Maple History: A Canadian History Podcast

As Christianity spread among the Wendat, faith became a fault line. This episode explores the growing conflict between converts and traditionalists, and how spiritual change reshaped community life during a moment of crisis.

Sources:

The Children of Aateantsic: A History of the Huron People to 1660 by Bruce Trigger
Crosses in the Sky: Jean de Brébeuf and the Destruction of Huronia by Mark Bourrie
Dispersed But Not Destroyed by Kathryn Magee Labelle
The Huron-Wendat Feast of the Dead by Erik R. Seeman
Natives and Newcomers: Canada’s Heroic Age Reconsidered by Bruce G. Trigger
Huron Wendat: The Heritage of the Circle by Georges E. Sioui

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A brief portrait of Hélène Boullé, whose life is often reduced to a line in Champlain’s story. This episode pauses to look at her on her own terms.

Sources:
Marie-Emmanuel Chabot, o.s.u., “BOULLÉ, HÉLÈNE, named de Saint-Augustin (Champlain),” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed October 26, 2025, https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/boulle_helene_1E.html.

Raymonde Litalien, “CHAMPLAIN, SAMUEL DE,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed October 26, 2025, https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/champlain_samuel_de_1E.html.
Landry, Marc-André. “L’histoire singulière d’Hélène Boullé : mariée à de Samuel de Champlain alors qu’elle n’avait que 12 ans.” Le Journal de Montréal, May 31, 2025. https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2025/05/31/lhistoire-singuliere-dhelene-boulle-mariee-a-de-samuel-de-champlain-alors-quelle-navait-que-12-ans

Fischer, David Hackett. Champlain’s Dream: The European Founding of North America. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008

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Follow me on TikTok @MapleHistoryPod
Follow me on BlueSky @MapleHistoryPod.bsky.social
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the 1630s, epidemics spread through Wendake and caused profound loss. This episode looks at how those outbreaks unfolded and how Wendat communities lived through that decade.

Sources:

The Children of Aateantsic: A History of the Huron People to 1660 by Bruce Trigger
Crosses in the Sky: Jean de Brébeuf and the Destruction of Huronia by Mark Bourrie
Dispersed But Not Destroyed by Kathryn Magee Labelle
The Jesuit Relations edited by Allan Greer
Jesuit Relations - online
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The Huron Carol is the first Canadian Christmas Carol but the version we are most familiar with isn't the one that would have been sung by the early Wendat Christian. The original version written by Jean de Brébeuf has a much stronger connection to the Indigenous people he worked with, and when we listen to that version, we can hear not just a Christmas story, but an attempt to bridge two very different ways of understanding the world.
1927 Version (the familiar hymn)
Jean de Brebeuf's lyrics in English
Jean de Brebeuf lyrics in Wendat/Wyendot
Mi'kmaw Version

Sources:
Sanborn, Raymond Joseph. 2016. In Search of the Huron Carol (Jesous Ahatonnia): Canada’s First Christmas Carol. Doctoral thesis, Graduate Theological Foundation. epe.lac-bac.gc.c

Steckley, John. 2014. “Huron Carol: a Canadian cultural chameleon.” British Journal of Canadian Studies 27, no. 1 (2014): 55–74. Jesuit Online Bibliography

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