A Question of Emotions and a Matter of Respect: Interpreting Conversion to Catholicism Among Quebec Algonquins

MARIE-PIERRE BOUSQUET Universite de Montreal

INTRODUCTION

"Why did our ancestors convert to a new religion?" Why did Algonquins convert to Catholicism? While presenting the results of some preliminary research to a few Algonquin collaborators in May 2007, I was surprised by the question they put to me. I had thought, rather naively, that I had just answered it. My preliminary research began in 2005, when I first examined the Oblate archives, and it was these results that I was sharing with members of a cultural centre in northern Quebec. While the Algonquins did not consider my opinions to be wrong, they clearly felt that my responses to their questions were partial, at best. Something important was missing: an understanding of conversion in light of Algonquin values and in particular with their rules governing interaction with foreigners (non-Algonquins). I present here the results of a series of conversations - even debates - that emerged following my presentation of these early findings at the Cultural Centre, which I hope will contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the process of conversion. Conversion is usually understood as the adoption of new religious creeds that replace older beliefs. Many explanations can be invoked. The rationalist can see it as fulfilling a need, the believer as reaching out to a community or a god. In analysing the conversion of Canadian First Nations, Laugrand (2002) notes that the literature, on the whole, tends to see conversion as the result of constraint rather than choice. Under the stress of their colonialised life, Native People were either forced to adopt Christianity or chose to do so for strategic reasons. Everything depends on one's

Papers of the 39th Algonquin Conference, ed. Karl S. Hele & Regna Darnell (London : The University of Western Ontario, 2008) pp. 52-71. A QUESTION OF EMOTIONS AND A MATTER OF RESPECT 53 viewpoint. When considered as defeated peoples, they bowed to the inevitable but accepted Christianity because it was congruent with some aspects of their belief systems. Laugrand's analysis, however, reveals the contradictions of this position. First, seeing the adoption of religious traditions as a reaction to enforced transformation or as modifications of already-established beliefs essentialises these cultures. Second, examining only visible transformations glosses over the various forms that conversion can take and the many reasons behind the change. On the whole, this position sees the converted as victims, a view that has found its way into Algonquin discourse, especially among the young. Algonquin communities seem to have enshrined in their collective memories a victim complex that lowers their self-esteem. After briefly sharing the results of my earlier research, I will present the contemporary context surrounding the relations between the Algonquins, the Church, and Catholic beliefs in order to show how Algonquins incorporated the discourse on belief systems into their conversion histories. Specifically, I will show how interpretations of emotions - and their public display - can be mobilised to understand the Oblates' reactions in the past, the Algonquins' reactions in the present, and the way that memories are modified by subsequent generations to make sense of the present. I conclude with a discussion of how these different views of emotions were interpreted and understood by members of the Cultural Centre.

CONVERSION HISTORIES IN OBLATE DOCUMENTS AND IN ORAL HISTORIES

The Algonquins came into contact with Christianity early in recorded history, as did other Algonquian peoples in Quebec. Nonetheless, the Algonquins consider that evangelisation only really began in the 19th century when the Oblate Order started proselytising, three years after their 1841 arrival in Canada. Before 1841, the Algonquins had been visited by Sulpicians and representatives of other orders, but Algonquin semi-nomadism and 54 MARIE-PIERRE BOUSQUET the near-absence of permanent missions meant that they were able to limit their contact with missionaries. In 1844, the Oblates founded permanent missions in Temiscamingue and in Abitibi. According to Oblate accounts, the Temiscamingue Algonquins converted more rapidly than the peoples of Abitibi; the former were considered more docile and more receptive to the missionary message than their Abitibi cousins.

Cette premiere mission [a Temiscamingue en 1836] fut tres fructueuse. Les sauvages accoururent au nombre de plusieurs centaines, ecouterent avec docilite la parole de la verite. M. de Bellefeuille et son compagnon firent 142 baptemes, dont 19 d'adultes, 4 mariages, et administrerent la communion a 28 fideles, tant irlandais que canadiens, se reservant de donner, l'annee suivante, une instruction plus solide a leurs neophytes, avant de les laisser s'approcher d'un si auguste sacrement (Barbezieuxl897: 187).

