[troutman]

I was interested to read the Jesuit Diaries in a legal history course:

https://www.cbc.ca/history/EPCONTENTSE1EP2CH5PA3LE.html

In 1615, France insisted that Champlain send missionaries to New France in order to convert the natives.

Fifteen years later, the missionaries of the Society of Jesus arrived, also known as the Jesuits and the "soldiers of Christ". They had had great success in converting pagans in Asia, Africa, and South America. The Society of Jesus now faced a fresh challenge: converting thirty thousand natives in Huronia.

The Jesuits had little success in their evangelization. A shaman engaged them in theological argument, claiming that the Christian God did not live in Canada, and that was why he did not believe in Him. He maintained that native souls might not have been made the same as European ones, that they did not go to the same place after death. Besides, he concluded, who had ever returned from that land beyond death to describe it?

But the missionaries persisted, insisted and sometimes succeeded.
Each soul converted was duly accounted for and faithfully reported to their superior. In Quebec, the superior of the Jesuits kept a diary of what life was like in Huronia. He transformed difficulties into success and the diary was finally published as: Relations of the most remarkable events that have occurred during the mission of the Fathers of the Company of Jesus in New France. Translated into Latin, Italian, and German, the Relations were devoured by a passionately devout readership in Europe.

Pierre Boucher recounted:
"Usually all the savages are well-meaning...They believe in the immortality of the soul and ...that after death, it goes to a beautiful place...They have a number of fables that they tell...They know Gods, they have a great aversion to sorcerers. They are very superstitious, and add faith to their thoughts: this is what gives the most pain to the Jesuit fathers who instruct them."

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text5/JesuitRelationsMissions.pdf