Tessouat

Tessouat is the name of probably three Algonquin chiefs of the 17th century. They were chiefs of the Kichesipirini on the Isle des Allumettes . However, this distinction is not certain, especially since it is not clear which of them was considered the one-eyed man (Le Borgne), as he is often called in the sources.

Samuel de Champlain visited the first known representative of this name in 1613 on the island in the Ottawa River ; it also appears in the sources as besouat . His likely successor had the same name, he died in 1636 after trying to bring about a coalition against the Iroquois and disrupt trade between the Wyandot and the French. The third known Tessouat probably died in 1654, whereby it is often confused with the second Tessouat. He was one of the central figures in the battle between the Iroquois and Wyandot-Hurons, in which the latter were almost exterminated around 1650. At the same time he vacillated between recognition of French rule and adoption of Christianity on the one hand and his uninterrupted struggle for the trade monopoly on the Ottawa River and adherence to pagan forms on the other.

The first Tessouat recognized the favorable location in the middle of Ottawa, which was the most important west-east connection for the fur trade . Accordingly, he demanded taxes on the only bypass of his island through which he allowed passage. This was all the easier as rapids on the south side made passage just as difficult as on the north side of the island, where it forbade passage. In addition, he sought a trade monopoly as a middleman.

The French Samuel de Champlain was aware of the importance of this claim for the French colony, and so he visited the chief on his island in 1613. He also sent Jean Nicollet to the island in 1620 to live among the Algonquin people there. In 1629 Tessouat was one of the five most important leaders in the region, but the desired confederation came about too late to prevent the British from conquering Québec . This meant that the French, who were not able to recapture until 1632, stayed away from 1629 to 1634.

Tessouat tried now to divert the resurgent trade from the area of ​​the Wyandot (Hurons). He also spread the rumor that the French wanted to take revenge on the village of Ihonatiria in the area of ​​one of the four Huron tribes, the Attignaouantan (bear nation), for the death of Étienne Brûlé in 1633. In this way he also hoped to drive the Jesuits out of the village in the hope of disrupting relations with the French and enforcing his monopoly. However, Father Jean de Brébeuf stayed in the village, seeing through the move, and tried to calm the Attignaouantan.

Meanwhile, the clashes with the Iroquois came to a head. In early 1636, they killed 23 Tessouat men in an attack. In March he then traveled around 300 leagues - which corresponds to 300 hours of marching or 1500 km - to go to the Hurons himself. He went through snow and ice with four of his men and a young French named François Marguerie and tried to win allies among the Hurons, Algonquin and Nipissing . He presented 23 wampums , but Tessouat tried again to exclude the Attignaouantan. He didn't give them any of the usual gifts, in fact, withheld from them the fact that negotiations had come about. He apparently underestimated their influence, because in the end all the Hurons refused to support, and the Nipissing, who had suffered from the high taxes on trade, also waved them off.

After the speeches that Tessouat is said to have given, he boasted of his power and that the preservation of his people and his person was a prerequisite for continued successful trade with the French. In addition, he claimed to be master of the French. In a conversation with Jesuits, he accused of having murdered Attignaouantan, Étienne Brûlé and Father Nicolas Viel and his companion, who in his eyes were malicious . For their part, the Jesuits tried to win Tessouat as a friend of the French and gave him a canoe and other gifts as a parting.

Tessouat died in the spring of 1636. In August, when the Huron chief Taratouan tried to cross the Isle des Allumettes with a canoe fleet, he was refused entry until Father Antoine Daniel intervened. Apparently no successor had yet been found for Tessouat, so that the leaders believed they were entitled to collect higher taxes than usual.

A (probably) third representative of the name Tessouat (also Tesswehas) said of himself that it was like a tree - "the people are my branches, to which I give strength". 1640-1641 his people wintered at Sillery and got into a dispute with the Christian part of the population. Tessouat encouraged all Indians to turn away from Christianity. In Trois-Rivières in 1642 he forbade his people to attend mass and moved to Fort Richelieu in November .

Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuves statue in Montréal. He is considered the founder of the city.

In March 1643 he came to the settlement of Ville-Marie, later Montréal . There he met his nephew Oumasasikweie and his wife Mitigoukwe. The two had become Christians and were now called Joseph and Jeanne. To everyone's surprise, after this meeting, Tessouat asked to be baptized and he wanted to get married. The baptism took place on March 9th, his godparents were Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve and Jeanne Mance . They gave the chief the name "Paul". Madame de Puiseaux and Madame Chauvigny de La Peltrie were the godparents of his wife, who was given the name "Magdelaine". Maisonneuve gave Tessouat an arquebus and, after he had expressed his wish to live near him, enfeoffed him with land that two men should work on. According to the reports of the Jesuits, the chief became kind and humble, and he preached and encouraged his people to become Christians. Nevertheless, in 1644 he supported a medicine man named Pigarouich. He wintered in Montréal from 1644 to 1645, but then went to Trois-Rivières. Since he had heard that the French had brokered a peace between the Christian Algonquin and the Iroquois in 1645, he feared attacks on his people.

Tessouat, who was considered to be one of the most important speakers, gave speeches in 1646 at the negotiations with the Iroquois, during which he expressed his distrust of the French. Although gifts were exchanged, he and his people were ambushed on their way back in August. In 1648 the chief complained in Sillery that non-Christian Algonquians were given no protection against the Iroquois there.

Nicolas Perrot wrote of Tessouat that he was considered the terror of all peoples, even the Iroquois. When the Hurons fled the Iroquois in 1650, a French priest allowed them to pass through the island without paying taxes. He justified this with the fact that the French are masters of all nations. Tessouat then forced the refugees and his 400 warriors to stand before him. Then he instructed his people to hang the priest from a tree. Despite this incident, Tessouat dared to go to the French colony. Against the resistance of his guards, he was thrown in a dungeon for several days. He died, allegedly a Christian, in Trois-Rivières in 1654. In the sources he was often referred to as the one-eyed man (Le Borgne).

literature

• Rémi Savard: L'Algonquin Tessouat et la fondation de Montréal. Diplomacy franco-indienne en Nouvelle-France. L'Hexagone, Montréal 1996.

Web links

• Tessouat (Besouat) . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).
• Tessouat (Le Borgne de l'Île) . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).
• Tessouat (Tesswehas, Le Borgne de l'Île), Paul . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).

Remarks

1. ↑ Champlain's description translated: George M. Wrong, HH Langton: The Chronicles of Canada. Volume 2: The Rise of New France. P. 44ff.