According to Proulx (1882: 163), "Les sauvages de Temiscamingue [...] paraissent avoir un air de civilisation que n'ont pas ceux de l'interieur". The Abitibiwinnik resisted because of their strong commitments to sorcery, superstition and drunkenness (Riopel 1991: 32). In this view, Riopel (1991) and Gosselin (1996), summarising the Oblate chronicles, show that the Temiscamingue Algonquins were considered to be almost converted by the early 1840s, as most members of the band were baptized and knew the Catholic prayers, whereas the Abitibi Algonquins remained "hard to convert" until 1869 (Gosselin 1996: 106). Nevertheless, the latter would become, at the end of the 19th century, "the pearl of our missions". As one missionary recounts, "C'est aujourd'hui une mission tres florissante au spirituel et au temporel, la perle de toutes nos missions" (Letter of Francois- Xavier Fafard o.m.i. to Edmond Gendreau, 24 June 1895, quoted by Gosselin 1996: 107). Six major themes run through Oblate accounts of conversion: epidemics and famines, combating alcoholism, gifts, sorcery fights, charm and theatrics, and, finally, intervening in the social order. It is true that major conversions in Temiscamingue and the A QUESTION OF EMOTIONS AND A MATTER OF RESPECT 55

Abitibi took place while there were ongoing famines and epidemics in these regions. Until 1870, for example, the missionaries complained of their lack of success with the Abitibi Indians. Beginning in this period, however, the Abitibiwinnik were rocked by a series of devastating epidemics, which eventually killed half of the people in the band (Riopel c.1991: 32). It is no coincidence that from this time on, Christianity seemed to take hold, according to both Abitibiwinnik oral traditions and missionary records. The missionaries, in effect, exploited this situation by promising that baptism could save the Algonquins. Catholic sacraments were part of the Oblate arsenal, as Father Proulx explained in 1886 when relating how baptism cured a fever (Proulx 1886: 163). Proulx notes in the same line that the Sacred Host is translated in Algonquin as "Medicine that makes one stronger" (1886: 80-81). The missionaries urged the Algonquins to convert to ward off disease, which were signs of divine anger at their reluctance to convert. Pikogan Elders have apparently accepted this explanation, since they allude to it in their accounts of missionary influence.

Dans le temps des jours de l'An, au lac Abitibi, mon grand-pere me racontait ca, il mettait des mocassins neufs pour aller danser. lis dansaient toute la nuit, dans ce temps-la, les Anicinabek. A la fin de la danse, il avait des trous dans ses mocassins, tellement il avait danse. On dansait dans ce temps-la! On n'entendait rien, parce que c'etaient des mocassins. On n'entendait pas le bruit des pas, on entendait juste le tambour. Nous, dans notre temps, c'etaient des sets carres. Mais le pretre sonnait la cloche pour dire quand il fallait arreter de danser. Le pretre n'aimait pas que les Anicinabek dansent. II disait que ce n'etait pas bien, il ne voulait pas que Ton danse la nuit. Avant que les pretres ne viennent, les Anicinabek dansaient trois jours et trois nuits. C'est pour 9a que les mocassins etaient troues. Quand les pretres sont arrives, on n'avait plus le droit de danser. On demandait au pretre "pourquoi tu defends aux Anicinabek de danser trois jours et trois nuits?" Le pretre repondait que Dieu les avait punis, parce qu'il y avait eu une grosse maladie, une epidemie, la rougeole je crois, dans ce temps-la. Le pretre disait que Dieu les avait punis de danser trois jours et trois nuits. C'est pour 9a 56 MARIE-PIERRE BOUSQUET

qu'ils ont arrete de danser la nuit. C'est ma grand-mere qui disait 9a (Judith, 70 ans, avril 1996, Pikogan).

