Black Robe (11/4/25 Amanda Capper)


I really liked the Black Robe movie we watched in class. I thought the juxtaposition between the Jesuit missionaries and the Indigenous Algonquin religions is stronger in the beginning of the movie. For example, when the main missionary, Black Robe, wrote in his notebook about the Algonquin man's wife who passed away, the man was amazed and called Black Robe a demon. The Algonquin tribe is an oral society, so they do not have a word for "book." At first, the relationship between the Natives and the Jesuits are tentative and suspicious because of the two different societies - one oral, one with written texts. I wondered while watching the movie whether the Algonquins would have a different reaction to written word if what was written on Black Robe's notebook was not private and personal to one of the members of the Algonquin tribe. Were they only averse to the writing system because the personal information was revealed public? 


Additionally, I really liked how the more the Jesuits and Natives traveled with one another, the closer they became in bond. The Algonquin chief and Black Robe, though completely different, respected one another by the time of the chiefs death. One would expect the chiefs daughter to want her dying father to pick up the pace, continue on the journey. Instead, she wanted him to rest by the tree while the rest of the group kept going. To die in the forest where his dream said he would die. To fulfill a prophecy or vision of some sort. One would also expect Black Robe to leave the Algonquin chief behind and not care for him anymore. Instead, he does the opposite and wants him to keep going through the journey with them. He does not want him to die. I thought this moment was poignant, because it marks a moment where Black Robe recognizes the close relationship that he has with the Algonquins. This shows that it is no longer an us vs. them relationship. The relationship between the Jesuits and the Algonquins is centered around a common goal now: to reach the other camp. They are on a shared journey, not separate. Both groups discover that in order to survive in the harsh, Winter environment, that they need one another.

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