Writing was a powerful weapon in establishing the balance of power between the French government and Indigenous peoples in New France and contributed to the construction of the colonial state.
Maxime Gohier, a researcher in the Department of Letters and Humanities at the Université du Québec à Rimouski, came to this conclusion after painstaking work involving the analysis of over 500 documents recounting oral exchanges between Indigenous chiefs and the authorities of New France.
As the speeches made by Indigenous chiefs were all reported by the French, some remarks may have been omitted or distorted. The governor is known to have filtered the information sent to Versailles in order to portray his administration in a positive light.
These writings often describe Indigenous chiefs as skilled diplomats with, however, a tendency to get angry, cry or lose their temper (note that in France at the time, mastering one’s emotions was a hallmark of “civilization”). Conversely, the governor is portrayed as a man in control of his emotions, who can discipline the “natives” while still claiming to love them. These representations helped forge a paternalistic relationship between colonial power and the Indigenous people.
The transcription of Indigenous speeches became more formalized over time. Initially integrated into letters or travel accounts, they were gradually treated as separate documents, destined to be archived. This evolution shows the increasing construction and formalization of the colonial state, particularly after the arrival of Governor Frontenac in 1672.
The research project also led to the creation of one of the world’s first French-language handwritten text recognition models, in partnership with the European cooperative READ-COOP. This breakthrough was made possible by Transkribus, a software platform that uses artificial intelligence to transcribe manuscripts almost instantaneously. This new tool is a real boost for research into the history of New France.