This explanation was coherent with Algonquin moral notions that transgressions merit punishment. In fact, both Algonquins and Catholics at the time attributed illness to bad relations with the spirit world, which partly explains the missionaries' success. The association between the presence of missionaries and the curing of disease was reinforced, for example, by prestigious figures such as Chief Pakinawatik travelling to Bytown in 1851 to beg the Bishop "de venir porter un secours religieux a sa population qui est en train de subir une terrible epideinie de rougeole" (Proulx 1897: 455). This association was further strengthened in the 1930s by the fact missionaries - who were asked by government authorities to coordinate the provision of health care - gave gifts of medicine. Fathers Gueguen (Carriere 1978: 66-67), Proulx (1892: 229), Laverlochere (Carriere 1963) and Guinard (Bouchard 1980) all mention that they fought alcoholism, which they had personally witnessed, as had the fur traders. Alcoholism figured prominently in their sermons:

[...] je n'etais pas cependant tres content de nos sauvages. J'avais fait une petite lecture sur l'ivrognerie, le mardi au soir et ce soir-la meme trois ou quatre qui probablement n'avaient pas ete a la chapelle, se mirent a boire et a faire du train de 1'autre bord (de la riviere) (Carriere 1978: 66).

In the 1840-1850s, binge drinking seems to have been common in the Algonquin country, especially when families came to exchange their furs at the trade posts (Bousquet 2005: 68). These moments of excessive consumption, typical of times of crisis, irritated many of the traders who fought against the illegal alcohol peddlers. Some missionaries mention the great help of the "bourgeois" in this struggle:

Plusieurs de ces messieurs [membres de la compagnie] n'ont pas peu contribue a l'etablissement de la temperance chez les sauvages; et je ne puis douter qu'ils ne se fissent un plaisir, A QUESTION OF EMOTIONS AND A MATTER OF RESPECT 57

d'apres ce que j'ai vu, de seconder le missionnaire pour reformer les autres desordres (Laverlochere to Signay 1845 quoted by Carriere 1957: 21).

Missionaries thus linked conversion to the temperance movement; this is corroborated by Algonquin oral history, even though contemporary Algonquin informants no longer associate Catholic priests with success in combating alcoholism. Gift giving was also an important and influential practice for the Oblates. Not only did the Oblates offer food in the form of rations and feasts - on the principle that "the quickest way to the mind is through the stomach" (Proulx 1886: 47) - but they also gave gifts of tobacco, and to those who attended catechism courses, crucifixes, medals, candies, whistles, cheap metal flutes, images and even clothing (1886: 206). The Oblates thus demonstrated qualities that the Algonquins prized, namely, generosity and gift-giving; this also fell within the Algonquin practice of diplomatic gift-giving and paying for shamanic services. In fact, Algonquins appreciated and reciprocated, offering for the first miniature objects and for the second skins "pour que le Grand Esprit [...] donne chance a la chasse cette annee" (Proulx 1886: 199). The missionaries were sometimes seen as shamans because of these gift-giving practices. The Algonquin oral tradition mentions that the objects of piety which the Oblates provided were integrated into the larger set of Algonquin objects of power, and permitted communication with the spirits. The Algonquins wore crucifixes and medals of saints, and also hung images of the Virgin or other holy persons on the walls of their tents. A few missionaries even fought shamanic duels with well-known Algonquin sorcerers, sometimes preventing tents from shaking (in the Shaking Tent ritual) or using sleight of hand to conquer their adversaries in these combats (MacPherson 1930: 158-159 ). Nor did the missionaries hesitate to cut down trees containing animal bones and skulls placed there by the Algonquins, in order to undermine shamanic powers (Bouchard 1980: 119). 58 MARIE-PIERRE BOUSQUET

The Oblates adopted, for the Algonquins, the same theatrical flair and charm they had used in their other missions in Canada. When reading Oblate descriptions of religious processions, feasts in which they mobilised men and women to prepare elaborate banners, or their use of ritual objects such as candles and priestly uniform's, it is easy to understand how the Oblates attracted and fascinated the Algonquins, especially in an era when people were not so continuously bombarded by images as they are today. As Proulx describes,

Sur une parole de sa bouche, sur un simple signe, les femmes se mettent a coudre, a raccommoder les tentures, a tresser des guirlandes de feuilles, a fabriquer des couronnes de fleurs sauvages, a preparer les parures du temple; les hommes de leur cote courent dans les bois, reviennent charges de jeunes epinettes, leur enlevent l'ecorce et les ebranchent jusqu'a une certaine hauteur, balisent un chemin pour la procession du Saint Sacrement, entourent l'eglise d'une foret de verdure, plantent devant la porte de longs mats, au haut desquels flotte le pavilion fran9ais, le pavilion anglais et la banniere de la sainte Vierge. Au fond des bois solitaire comme au sein de la civilisation, l'Eglise favorise le culte exterieur. L'homme est compose d'un esprit et d'un corps: et les sens du corps ont davantage besoin d'images et d'eclat qui les frappent, pour faciliter vers Dieu 1'elevation des facultes de 1'esprit (Proulx 1886: 201).

