Fonds CDA C-2 - Fonds Holy Cross Mission of Wiikwemkoong

Zone du titre et de la mention de responsabilité

Titre propre

Fonds Holy Cross Mission of Wiikwemkoong

Dénomination générale des documents

  • Document textuel
  • Dessin d'architecture
  • Document cartographique
  • Photographie
  • Publication

Titre parallèle

Compléments du titre

Mentions de responsabilité du titre

Notes du titre

Niveau de description

Fonds

Dépôt

Archives des jésuites au Canada/The Archive of the Jesuits in Canada

Cote

CDA C-2

Zone de l'édition

Mention d'édition

Mentions de responsabilité relatives à l'édition

Zone des précisions relatives à la catégorie de documents

Mention d'échelle (cartographique)

Mention de projection (cartographique)

Mention des coordonnées (cartographiques)

Mention d'échelle (architecturale)

Juridiction responsable et dénomination (philatélique)

Zone des dates de production

Date(s)

  • 1837-2004 (Création/Production)
    Producteur
    Mission Holy Cross de Wiikwemkoong

Zone de description matérielle

Description matérielle

1.31 m of textual material
224 photographs
5 architectural drawings
4 maps
2 publications

Zone de la collection

Titre propre de la collection

Titres parallèles de la collection

Compléments du titre de la collection

Mention de responsabilité relative à la collection

Numérotation à l'intérieur de la collection

Note sur la collection

Zone de la description archivistique

Nom du producteur

Mission Holy Cross de Wiikwemkoong
(1844-aujourd'hui)

Histoire administrative

Manitoulin Island in present-day Northern Ontario was first inhabited by the Odawa, and then by the Ojibway and the Pottawatomi. Joseph Antoine Poncet was the first Jesuit priest to step foot on the island, in 1648. However, the Jesuit presence in the region remained insignificant during the following years and ceased completely after the Society of Jesus was abolished by the pope in 1773.

In the early part of the nineteenth century, the British Crown wished to develop the area as a settlement for all First Nations people, in order to free land for ensuing colonial encroachment. The 1836 Manitoulin Treaty between the British Crown and the Odawa and Ojibway stipulated that the area would be the property of all First Nations wishing to reside there. However, few Indigenous communities were ready to abandon their ancestral lands and move to Manitoulin Island. Faced with the failure of the project and desiring to gain access to the lands of the island, the Crown sought to conclude another treaty with the communities. The Marshall Treaty of 1862 targeted the surrender of these lands. Wiikwemkoong refused to sign it and began to oppose to any treaty with the British Crown, officially making Wiikwemkoong an unceded territory. Negotiations between the Crown and the First Nations were sometimes made with the support of Jesuit priests who returned to the region in 1844.

Jean-Pierre Chôné was the first Jesuit to come back to Manitoulin Island. A small catholic settlement, the Mission Sainte-Croix, was already established at Wiikwemkoong when he arrived. Founded in 1837 by Jean-Baptiste Proulx, a secular priest, the mission served an extensive Indigenous population. The mission was ceded to the Jesuits in July 1844. Jean-Pierre Chôné became the first Jesuit Superior of the Holy Cross Mission. In 1847, he was replaced by Nicolas Point, S.J., who remained Superior until 1854.

The Jesuits in present-day Canada were then under the authority of the Jesuit Province of France. During the first years, the Holy Cross Mission was administered by at least two Jesuit Fathers. One of them would stay in Wiikwemkoong, while the other travelled to other mission points of the region. Wiikwemkoong therefore became the focal point of Jesuit missions in Northern Ontario. As the missions developed, Jesuit missionaries in other Northern territories such as Gore Bay, Batchewana, Little Current, Killarney, Spanish River and Lake Huron North Shore continued to report formally and informally to the Holy Cross Mission at Wiikwemkoong. From that central point, the Jesuits managed schools and infrastructures and were active in the communities’ daily lives. In 1994, the Holy Cross Mission celebrated its 150th anniversary.

