Sainte-Marie among the Hurons

Sainte-Marie among the Hurons (French: Sainte-Marie-au-pays-des-Hurons) was a 17th century French Jesuit mission in Wendake, the land of the Huron (Wendat) nation, located near modern Midland, Ontario.

The Burning of Sainte-Marie

On June 16, 1649 the missionaries chose to burn the mission rather than risk seeing it desecrated or permanently overrun by Iroquois in further attacks. Fr. Paul Ragueneau wrote, we ourselves set fire to it, and beheld burn before our eyes and in less than one hour, our work of nine or ten years.

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June 16 - 1649 - Paul Ragueneau

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Before the burning, the decision had already been made that Brébeuf and Lalemant would be canonized. The duty fell to shoemaker Christophe Regnault to extract the bones of the two men. Regnault exhumed the bodies, placed them into a lye solution and wrapped the bones in linens. The men's flesh remains were reburied together in the same grave.

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The missionaries travelled to Gahoendoe (modern day Christian Island) with the Wendat in an effort to construct a second mission designed especially for defence. However a rough winter and the constant threat of Iroquois attack eventually forced the French from the area, and they travelled back to New France. The bones of Brébeuf and Lalemant were taken on both trips, and continue to exist today as holy relics.

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