Unlike their non-Oblate predecessors, the Oblates stayed with the Algonquins, a point confirmed by Algonquin oral traditions. Further, the Oblates did not hesitate to present themselves as champions of social order. Besides espousing temperance, they displayed a high degree of discipline by adhering to a rigid schedule of celebrations. They presented themselves as pillars of moral reform, attacking polygyny, theft, fighting, dancing - in brief, everything that went against their sense of proper norms. They imposed sanctions on people, for example, by forcing men and women to kneel for hours or to publicly confess their sins (Proulx 1892: 242). In Algonquin thought, the themes of equilibrium and access to spiritual power to ensure well-being are the key to understanding the following narrative, collected by A QUESTION OF EMOTIONS AND A MATTER OF RESPECT 59

Father Gueguen (Carriere 1978). The priest is referring to the Algonquins of Kitcisakik in 1869:

[Le pretre] y eprouva de grandes difficultes et eut a hitter contre la sorcellerie, la danse, l'ivrognerie, les discussions domestiques, le vol, etc. II declara alors aux Indiens que si ces abus ne cessaient pas, la chapelle serait fermee. Devant cette menace, le chef se mit a haranguer son peuple et, le lendemain, dimanche, le pere arriva a la chapelle plus tard que d'habitude. Les Indiens se tenaient a la porte, mais le pere entra et referma la porte sur lui sans leur adresser la parole. II l'ouvrit de nouveau et annon9a qu'il etait chez lui dans la maison du Grand Esprit et qu'il n'ouvrirait pas la porte aux Indiens s'ils ne se convertissaient pas. Un des chefs repondit alors d'un ah consterne que le missionnaire avait raison et que les Indiens ne meritaient pas d'entrer (Carriere 1978: 120).

The citation ends with the explanation that, under pressure from the chiefs, the parties guilty of various infractions promised restitution. This narrative can only be understood if it is remembered that, to the Algonquins, the chapel represented the 'priest's tents'; some Oblates had explicitly used the Algonquin word for 'sorcery tents' to describe their chapels. Thus by prohibiting the Algonquins from entering the chapel, the priest blocked contact with a powerful spirit. Finally, the reaction of the chiefs to the missionary's anger underlines the importance that the Algonquins placed in social cohesiveness and social order - in being prevented from entering the chapel, the chiefs had been publicly humiliated. In the same vein, narratives by Father Proulx and Father Laverlochere (Carriere 1963) often refer to the use of rhetoric that emphasised social order and power to motivate the Algonquins to convert. For example, missionaries often took it upon themselves to 'settle differences' among their charges (Carriere 1963: 31). Every missionary relates that, after winning the confidence of the Algonquins, people impatiently awaited their arrival and that they were warmly received, which they interpreted as evidence of child­ like docility when faced with the fathers. 60 MARIE-PIERRE BOUSQUET

All these factors contributed to the Algonquins' apparent successful conversion, meaning that they had fully incorporated Catholicism into their traditions. Most notably, shamans no longer trained their successors. Of course, the Oblates were blind to the possibility that the alleged Algonquin conversion may have been a cover for a more syncretic blend, since they did not consider Algonquin traditions to be a form of religion.

AN EMOTIONAL CONVERSION

The emotions expressed by the Algonquins and recounted by the missionaries are perhaps another key to understanding the conversion process. These expressions of emotion may not, however, have been correctly interpreted by the Oblate chroniclers, who necessarily understood the emotions of the Native people through their own European cultural codes. For example, in 19th century accounts of conversion, what is striking is the surprise of the Oblates at the intensity of the emotional reactions of Native peoples to their lessons and their presence. The Natives were known to not readily show their feelings or state of mind, so these reactions were taken by the missionaries as evidence of the power of the Holy Spirit upon the savage mind. Indeed, the emotional reactions of the Natives also surprised my Algonquin collaborators, who see their ancestors as a reserved people. Yet the chronicles recount the opposite. For example, Father Carriere, describing the Natives of the Abitibi mission, explains that:

Depuis deux heures du matin jusqu'a onze heures du soir, de pieux neophytes, quelquefois meme des infideles, s'agenouillaient au pied de la croix elevee autrefois par M. de Bellefeuille, priant, chantant, recitant leur chapelet, quelques-uns versant des larmes de douleur et d'amour (Carriere3 1963: 42).

Here, the chronicler suggests that the Algonquins showed an excess of piety which prevented them from sleeping and leading a normal life. For Abitibiwinnik today, who also believe that their ancestors showed excessive emotion, incompatible with their A QUESTION OF EMOTIONS AND A MATTER OF RESPECT 61 maturity and adult responsibilities, this excerpt demonstrates that the Algonquins had been abused to the point of losing their common sense. In their writings, the missionaries often described the Natives first as savages, fleeing their arrival (because they confused the priests with "jugglers" or shamans), then as docile and submissive, patient and skilful, listening with pleasure to these eloquent men of God. Thus the Atikamekw named Father Laniel 'Kamirotagisich' or "celui qu'on aime a entendre parler" (Carriere 1978: 95). Yet might it not, in fact, have been the impressive oratorical ability of the Oblates that played a role in triggering the unusual emotional reactions of the Algonquins? Proulx (1892: 114) seems to imply that this was the case. After describing the Natives as cold and lacking in emotion, he recounts having witnessed an extraordinary event at Grand Lake Victoria - he saw Algonquins cry. He associates this with the power of Christianity, but even more importantly, with the power of preachers such as Father Gueguen:

Or, apres la messe, le Pere voulut inviter ses ouailles a remercier le bon Dieu des graces qu'il venait de leur faire; mais l'emotion etouffa sa voix. Les sauvages, visiblement emus, se tenaient la tete basse, le regard attache a la terre [...]. Le Pere reprit son discours, il parla avec tendresse, avec affection, avec force, avec vehemence. Les sauvages pleuraient, non pas un, ni deux, ni trois, mais tous: de grosses larmes coulaient le long des joues; les mouchoirs, les tabliers, les manches d'habits ne cessaient d'essuyer les yeux (Proulx 1982: 114).

The oratorical success of Father Gueguen, and the esteem in which he was held by the Algonquins, is further corroborated by Carriere (1978). This esteem for specific individuals is certainly not foreign to the devotion of different groups of Algonquin, even if the progression of evangelization is not always linked explicitly in the stories of the ecclesiastical chroniclers to an individual, but instead to the faith of the entire body of missionaries. The emotions shown by the Algonquins also reveal the coherent integration of the notion of prayer into their own system of thought. All the chroniclers tell how the missionaries presented 62 MARIE-PIERRE BOUSQUET this concept: prayer allowed one to obtain favours from God, gain easier access to paradise, obtain a cure, be rid of negative feelings, or resolve interpersonal conflicts. As the notion of words of power was already present in the Algonquin shamanic system, it is not surprising that the Algonquins, like other Native peoples in Quebec, learned very quickly the Catholic songs and prayers. In his account of the pastoral visit of Archbishop Duhamel to the head of the Ottawa river, Proulx (1882) relates how much the Natives loved to sing hymns and recite payers, morning and evening. It is not surprising, then, that the concept of communion prayer was also readily adopted by the Algonquin.

Les Indiens etaient transportes de joie lorsqu'on leur disait que les gardiens de la priere (les eveques) pensaient a eux, priaient pour eux, ainsi que les priants des grands villages de Quebec et de Montreal; que les gardiens de la priere leur envoyaient les Robes Noires, que les priants, meme ceux qui vivaient au-dela du grand liquide, donnaient 1'argent pour faire batir la sainte cabane et pour acheter la nourriture et le canot de la robe noire (Carriere 1963: 40).