The church of the Holy Cross Mission is the oldest Catholic church in Northern Ontario. Construction began in the late 1840s and was mainly accomplished by Anishinaabe men, women, and children. The individuals who built it were mostly the Bemanakinong, Wakegijig, Gabow and Kenogameg (Kinoshameg) First Nations families. In 1954, the Holy Cross Church was almost destroyed by a fire, but was gradually rebuilt and is still standing today. Over time, the number of Jesuits in Wiikwemkoong decreased until a single Jesuit priest ensured the presence of the Society of Jesus in the community.

Historique de la conservation

The material has been accumulated and collected by the Upper Canada Province. It was transferred to The Archive of the Jesuits in Canada, located in Montreal, in 2009. Accruals were added to the fonds in the Fall of 2020 by François Dansereau. The final processing of the fonds was carried out by Naomi Mercier as part of the Young Canada Works program.

Portée et contenu

The fonds testifies to the activities carried out by the Holy Cross Mission of Wiikwemkoong since its transfer to the Jesuits in 1844 and until 2004, and provides information on the history of Manitoulin Island, Wiikwemkoong and other communities of Northern Ontario. It provides information on the activities of the parishes Jesuit missionaries served via administrative and financial records, as well as sacramental registers that compiled data on the members and families of the communities. Thus, in addition to documenting the activities of the Holy Cross parish and missionaries, the fonds contains records concerning the parishes of Gore Bay, Little Current, Killarney, Batchewana, M’chigeeng, Sheshegwaning, Spanish River and Lake Huron North Shore, among others. It also contains records testifying to the Jesuits’ interest and implication in schools in Batchewana, Kaboni, Killarney, Sheguiandah, Spanish, and Wiikwemkoong.

The fonds contains diaries and notes taken by Jesuit priests concerning the activities of the missions and certain events. It also contains correspondence, parish communications, work documents and history notes, Status Animarum, Historia Domus, manuscripts, two publications, a prospectus, programs, architectural drawings and maps, as weel as photographs that document the different mission points, landscapes, church buildings, Catholic celebrations, events, and parish members and families.

Zone des notes

État de conservation

Source immédiate d'acquisition

Classement

In 2010, a classification scheme was created for the fonds but its physical organization remained unchanged and in line with the old inventory of the former Archives of the Society of Jesus of Upper Canada (ASJUC). The fonds was completely rearranged when processed in 2024.

Langue des documents

  • anglais
  • français
  • latin
  • ojibwa

Écriture des documents

    Localisation des originaux

    Disponibilité d'autres formats

    Restrictions d'accès

    Some material contains personal information and is restricted. Priority is given to family members and Indigenous researchers.

    Délais d'utilisation, de reproduction et de publication

    Some documents may be subject to copyright. Use and reproduction of archival documents must be done with the permission of The Archive of the Jesuits in Canada.

    Instruments de recherche

    A finding aid based on the 2010 classification scheme was created on Archilog, then a file-level inventory was undertaken in 2016. A new file- or item-level inventory was created following the processing and rearrangement of the fonds in 2024 and is available upon request.

    Éléments associés

    Collection des Archives du Collège Sainte-Marie (Q-2 Série A and Q-3 Série B)

    Éléments associés

    Accroissements

    Désignations alphanumériques

    0700-0010
    CDA C-0002
    CDA M-0001

    Notes générales

    The First Nations, Métis Inuit - Indigenous Ontologies (FNMIIO) Google spreadsheet by the National Indigenous Knowledge and Language Alliance was the main source used during the process of descriptive metadata for the fonds’ photographic and textual materials to ensure that communities and nations were accurately named.

