Étienne Brûlé

Plaque for Étienne Brûlé in Toronto

Étienne Brûlé (* 1592 in Champigny-sur-Marne near Paris ; † in June 1633 in the Great Lakes region ) was a French explorer. Brûlé made a name for itself exploring Québec .

Brûlé, who first traveled to New France in 1608 , was sent two years later by Samuel de Champlain to the Wyandot ("Hurons") to study. Unlike most other European explorers, Brûlé was open to the manners and customs of the indigenous peoples of North America . So he learned the language of the Wyandot and adopted their customs and traditions.

As a Scout Champlains, Brûlé explored much of what is now Québec , Ontario and Michigan . He was also one of the first “ coureur des bois ” (rangers, trappers , who carried out the fur trade directly with the indigenous population in then unexplored areas of North America ).

Brûlé was the first European to see all five Great Lakes, namely Lake Superior , Lakes Michigan , Huron , Erie and Ontario . He also reached the Chesapeake Bay on his exploratory trips , where he was briefly captured and tortured by the Iroquois .

Since Brûlé had accepted the customs of the Wyandot and also withdrew from the access of the French administration through his activity as coureur des bois , he was always a thorn in the side of the authorities. In 1620 there was a final break with Champlain, Brûlé left Québec to live with the Wyandot. Due to his new life, Brûlé no longer felt any loyalty to France, in 1629 he betrayed Champlain and helped the English capture him and take Québec. In a battle between Wyandot and Iroquois, Brûlé was wounded and left behind by his companions. He managed to escape from captivity and return to the Wyandot, who, however, did not believe his story. They accused him of treason or trade with the enemy and tortured Brûlé to death in June 1633.

literature

• Marin Trenk: "The White Indians" of Canada. On the history of the "Français Sauvages", in the Yearbook for European Overseas History, 1, 2001, pp. 61–86

Web links

• Étienne Brûlé ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia .