa 1818, a child was born at Spokane House to French Canadian William Pion and his Spokane wife, Quichinemalese. Jean Baptiste Peone would grow up to become a wealthy and influential leader of the Upper Spokane Tribe. He settled on the fertile rolling plain not far from Colbert, which now bears his name: Peone Prairie. Mr. Peone had been baptized a Catholic and in 1866 asked Jesuit Father Joseph Cataldo to build a mission on his land near Bigelow Gulch, which the priests would serve on their extensive circuit of missions. The little mission building, St. Michael’s chapel, has been moved and preserved, and may be visited on the campus of Fort Wright-Mukogawa. 
By the late 19th century, the Jesuit circuit riders from the new Gonzaga College began to include visits to the growing number of Catholic families beginning to settle the area around Peone Prairie north of Spokane. As the St. Joseph Parish website explains, eventually these scattered families, who gathered in private homes for Mass, grew into a community in need of their own church. In 1910, Jesuit Father Car-don built St. Joseph Church at Colbert. In 1916, it was put under the charge of the Franciscan Fathers as a mission attached to Deer Park. As its flock continued to grow, St. Joseph required more space, first on the hill at Mater Cleri Seminary and finally at the new church, built in 1991, on Colbert Road. 

As we celebrate the Nativity of Our Lord, may we reflect upon that original star that not only guided the Magi to him, but, through the carol of St. Jean, helped guide a new people to Christ who, in turn, would bring good news of the Savior across a vast and wild land. So, here we again gather at Christmas to share the joyful news: Jesous ahatonhia! Jesus is born! 

 

Jesous Ahotonhia

Jesous ahatonhia!
Jesous ahatonhia. Jesus is Born.
"The star will bring you here to Me."
For Jesu told the chieftains three:
"Shall lead us where it may."
"So fair a sign," the chieftains said,
A star as bright as day;
Three chieftains saw before Noël

Jesous ahatonhia!
esous ahatonhia. Jesus is Born.
How Mary Maid bore Jesus King.
But hear ye all what angels sing:
For Jesus Christ has come
Let no man heed the devil more,
The devil's rule is done;
Let Christian men take heart today

Jesous Ahotonhia (Jesus Is Born), also known as "The Huron Carol,"  is the oldest North American Christ-mas carol. It was written in 1643 in the Huron language by St. Jean de Brébeuf, a Jesuit missionary, one of The North American martyrs and patron saint of Canada. Translated into English by Father H. Kierans.

Listen to the Huron Carol: