Marie Guyart-Martin

MARIE
GUYART-MARTIN

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Director's Intent
Screenplay
Collaborators
Characters

Dionysos
Historical References

HISTORICAL REFERENCES

[References] - [First Nations] - [Autobiography of Marie Guyart]

The First Nations

There are many native nations inside the territory which will be occupied by the Europeans and called New France. The two main families recounted in our screenplay at the time of the arrival of Marie Guyart-Martin en 1639, are introduced here : The Algonquins and the Iroquois.

The great Algonquin family

The Algonquins are subdivided into many nations : Algonquins, Crees, Ojibwas, Micmacs, Naskapis, Abnakis, Montagnais (Innus).

A very brave and good-humored people, the Algonquin family instantly make friends with the French. From the day of her arrival, Marie GUYART-MARTIN has known the Montagnais (or Innus). They like very much to barter with the French, and especially to obtain guns in the exchange.

The great Iroquois family

They also are subdivided into several nations : Huron-Wendats, Tobaccos, and The Iroquois Confereracy.

The Iroquois originally inhabited the Great Lakes region. Their villages were generally fortified and very large. They lived in very distinctive long houses, "maisons longues", which could reach as much as 200 feet in length (65 meters). These structures were made out of wood and covered with bark from elm trees.

A sedentary society, the Iroquois had a matriarchal hierarchy, that is to say that the women were the landowners who decided what the parental lineage would be. After his marriage, a man would live in the wife’s long house, and their children would become members of the woman’s clan.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Huron-Wendats farmed around 2,800 hectares of land (about 6,916 acres). It is said that it was easier to get lost in one of their cornfields than to get lost in the woods. The Huron Nation was more or less the granary of the Northern Tribes.

The war between the Iroquois and the Huron-Wendats

Known as "Irinakhoiw", which signifies "forked tongue", the Iroquois men were the most ferocious warriors in America. Reunited in a confederation of five nations : the Mohawks (Agniers), the Oneidas (Onneitouts), the Onondagas (Onontagués), the Cáyugas (Goyogouins), and the Senecas (Tsonnontouans).

The Dutch and the English will use them in many guerilla raids against the young French colony. The English would barter guns with the Iroquois for the scalps of French settlers. The Iroquois warriors would massacre the peasants on many different occasions, showing no mercy.

The Huron-Wendats were probably the most faithful allies to the French. "Wyandots", their real name, means "insular people". They occupied a territory of 2,300 square kilometers, called " Huronia ". At the start of the 17^th century, it is estimated that the Huron population numbered about 30,000 individuals. Living mostly from agriculture and commerce (corn and tobacco), the Huron Nation, at this time, was one of the most prosperous groups in North America. The Hurons’ trading boundaries encompassed a large area. The Huron-Wendats were quite aware of the superiority of their system of commerce and very proud of their status and influence among the other native peoples. Moreover, they refused to learn any language other than their own, thus forcing the Indians who traded with them to learn the Huron-Wendat language.

Because of the Huron alliance with the French, which irritated their long-time enemies, the Iroquois, the entire nation was either wiped out or driven elsewhere by the huge Iroquois massacre of 1648-1649. This began a long exodus. Several hundred survivors sought refuge in Quebec and were received by the Ursulines, as presented in our screenplay, " Marie Guyart-Martin ".

The Huron-Wendats established themselves permanently in the region of Quebec, more precisely, at La Jeune-Lorette, in 1697. The relationship between the two peoples became harmonious. Despite the fact that there were only 179 members in 1829, the Huron population now numbers 2,751 members, of which 1,100 still reside in Wendake (Jeune-Lorette, Quebec). They form today a prosperous small community.