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Father August Brabant, Saviour or Scourge?
Father August Brabant, Saviour or Scourge? by Jim McDowell (Ronsdale Press $24.95)
Mention Jim McDowell in the milieu of writers festivals, grants and Facebook-fostered book launches and you'll likely draw a blank.
But his illuminating investigation of alleged cannibalism on the West Coast, Hamatsa: The Enigma of Cannibalism on the Pacific Northwest Coast (Ronsdale 1997) easily ranks as one of the great, under-acknowledged works of B.C. historical literature.
In that book, McDowell painstakingly reveals how the practice of ritual (symbolic) cannibalism on the West Coast has been misinterpreted, largely due to untrustworthy and ignorant accounts of early mariners, which were recycled by the settlers and colonists who followed.
"Cannibalism did not represent the type of gastronomic custom that may have existed among certain aboriginal societies in Africa or the South Sea Islands,"; he concludes. "On the contrary, the eating of human flesh was abhorrent to all Northwest Coast Indians. It was precisely this loathing that made the gruesome rite all the more powerful.";
Following his acclaimed biographical study, José Narvaez: The Forgotten Explorer. Including his narrative of a voyage on the Northwest Coast in 1788 (Spokane: Arthur H. Clark Company, 1998), McDowell has generated another definitive work, this time focusing on one of the most fascinating and controversial missionaries of the West Coast, August Joseph Brabant.
Not surprisingly, Father August Brabant, Saviour or Scourge? is another thoroughly documented, even-handed account that reveals Brabant's life and thoughts through his substantial writings, as well as the author's meticulous research and observations.
As an idealistic, 24-year-old missionary, Brabant left Belgium for Victoria in 1869 and underwent a long apprenticeship in Victoria before he was sent to live and work amongst the Hesquiahts in a remote coastal village, 275-km northwest of Victoria.
Having first visited the West Coast of Vancouver Island with Right Reverend Charles Seghers in 1874, and having just returned from Sitka, Alaska, Brabant arrived at Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island as a 29-year-old Catholic priest, aboard the twenty-eight-ton schooner Surprise, and he proceeded to stubbornly operate "the poorest church in Christendom"; at Hesquiaht, at the north end of Clayoquot Sound, about a four-hour boat trip from Tofino, from 1875 to 1908.
Not long after his arrival in 1875, Brabant's fingers in his right hand were deformed after he was attacked by Hesquiaht Chief Matlahaw who, fearful he had contracted smallpox from Brabant, shot Brabant twice using Brabant's own gun. First Matlahaw shot Brabant in the right hand. While the priest was cleaning his injury in a creek, Matlahaw sprayed the missionary with buckshot in his back and shoulder.
Brabant was rescued by a British man-of-war, H.M.S. Rocket, and recovered in Victoria. His return to Hesquiaht greatly enhanced his reputation as a formidable force. Speaking Chinook (an intermediate pidgin language) and using a local translator, he held Mass and taught the Lord's Prayer, stubbornly opposing Nuu-chah-nulth shamans.
"They blame me for the absence of food. They laugh at the doctrine which I teach. I can do nothing by making the sign of the Cross. I am neither a white man nor an Indian,"; he wrote. "I am the Chigha, the devil.";
Nevertheless, Brabant stubbornly persisted. Brabant's memoir of his missionary work first appeared in serialized form in The Messenger of the Sacred Heart. His serialized reports were republished collectively as Vancouver Islands and its Missions, 1874-1900 (Messenger of the Sacred Heart Press, 1900) which formed the basis of a 1920 biography by Reverend Van Der Heyden .
"Because six versions of Father August Joseph Brabant's life were written between 1900 and 1983,"; McDowell notes in his preface, "the reader may justifiably ask: Why do we need a seventh? What is new or different about this one?";
If words such as 'well-balanced' and 'meticulous' don't stir you to pick up this book, how about 'surprisingly gripping reading' and 'intriguing characters'?
Father August Brabant: Saviour or Scourge? is not only a biography, it is a classic tale of conflicting ideologies embodied by two men.
Brabant was determined to save and civilize indigenous people who he considered his "children."; Meanwhile the Hesquiaht knew they were a proud culture that could trace its heritage back thousands of years.
Packed with deception, heroism, murder, white-knuckle adventure on the seas, pestilences, battles and shipwrecks, this examination of Brabant's character simultaneously documents the changing times for aboriginals, their increasing contact with Europeans, their efforts to resist acculturation, and the slow swing to commercial sealing and a cash economy.