    Identifiant(s) alternatif(s)

    Numéro normalisé

    Numéro normalisé

    Mots-clés

    Mots-clés - Sujets

    Mots-clés - Lieux

    Mots-clés - Noms

    Mots-clés - Genre

    Zone du contrôle

    Identifiant de la description du document

    François Dansereau, Senior Archivist; Naomi Mercier, Project Archivist (Young Canada Works)

    Identifiant du service d'archives

    Règles ou conventions

    Statut

    Niveau de détail

    Dates de production, de révision et de suppression

    The finding aid was created by François Dansereau, Senior Archivist on 2022-01-19; additions and modifications were made by Naomi Mercier, Project Archivist (Young Canada Works) on 2024-11-04 following the processing of the fonds.

    Langue de la description

      Langage d'écriture de la description

        Sources

        Bone, C. and Brett, L. (2017). Library of Congress Subject Headings Related to Indigenous Peoples: a Project Changing LCSH for use in a Canadian Archival Context. Cataloging and Classification Quarterly. http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/01639374.2017.1382641.

        Cadieux, L. (1944). Fondateurs du Diocèse de Sault-Sainte-Marie. Documents historiques (no.6). Société historique de Nouvel-Ontario Collège du Sacré-Cœur, Sudbury.

        Cadieux, L. and Toupin, R. (1982). Les robes noires à l’Île du Manitou 1852-1870. Documents historiques (no.75). Société historique de Nouvel-Ontario, Université de Sudbury.

        Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1842-1987. (1991). Canadian Institute of Jesuit Studies.

        Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1988-2006. (2007). Canadian Institute of Jesuit Studies.

        Gavin. J.N. (2015). Teachers of a Nation. Jesuits in English Canada 1842-2013. (Vol.1). Novalis Publishing Inc.
        Holy Cross Church. Jesuits of Canada. https://jesuits.ca/ministry/holy-cross-church/

        La Compagnie de Jésus au Canada. 1842-1942. L’œuvre d’un siècle. (1942). Les pères jésuites.

        Manitoulin Island Treaties. Government of Canada. https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100028959/1564583230395#chp5

        Leighton, D. (2023). Proulx, Jean-Baptiste (1808-1881). Dictionnaire biographique du Canada, vol.11. Université Laval/University of Toronto. https://www.biographi.ca/fr/bio/proulx_jean_baptiste_1808_1881_11F.html

        Maynard, F. (2012). Jesuit Missions in Northern Ontario (translated and edited by William Lonc). 2nd Edition. (Maynard and Lonc 1941/2012).

        Monet, J. (Dir.). (2015). Builders of a Nation. Jesuits in English Canada 1842-2013. (Vol. 2). Novalis Publishing Inc.

        Monet, J. (Dir.). (2017). Conscience of a Nation. Jesuits in English Canada 1842-2016. (Vol.3). Novalis Publishing Inc.

        National Indigenous Knowledge and Language Alliance. First Nations, Métis and Inuit – Indigenous Ontology (FNMIIO). https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/e/2PACX-1vSOKcm9HB-28iSqNN3sQd5hV7bMLMGpCeGL0dkQgyg2AiZAMWUF0sp98GyxIvLXYIWqSZ3nX_j_q4UN/pubhtml?pli=1#

        Nazar, David. (March 1994). Nineteenth Century Wikwemikong: The Foundation of a Community and an Exploration of its People. Ontario History 86, no. 1: 9-12.

        Shanahan, D.F. (March 1994). The Manitoulin Treaties, 1836-1862: The Indian Department and Indian Destiny. Ontario History 86, no.1: 13-31.

        Shanahan, D.F. (2004). The Jesuit Residential School at Spanish: “More Than Mere Talent”. Canadian Institute of Jesuit Studies.

        The Toronto Postcard Club. Photogelatine Engraving CO. LTD, Ottawa (PECO). https://torontopostcardclub.com/canadian-postcard-publishers/peco/

        Toupin, R. (March 1994). The Holy Cross Mission at Wikwemikong: Jesuit Pioneers, 1844-1870. Ontario History 86, no.1: 73-82.

        Université Laval. Guide pour l’utilisation des vedettes-matières décrivant les Peuples autochtones dans le Répertoire de vedettes-matières (RVM). Version du 1er octobre 2024.
        Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory. (https://www.wiikwemkoong.ca/).

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