As shown here, the exchange of prayers, and hence of favours, was presented to the Algonquins as a gift of great generosity, a value which (as is well documented in the literature), was a pillar of the Algonquin system of thought. It is necessary, therefore, to understand emotions not as an expression of a sense of the irrational - as in a Durkheimian-type theory - which once again seems to consider the Algonquins as savages. Rather, emotions should be understood as part of an "economie passionnelle", as a language that reveals "les reevaluations conceptuelles, morales et esthetiques des etats affectifs" (Crapanzano 2004). As David Le Breton (2004) explains, emotions are rituallyorganized , culturally coded and expressed, and mobilize specific bodily movements. The Algonquin emotional culture, which has probably undergone major changes since the 19th century, needs to be better understood. Nevertheless, a reading of the conversion process from the perspective of this A QUESTION OF EMOTIONS AND A MATTER OF RESPECT 63 culture helps one to better understand the logic of the reactions of the Algonquin people. If, in fact, the Algonquins were not overly expressive of their feelings and emotions, then it becomes apparent that interactions with the Oblate missionaries caused a major upheaval within the framework of an existing social disorder, which sheds new light on the success of evangelization in the 19th century.

ALGONQUINS, THE CHURCH AND CATHOLIC BELIEFS

Did the Algonquins really convert? The concept of conversion refers essentially to beliefs, and nothing is harder to document than changes in beliefs. I propose two hypotheses: 1) tradition is defined by Elders, and Elders say that Catholicism is part of 'tradition'; 2) Algonquins did not completely abandon their older beliefs, for example, the old belief that people should respect and honour animals. Today, it is difficult to attest to which are Algonquin beliefs, first, because there are as many descriptions of Algonquin beliefs as there are people; second, because many of these different belief systems are not in fact in contradiction with each other. Even Pentecostalism, reputed to be a rigid religion, easily lives side by side with pan-Indian spirituality and Indian Catholicism. My impressions are that the content of foreign belief systems is not as important as the power of the institutionalised Church, regardless of whether it was embraced or rejected. We cannot deny that Catholicism was a great success among the Algonquins, if only because people so frequently mention it when asked about their religious affiliation. This success can, in part, be explained by a certain degree of concordance between Catholic and Algonquin values. It is by now banal to state that Algonquins value respect for others as a central tenet of their belief system. Nineteenth century missionaries describe Algonquins as affable, timid and respectful, especially in contrast to the Euro- Canadian loggers in the region. They praise Algonquin simplicity and directness, seeing these qualities as a sign of their willingness to receive the Word of God4. Contemporary Algonquins who try to 64 MARIE-PIERRE BOUSQUET understand their ancestors' devotion to the missionaries see in their oral tradition and in Oblate accounts a dimension that ties them to the past. They say that their ancestors were so respectful of others that they could not ignore the missionaries, they had to at least listen to what they had to say. In the Oblate accounts, it is striking how often they note the ease with which they were able to teach Catholic prayers to the Algonquins, while at the same time complaining of the difficulty in getting the Algonquins to accept the sacraments. The Algonquins, therefore, seem to have separated prayer from any particular theological position. While the missionaries seem to have understood this as a natural tendency towards piety, contemporary Algonquins see this as an innate Algonquian trait, that is, sensitivity towards the sacred and its teachings. What has really changed over the years is the role of the Church in the community, or rather, its representative, the missionary. Elders' accounts are uniform on this point: until 1980 the missionary was a central protagonist in band life. For them, the priest guaranteed well-being, harmony and social order. Oblate accounts support Algonquin histories on this point. The Oblate journals from the end of the 19th century mention how well the Algonquins received the priests and were happy to have the Oblates in their midst, living with them and taking care of them. When the Indians became more sedentary, the priests became even more important: whether or not they were charismatic or simply very present in community life, the priests took charge of the more important community festivals, such as feasts in winter and summer, which of course they linked to religious ceremonies. This respect for the priests slowly changed, as the first graduates of the Indian Residential schools returned to their communities, and as the first charges of pedophilia were laid against the Oblates in First Nations communities across Quebec (the two often went hand in hand). The former boarders began, in the 1970s, to destroy the idealised image of the perfect missionary, sometimes motivated by the bad treatment they had received while at school. By the early 1990s, stories of sexual abuse were A QUESTION OF EMOTIONS AND A MATTER OF RESPECT 65 becoming public knowledge. The Oblates themselves changed as they got older and could no longer find young recruits to replace them in the Native communities. They became much less active in community life, and gradually the missionaries were cast aside. Catholic beliefs may still be present, but missionary credibility has never recovered. Based on the stories they heard from their grandparents and great-grandparents, young Algonquins have come to believe that their ancestors converted because they had been brainwashed: "la- bas [dans la reserve] les gens parlent beaucoup mais ne font rien a cause du brainwash catholique. II n'y a plus d'energie" (Informant of Montpetit 1993: 128). They believe that the missionaries did not respect the Algonquins, since they even demanded money from them (through tithing and through the collection plate) when money was very scarce.

