Druillettes, Gabriel (missionary in Tadoussac, Quebec)

Druillettes, Gabriel (missionary in Tadoussac, Quebec)

Druillettes was a highly regarded priest and missionary who was known for gaining the respect and affection of the Indigenous people that he encountered. During one of his winter trips with the Montagnais, he suffered injury to his eyes from smoke in the lodges that eventually resulted in blindness, but he was able to heal himself and regain his sight through the prayer of his flock. Henceforth he was considered a “miraculous being” (Campeau, 2003) by the Indigenous peoples and they would travel long distances to hear him preach in Tadoussac.

The Jesuits replaced the Récollets in 1629. They differed from their predecessors by accepting Indigenous culture during the process of conversion instead of attempting to Europeanize Indigenous ways of life (Belsaw, 2015, 120). This is evident in Druillettes’ winter trips with the Montagnais where he was immersed in their culture and hunted along side them. His influence and reputation often made him successful in his mission to convert Indigenous people to Catholicism.

1647-1650 and 1664-1665

Person

Possibly Sainte-Croix mission. Tadoussac, Quebec, Canada.

Belsaw, J.D. 2015. Canadian History: Pre-Confederation. Victoria, B.C.: BCampus. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/preconfederation/

Lucien Campeau, “DRUILLETTES (Dreuillettes, Drouillettes, Drouillet, Droulletes, Drueillettes, Druilletes), GABRIEL,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed October 5, 2021, https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/druillettes_gabriel_1E.html.

Canada. Parks Canada. 2019. The Sainte Croix de Tadoussac Mission Church, Tadoussac, Quebec. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/en/parks-canada/news/2019/06/the-sainte-croix-de-tadoussac-mission-church-tadoussac-quebec.html

1610

Garat, France

1681

Quebec, Canada

Priest; Jesuit; Missionary; Explorer

French; Montagnais; Abenaki

Gabriel Druillettes was a Jesuit missionary who joined the Society of Jesus in 1629 and became a priest in 1641. He traveled to New France for the first time in 1643 and began to create a reputation for himself as a respected missionary. Druillettes is also known for his love of exploring. He traveled New France extensively, often spending the winter months with the Montagnais (Innu) hunters of Sillery (Campeau, 2003). He spent the summer months in the French settlement of Tadoussac, which was established in 1600 and remains the oldest European settlement in Canada (Belshaw, 2015, 103).

The Sainte-Croix mission was established in Tadoussac by the Jesuits in 1642 to carry out their missionary work (Parks Canada, 2019). It’s possible Druillettes worked out of this base during those summers.

Belsaw, J.D. 2015. Canadian History: Pre-Confederation. Victoria, B.C.: BCampus. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/preconfederation/

Canada. Parks Canada. 2019. The Sainte Croix de Tadoussac Mission Church, Tadoussac, Quebec. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/en/parks-canada/news/2019/06/the-sainte-croix-de-tadoussac-mission-church-tadoussac-quebec.html

Conflict and Change in Early Canadian History (Carleton HIST 1301)

Kayla Pudden