The Location of the New Church and the Old Native American Huts.

The Location of the New Church and the Old Native American Huts.

The text on the back of this image, written by one of the Jesuits, read, “These Indian hits are typical. They are small, but warm and comfortable. One year the [Natives] and [their] friends will cut the logs and haul them from the mts. to the proposed location of his home, for 3 yrs. more he will consider whether he wants it just there or not; in the fourth year [they’ll] haul the logs to a better place, for two years more [they’ll] consider how the house should be built, in the 7th year [they’ll] move back to the old place; in the 8th [they’ll] put up the frame work; in the 9th [they’ll] jolly [themselves] on all [they] have done so far; in the 10th, the house will be completed— by the Fathers for him.”

This sort of rhetoric reveals the derogatory opinions many Jesuit Priests imposed onto the Native Americans who thrived on this land for generations. The Jesuits felt they were a more "civilized" peoples who often considered the Natives to be helpless. This stance problematizes the relationship between these two peoples and reveals how it was often a colonial relationship of manipulative power.

St. Ignatius Mission Collection, Jesuit Oregon Province Archives

Contact the Jesuit Oregon Province Archives, at Gonzaga University, for permission to copy or publish this image.

JPG.

Still Image.