The Oblate Assault on Canada's Northwest

Ashley Thomson is a full librarian at Laurentian University and co-editor or co-author of nine books, most recently Margaret Atwood: A Reference Guide, 1988-2005.

In 1845, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (founded in southern
France in 1826) began to evangelize Canada’s north and northwest. By
century’s end, they had become Canada’s largest male religious
congregations with thousands of converts among the country’s Native
population to their credit. To date, little of their story has been
told. Robert Choquette, a distinguished professor of religious studies
at the University of Ottawa (founded as an Oblate College), has remedied
that situation with what will undoubtedly be regarded as the definitive
work on this topic for some time.

The overriding image in the book is a military one, not only because
the Oblates, like the Church itself, were organized with clear lines of
authority, but also because the militant, highly disciplined order found
itself in conflict with Protestant missionaries also in the field. That
this conflict spilled over into French-English relations was not
entirely coincidental (although as Choquette points out, on a personal
level, institutional animosities were frequently forgotten!).

In analyzing the reasons underlying the Oblates’ successful expansion
in the 19th century, Choquette is scrupulously fair in detailing the
order’s weaknesses—including in-fighting within the order and the
damage done by a few missionaries (such as Йmile Petitot, who was said
by many to be an active homosexual or pedophile)—and its strengths
found in its large number of missionaries (when compared to other
orders), the strong characters of most of its missionaries, and their
ability to adapt theologically, linguistically, and culturally to Native
culture.

The Oblate Assault on Canada’s Northwest, which includes detailed
maps and original photographs, is a tour de force that deserves a wide
readership.