A QUESTION OF RESPECT

The May 2007 discussions that I had with members of the Cultural Centre became animated after I shared the results of my preliminary research. These members, most of whom were former boarders, were people whose parents were the last generation to maintain a semi-nomadic lifestyle. In our discussions, it emerged that the brainwashing theory could not be the only viable explanation for Algonquin conversion. After all, such a theory implies that their ancestors were weak and easily influenced, and unable to resist new ideas. A new point of view developed: the ancestors had in fact received the Oblates because they had been faithful to their traditions of respecting foreigners (non- Algonquins). For their part, the Oblates had been extremely impolite to the Algonquins. In a society that valued individual liberty, it was their meddling in community affairs, for example, by condemning polygamy or by cutting down trees where Algonquins had placed tokens of respect to animals, which enabled them to impose themselves forcibly on the Algonquins. It is so 66 MARIE-PIERRE BOUSQUET inconceivable to the Algonquins that someone could treat adults as children or publicly humiliate chiefs, that this capacity must have been a sign of Oblate confidence and power. Furthermore, the members of the Cultural Centre stressed that Algonquin codes of honour made it impossible for their ancestors to drive the missionaries away without at least listening to their message. The rules of hospitality and politeness obliged people to listen. Thus, values emerge as a filterfo r interpreting the historical chronicles. My interlocutors were all members of the cohort who had been boarders in Indian Schools between 1960 and 1970. These are the people whose life experiences and choices led them to politicise culture. They have all confronted serious social problems. They have come to believe that they can never fully master their traditions because they no longer live in the forest, the site in which they should have learned these traditions from their parents. They have also come to believe that earlier generations who lived the semi-nomadic lifestyle and upheld their traditions were happier. They are dominated by a sense of loss and by a sense of frustration that they cannot ignore. It is not surprising that they have reified their culture; in particular, the moral and ethical aspects attached to values they could not completely master. By looking at the past and its histories, they have come to believe that it is no longer the time to pass judgement on the ancestors. Instead, it is better to try to understand them since they are the models on which contemporary life is based. To conclude, for my discussants at the Cultural Centre, understanding the conversion of the ancestors seemed to be a key to evaluating the reactions of their friends, relatives and of themselves towards the new religions which came to the Reserves. The contemporary Algonquin religious landscape has become very complex. As discussed previously, Catholicism coexists with Pentecostalism and pan-Indian spirituality, to which can be added a philosophical orientation inspired by Alcoholics Anonymous. It is difficult to establish how many people follow each path, since Algonquins now rarely claim allegiance to only one of these A QUESTION OF EMOTIONS AND A MATTER OF RESPECT 67 choices. In fact, people pass from one religion or spirituality to another, and sometimes follow more than one simultaneously. When I began my study in the Oblate archives, I had hypothesised that it would help me to analyse the large number of conversion narratives (to Pentecostalism or to pan-Indian spirituality) that I had gathered since 1996, while conducting fieldwork in the Abitibi and Outaouais regions. In these narratives, one common thread seemed to emerge: everyone stressed the need to seek a new equilibrium for lives that had become too chaotic and marked by an excess of violence and alcohol. I first thought that adhering to one system or another could be explained by the social upheavals that followed on the heels of the destruction of the social order by colonial forces. However, the conversion narratives gathered by the Oblates at the end of the 19th century could support other hypotheses. As I have shown, the Oblates report that the Algonquins converted to Catholicism for many of the same reasons invoked a century later for conversions to other systems. For example, people converted because they thought that this would make them stronger, because they thought it would reduce the consumption of alcohol, and because, in the final analysis, they thought Catholicism would re-establish the social order. In describing to the members of the Cultural Centre these similarities in conversion patterns - separated by a century in time and by vast theological and philosophical differences - I encountered a unanimous reaction. Even if they had different beliefs from their ancestors, my informants highlighted the fact that Algonquins had to come back to their own vision of the world. That is, they have to make up their minds by themselves, without being influenced by outsiders. But what does this mean? Who are the outsiders today? And having just insisted on the fact that their freedom must be respected, how we are then to interpret the notion that being converted is a proof of alienation? 68 MARIE-PIERRE BOUSQUET