In his sidebars, footnotes, sizeable appendix and endnotes, McDowell describes many of the beliefs, practices and lore of the aboriginal population. For example, Transformers are supernatural beings whose power pervades the world and whose spiritual energy can be accessed by unique human beings such as shaman, powerful chiefs, and other avatars.
The historic photos are well-chosen, although most readers may yearn for more to break up the sometimes daunting text.
Today, we can condemn this arrogant priest for living and preaching among the Hesquiaht for so long without bothering to master their language, yet made sweeping assumptions about being understood and winning converts.
In his ignorance, Father Brabant made many fundamental errors that are still being made by zealous missionaries: pushing to convert without first understanding or respecting, and focusing on salvation without taking service into account.
However, we can also appreciate the hardships that these early Christian crusaders bore. Many times Brabant slept on the bare ground when travelling, went without meals, and risked his life in dugout canoes on long open-sea journeys.
Known for building several log churches, Brabant recruited indigenous labour, transported building materials by canoe, felled timber and cut lumber by hand, acted as architect and supervisor, and thrived on the exhausting work.
He watched the Hesquiahts suffer through famines when the sea was too rough for the men to fish; he survived more than one attempted murder and numerous threats to his authority; he serviced the sick-albeit ineffectually - 24/7, and yet he endured.";
Shored up as he was by his faith and the inviolability of his mission, Brabant weathered repeated setbacks and disappointments, more than a few depressions, and moved stubbornly toward his goal.
He viewed Protestant missionaries who arrived after him as devils who were 'perverting' his children. They were moving in and building churches nearby, giving the Catholic church another perceived challenge. Brabant's response was to open the first "Indian"; residential school on Vancouver Island.
Christie School opened in 1900 on Meares Island, linking the priest's name forever with a shameful history.
McDowell is critical of Brabant's attitudes and actions as a missionary, including his role in launching a notorious residential school.
Nevertheless, his criticism is balanced with historical, social, and political explanations that help the reader understand Brabant's behaviour.
McDowell also credits the priest for his invaluable writings and records.
Prior to turning his hand to Pacific Rim historical subjects, Jim McDowell served as the first director of the Carnegie Centre in Vancouver, forging the inner-city community centre that today remains a remarkable gathering place for the under-privileged.
978-1-55380-189-4
Cherie Thiessen writes from Pender Island.
Mention Jim McDowell in the milieu of writers festivals, grants and Facebook-fostered book launches and you'll likely draw a blank.
But his illuminating investigation of alleged cannibalism on the West Coast, Hamatsa: The Enigma of Cannibalism on the Pacific Northwest Coast (Ronsdale 1997) easily ranks as one of the great, under-acknowledged works of B.C. historical literature.
In that book, McDowell painstakingly reveals how the practice of ritual (symbolic) cannibalism on the West Coast has been misinterpreted, largely due to untrustworthy and ignorant accounts of early mariners, which were recycled by the settlers and colonists who followed.
"Cannibalism did not represent the type of gastronomic custom that may have existed among certain aboriginal societies in Africa or the South Sea Islands,"; he concludes. "On the contrary, the eating of human flesh was abhorrent to all Northwest Coast Indians. It was precisely this loathing that made the gruesome rite all the more powerful.";
Following his acclaimed biographical study, José Narvaez: The Forgotten Explorer. Including his narrative of a voyage on the Northwest Coast in 1788 (Spokane: Arthur H. Clark Company, 1998), McDowell has generated another definitive work, this time focusing on one of the most fascinating and controversial missionaries of the West Coast, August Joseph Brabant.
Not surprisingly, Father August Brabant, Saviour or Scourge? is another thoroughly documented, even-handed account that reveals Brabant's life and thoughts through his substantial writings, as well as the author's meticulous research and observations.
As an idealistic, 24-year-old missionary, Brabant left Belgium for Victoria in 1869 and underwent a long apprenticeship in Victoria before he was sent to live and work amongst the Hesquiahts in a remote coastal village, 275-km northwest of Victoria.
Having first visited the West Coast of Vancouver Island with Right Reverend Charles Seghers in 1874, and having just returned from Sitka, Alaska, Brabant arrived at Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island as a 29-year-old Catholic priest, aboard the twenty-eight-ton schooner Surprise, and he proceeded to stubbornly operate "the poorest church in Christendom"; at Hesquiaht, at the north end of Clayoquot Sound, about a four-hour boat trip from Tofino, from 1875 to 1908.
