Jesuits -- Canada, Fort Sainte-Marie among the Hurons (Ont.), Jesuits, Wyandot -- Missions, Ontario -- Fort Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, Missions -- Canada, Missions -- Ontario, Missions, Ontario -- Church history, Ontario 

"The authentic reconstruction of the mission of Sainte-Marie-Among-the-Hurons at Midland, Ontario, has captured the imagination of thousands of visitors.

Until 1649, this small island of Christianity served as the central residence for the Jesuits in Huronia. Here were established Ontario's first hospital, first school, first farm and first social service centre.

Begun in 1639, this community within the wooden palisades, stone bastions and sturdy timbre buildings prospered until the Iroquois Indians began their reign of terror in the area. In the ensuing massacres missions were burned, priests and natives captured, tortured and murdered. Fearing for the safety of its inhabitants, the administrators of Sainte-Marie put it to the torch and fled to what is now Christian Island to establish Sainte-Marie II.

In Wilderness Mission: The Story of Sainte-Marie-Among-the-Hurons, John F. Hayes, twice-winner of the Governor General's Literary Award, provides a fascinating account of this missionary endeavor. He traces the history of Sainte-Marie from its roots in the arrival of Champlain at Quebec, through the early years of the Huron mission, the building and destruction, the intervening years, the early renewed interest in the site during the last century, archeological investigation in recent decades and finally the reconstruction.

Also included is material on Huron life and customs, the life of the Jesuits, and a tour of the site. Throughout, the reader is told of the sources of our information, and its limitations, the kinds of questions that faced anthropologists, archeologists and historians in recreating Sainte-Marie, and the questions still to be answered."--Back cover.