Space for context--to be added

Study Questions 

1. Richard White uses the concept of the middle ground to describe the pays d'en haut (upper country of French Canada). What was the middle ground and how did it work? While Although I am Dead, I am not Really Dead defines the middle ground, also consider how this concept helps explain what is happening in the other texts, such as the murders punished by Du Luth (see question 5).

2. How did the construction of self affect relations on the middle ground? How does White define self and what are the necessary components of self that helped create the middle ground?

3. What is the Feast of the Dead? How did the missionaries near Lake Nipissing take part in this ceremony. Can it be placed within the context of the middle ground or is this a Native space and ceremony?

4. Of the Mission of the Holy Ghost among the Algonquians is from the Jesuit Relations. These documents were compiled by the Jesuit missionaries in New France as they reported to their superiors in Quebec or France. Considering the missionaries' goals to convert Native peoples, what were there motives in writing these texts and how might that have affected how they portrayed the Indian Catholics and prospective converts? What type of language does the author use to describe the Feast of the Dead? Do we only see the French Catholic perspective in this text or are we able to get a glimpse of an Algonquian perspective? 

5. How does the Du Luth murder case demonstrate how the middle ground worked? What were the power dynamics in this situation? Did the French exert as much influence as Du Luth tells the governor? Consider the multiple perspectives and customs influencing this event and pull examples from the text to support your answer.

6. What is covering the dead? Was it an integral part of the middle ground and if so, how?

Study Questions 

1. What is your impression of this region after reading the description of the area around Sault Ste. Marie? What was this space like in the 17th century? Consider the Jesuit map, which Claude Dablon included next to his narratives about the Outaouac (Ottawa/Odawa). How does he portray this space? Compare this map to Nouvelle France and the documents from this class and last class to think about how maps were used as part of European projects to claim space in North America.

2. What do you think of Le Sieur de St. Lusson's ceremony? Juxtapose the account of his speech with the preceding account of the peoples who live in this region--how might this speech have been received? How does Claude Allouez, the Jesuit translating Lusson's speech, depict the King of France to his Native audience?

3. What does the account of the massacre at Sault Ste. Marie tell about French power in the region? In the last class, Richard White illustrates how Onontio, the French governor, was portrayed in kinship terms as a father in the Native-French alliance--if the role of the French was that of a father or a mediator, what does this event demonstrate about the alliance, situation on the ground, and French versus Algonquian power [the French were allied with Algonquian speaking peoples, many of whom were speakers of Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) who self idetified as Anishinaabeg]?

4. Considering the documents from this week, how would you summarize the kind of power the French had in the upper Great Lakes region?