Not long after his arrival in 1875, Brabant's fingers in his right hand were deformed after he was attacked by Hesquiaht Chief Matlahaw who, fearful he had contracted smallpox from Brabant, shot Brabant twice using Brabant's own gun. First Matlahaw shot Brabant in the right hand. While the priest was cleaning his injury in a creek, Matlahaw sprayed the missionary with buckshot in his back and shoulder.
Brabant was rescued by a British man-of-war, H.M.S. Rocket, and recovered in Victoria. His return to Hesquiaht greatly enhanced his reputation as a formidable force. Speaking Chinook (an intermediate pidgin language) and using a local translator, he held Mass and taught the Lord's Prayer, stubbornly opposing Nuu-chah-nulth shamans.
"They blame me for the absence of food. They laugh at the doctrine which I teach. I can do nothing by making the sign of the Cross. I am neither a white man nor an Indian,"; he wrote. "I am the Chigha, the devil.";
Nevertheless, Brabant stubbornly persisted. Brabant's memoir of his missionary work first appeared in serialized form in The Messenger of the Sacred Heart. His serialized reports were republished collectively as Vancouver Islands and its Missions, 1874-1900 (Messenger of the Sacred Heart Press, 1900) which formed the basis of a 1920 biography by Reverend Van Der Heyden .
"Because six versions of Father August Joseph Brabant's life were written between 1900 and 1983,"; McDowell notes in his preface, "the reader may justifiably ask: Why do we need a seventh? What is new or different about this one?";
If words such as 'well-balanced' and 'meticulous' don't stir you to pick up this book, how about 'surprisingly gripping reading' and 'intriguing characters'?
Father August Brabant: Saviour or Scourge? is not only a biography, it is a classic tale of conflicting ideologies embodied by two men.
Brabant was determined to save and civilize indigenous people who he considered his "children."; Meanwhile the Hesquiaht knew they were a proud culture that could trace its heritage back thousands of years.
Packed with deception, heroism, murder, white-knuckle adventure on the seas, pestilences, battles and shipwrecks, this examination of Brabant's character simultaneously documents the changing times for aboriginals, their increasing contact with Europeans, their efforts to resist acculturation, and the slow swing to commercial sealing and a cash economy.
In his sidebars, footnotes, sizeable appendix and endnotes, McDowell describes many of the beliefs, practices and lore of the aboriginal population. For example, Transformers are supernatural beings whose power pervades the world and whose spiritual energy can be accessed by unique human beings such as shaman, powerful chiefs, and other avatars.
The historic photos are well-chosen, although most readers may yearn for more to break up the sometimes daunting text.
Today, we can condemn this arrogant priest for living and preaching among the Hesquiaht for so long without bothering to master their language, yet made sweeping assumptions about being understood and winning converts.
In his ignorance, Father Brabant made many fundamental errors that are still being made by zealous missionaries: pushing to convert without first understanding or respecting, and focusing on salvation without taking service into account.
However, we can also appreciate the hardships that these early Christian crusaders bore. Many times Brabant slept on the bare ground when travelling, went without meals, and risked his life in dugout canoes on long open-sea journeys.
Known for building several log churches, Brabant recruited indigenous labour, transported building materials by canoe, felled timber and cut lumber by hand, acted as architect and supervisor, and thrived on the exhausting work.
He watched the Hesquiahts suffer through famines when the sea was too rough for the men to fish; he survived more than one attempted murder and numerous threats to his authority; he serviced the sick-albeit ineffectually - 24/7, and yet he endured.";
Shored up as he was by his faith and the inviolability of his mission, Brabant weathered repeated setbacks and disappointments, more than a few depressions, and moved stubbornly toward his goal.
He viewed Protestant missionaries who arrived after him as devils who were 'perverting' his children. They were moving in and building churches nearby, giving the Catholic church another perceived challenge. Brabant's response was to open the first "Indian"; residential school on Vancouver Island.
Christie School opened in 1900 on Meares Island, linking the priest's name forever with a shameful history.
McDowell is critical of Brabant's attitudes and actions as a missionary, including his role in launching a notorious residential school.
Nevertheless, his criticism is balanced with historical, social, and political explanations that help the reader understand Brabant's behaviour.
McDowell also credits the priest for his invaluable writings and records.
Prior to turning his hand to Pacific Rim historical subjects, Jim McDowell served as the first director of the Carnegie Centre in Vancouver, forging the inner-city community centre that today remains a remarkable gathering place for the under-privileged.
978-1-55380-189-4
Cherie Thiessen writes from Pender Island.
Submitted on March 8, 2013 in By David.
