51 Kandiaronk (1703)
Louis Armand, Baron de Lahontan (1666-1716) was a somewhat impoverished minor French aristocrat who traveled extensively as a young man in the Great Lakes regions that are now Canada, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. He wrote a multi-volume memoir of his travels, the second volume of which contained his recollections of a long conversation Lahontan had with a Huron chief named Kandiaronk. The Huron, whom Lahontan calls Adario in the dialogue, was chief of the Hurons living around Fort Michilimackinac and had led them in wars against the Iroquois. Kandiaronk was famous as an orator and was often invited to dine with the French Governor-General, Frontenac, because he was said to be the best conversationalist in America. The Jesuit historian, Charlevoix, said no Indian he had met “ever possessed greater merit, a finer mind, more valor, prudence or discernment in understanding those with whom he had to deal”. Part of Kandiaronk’s understanding of the French came from over a decade of study that included a visit to France, which he mentions in his discussion with Lahontan.
(Note: I have replaced all the older uses of the second person (thee, thou, thy, thou’rt, etc.) with more modern pronouns.)
Lahontan’s Discussion with Kandiaronk, whom he calls Adario.
Lahontan announces his wish to educate the Indian about Christianity to save his soul, because the Huron have no religion. Adario replies,
What! are you mad? Do you believe we are void of Religion, after you have dwelt so long amongst us? If your Religion differs from ours, it does not follow that we have none at all. You know that I have been in France, New-York and Quebec where I Studied the Customs and Doctrines of the English and French. The Jesuits allege, that out of five or six hundred sorts of Religions, there’s only one that is the good and the true Religion, and that’s their own. This is their allegation but when they have said all, they cannot offer any Proof for it.
In another section called “Of Laws”, Lahontan tries to impress on the Indian the quality of French legal thinking, claiming that without their laws the French would be the “most miserable People on the Face of the Earth.” Adario replies,
Nay, you are miserable enough already and indeed I can’t see how you can be more such. What sort of Men must the Europeans be? What Species of Creatures? The Europeans, who must be forced to do Good and have no other Prompter for the avoiding of Evil than the fear of Punishment. For Man is not entitled to that Character upon the score of his walking upright upon two Legs or of Reading and Writing and showing a Thousand other Instances of his Industry. I call that Creature a Man that has a natural inclination to do Good and never entertains the thoughts of doing Evil. You see we have no Judges. And what’s the reason of that? Why? We neither quarrel nor sue one another. And what’s the reason that we have no Law Suits? Why? Because we are resolved neither to receive nor to know Silver. But why do we refuse admission to Silver among us? The reason is this: we are resolved to have no Laws, for since the World was a World our Ancestors lived happily without them. The Word Laws does not signify just and reasonable things as you use it, for the Rich make a Jest of them, and ’tis only the poor Wretches that pay any regard to them.
For these Fifty Years, the Governors of Canada have still alleged that we are subject to the Laws of their great Captain. We content ourselves in denying all manner of Dependance, excepting that upon the Great Spirit, as being born free and joint Brethren who are all equally Masters. Whereas you are all Slaves to one Man. Pray tell me, what Authority or Right is the pretended Superiority of your great Captain grounded upon? Did we ever sell ourselves to that great Captain? Were we ever in France to look after you? ’Tis you that came hither to find out us. Who gave you all the Countries that you now inhabit, by what Right do you possess them? They always belonged to the Algonikins before. In earnest, my dear Brother, I’m sorry for you from the bottom of my Soul. Take my advice, and turn Huron. For I see plainly a vast difference between your Condition and mine.
I am Master of my own Body. I have the absolute disposal of myself, I do what I please, I am the first and the last of my Nation, I fear no Man and I depend only upon the Great Spirit. Whereas your Body as well as your Soul are doomed to a dependance upon your great Captain. Your Vice-Roy disposes of you; you had not the liberty of doing what you had a mind to; you’re afraid of Robbers, false Witnesses, Assassins, and you depended upon an infinity of Persons whose Places have raised them above you. Is it true, or not? Are these things either improbable or invisible? Ah! my dear Brother, you see plainly that I am in the right of it and yet you choose rather to be a French Slave than a free Huron.
Lahontan insists that the French laws are just and reasonable, Adario responds:
I protest I don’t understand one word of what you have said. For I know the contrary of what you say to be true and those who informed me so of the Judges are Men of undisputed Honor and Sense. But if nobody had given me any such Information, I am not so dull-pated as not to see with my own Eyes the Injustice of your Laws and your Judges. I’ll tell you one thing my dear Brother, I was a-going one day from Paris to Versailles and about halfway I met a Boor that was going to be Whipped for having taken Partridges and Hares with Traps. Between Rochel and Paris I saw another that was Condemned to the Galleys for having a little Bag of Salt about him. These poor Men were punished by your unjust Laws for endeavoring to get Sustenance to their Families. In earnest, we should have a fine time of it if we offered to punish one of our Brethren for killing a Hare or a Partridge.
Lahontan says he regrets the false and prejudicial opinions Adario holds about the French. The Indian says:
Pray hear me, my dear Brother, I speak calmly and without passion. The more I reflect upon the lives of the Europeans, the less Wisdom and Happiness I find among them. These six years I have bent my thoughts upon the State of the Europeans. But I can’t light on anything in their Actions that is not beneath a Man. And truly I think ’tis impossible it should be otherwise, so long as you stick to the measures of Meum and Tuum [Mine and Yours]. I affirm that what you call Silver is the Devil of Devils, the Tyrant of the French, the Source of all Evil, the Bane of Souls, and the Slaughter-House of living Persons. This Money is the Father of Luxury, Lasciviousness, Intrigues, Tricks, Lying, Treachery, Falseness, and in a word, of all the mischief in the World.
The French and Huron also differed in their ideas about the rights of Women. Adario says:
My Brother, I come to Visit you and am accompanied by my Daughter, who is about to Marry against my Will. She has a mind to it; and that is enough in our Country. For if I pretend to Marry her [against her will], she’d quickly return upon me: What do you think Father! Am I your Slave? Shall not I enjoy my Liberty? Must I for your fancy, Marry a Man I do not care for? How can I endure a Husband that buys my Corps [body] of my Father? And how can I have an affection for the Children of a Man I cannot love? Thus, dear Brother, would my Girl answer me. And it may be a great deal worse, as it happened some years ago to one of our old Men who pretended to Marry his Daughter to a Man she did not love. For in my Presence she said a great many harsh things by way of Reproach. She added then, ’twas true she was his Daughter, and he might be satisfied. He got her upon a Woman he loved as much as she hated the Husband her Father had provided for her.
Source: Lahontan’s New Voyages to North-America, Volume II, Reuben Gold Thwaites, LLD, Ed., 1905 (https://archive.org/details/McGillLibrary-rbsc_lc_new-voyages-north-america-lahontan_lande00503-v2-17825/page/n3/mode/2up)