CONCLUSION

The Algonquins, like many other people, reinterpret and refashion collective memories of the past in order to make sense of the present. So it may be that a better understanding of why Algonquins converted in the past will allow us to understand how and why they adhere to new spiritual forums. Perhaps the notion of conversion should be re-explored to better understand what were and are the social stakes involved. Algonquin values also must be better studied. Or maybe, rather than focusing on a study of values, we should mobilise an anthropology of emotions. For example, Gaston Carriere mentions (1963: 41) that Father Laverlochere sometimes played on the emotions of his audience by telling them he had left his mother to come and teach them the "sacred prayer of the Manitou". In fact, Father Laverlochere employed this rhetorical tool to appeal to the emotions of the more recalcitrant Algonquins, after he noticed that this revelation very much impressed his charges. The reactions of the members of the Cultural Centre were very emotional. Recognising that emotions are a part of social relations, embedded in culture, as researchers we would be benefit from paying much closer attention to important aspect of communication in order to better analyse why believers believe, or at the very least, seem to accept new beliefs. It would also be interesting to study more closely the role of chiefs in converting their bands, a role that was certainly not negligible. Carriere's account of Father Laverlochere's desire to settle at Barriere Lake alludes to the influence of the band chief:

11 se trouvait la une chretiente naissante bien prometteuse a qui le pere donnait, cette annee [1844], huit jours de mission et il avait lieu de benir le Seigneur a la vue des efforts consentis par les Chretiens pour perseverer dans le bien, et par les infideles pour devenir membres de l'Eglise. Les exercices eurent lieu sur le terrain de chasse du chef de la tribu, un fervent neophyte qui ne negligeait rien pour engager les siens a venir a la mission (Carriere 1963: 38). A QUESTION OF EMOTIONS AND A MATTER OF RESPECT 69

A better understanding of this influence of prestigious persons, such as the chiefs, who were used to playing the role of mediators (with humans, with spirits), can help in the evaluation of the political organisation of bands and the link between spiritual/religious beliefs and political power. Finally, Algonquin resistance to outside religious teachings should also be more closely studied. From my many conversations with Elders, and with the members of the Cultural Centre, it is clear that there has always been a degree of resistance to conversion; but this resistance has been often ignored in the literature, in favour of arguments stressing Algonquin acculturation and accommodation. Striking is the lack of anthropological research on the transformations of spiritual experiences and on the modalities by which other ways of looking at the world are adopted. Borrowings and contacts show continuities between the past and present, and not only in terms of acculturation. They also reveal choices and analyses of world views that should be heard and not hidden.

ENDNOTES

1 Although this article includes some references to the Kitigan Zibi band (of the Outaouais region), it should be noted that the band had a distinct relationship with the Oblate missionaries. The band, which was a composite of different Algonquian nations, was located at the mission of Lac-des-deux-Montagnes (Oka) before the 1840s, so was used to close contact with Euro-Canadian missionaries before other Algonquin bands. 2 See MacPherson, in particular "The story of a contest between a priest and a conjurer" (1930: 158-159), and "Mamagwashe" (1930: 177-179). 3 Unfortunately, Carriere does not specify the date or time period of this event. 4 For an example of a missionary view of the Algonquins, see the testimony of Father Laverlochere, who noted "Le christianisme change leur ferocite en douceur" (in Carriere 1963: 28-29). 70 MARIE-PIERRE BOUSQUET

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