Between Conversion and Apostasy: The Religious Journey of Pierre-Anthoine Pastedechouan

Authors

  • Emma Anderson University of Ottawa

Keywords:

conversion, de-conversion, apostasy, cultural and religious encounter, 17th-century Canada, Innu, Recollets

Abstract

This article profiles the life of Pierre-Anthoine Pastedechouan, a 17th-century Innu convert to Catholicism. Taken to France by missionaries in his youth, Pastedechouan underwent five years of linguistic and theological training. Following his repatriation, the young man's failure to conform to his people's social expectations alienated him from his cradle culture even as his tentative attempts at rapprochement aroused the suspicion of his missionary mentors. Rejected by both his people and the church, Pastedechouan died alone of exposure and starvation. This article will chart the events of Pastedechouan's life and examine his dual legacy to scholars of post-contact Aboriginal religious change and to contemporary First Nations.

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Published

2022-06-28

How to Cite

Anderson, E. (2022). Between Conversion and Apostasy: The Religious Journey of Pierre-Anthoine Pastedechouan. Anthropologica, 49(1), 17–34. Retrieved from https://cas-sca.journals.uvic.ca/index.php/anthropologica/article/view/2427

Issue

Vol. 49 No. 1 (2007): Social and Political Dimensions of Religious Conversion

Section

Thematic Section:

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