Louis André

Background

Louis André was born on May 28, 1631 in Saint-Rémy, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.

No record of his parents or relatives can be found.

Education

Louis André entered the Society of Jesus at Lyons on 12 September 1650. There he practiced customary Jesuit training in teaching and ecclesiastical studies.

Career

He arrived in Canada on June 7, 1669, after having served for nineteen years as a teacher in southern France. His appointment to New France gratified his desire to carry the gospel message to the Indians. Almost at once he was sent to the Northwest, where, on June 14, 1671, he assisted at the ceremony of taking possession of the western country for Louis XIV.

André's first mission was to the wandering tribes of Lake Huron; the following year he came to Wisconsin and with Allouez built at the modern De Pere the mission of St. François Xavier.

He was assigned to duty among the tribes about Green Bay, and for several years spent all his time preaching and singing in the villages of the Menominee, Potawatomi, Winnebago, and other tribesmen. He carried with him a flute, and taught the Indian children to sing Christian songs to its accompaniment. More than once his cabin was burned in severe winter weather by hostile Indians; he suffered also greatly from gout and was obliged to secure a dog team to draw him over the icy swamps. "Such crosses, " he wrote, "are the delight of missionaries. "

He made use of religious pictures to impress his neophytes, and was more successful with women and children than with chiefs and warriors. With the latter he had many disputes concerning the nature of the devil, and endeavored to substitute the crucifix for their idolatrous emblems. In all he baptized about 500, mostly children, during his ten years of ministration around Green Bay. His letters are those of a garrulous, cheerful, intrepid, and tireless enthusiast, willing to dare and suffer for his beliefs.

After one year (1682-1683) at Mackinac, André was recalled to Quebec, where he taught in the Jesuit College for several years. He was later (1691-1692) a missionary on the lower St. Lawrence above Tadousac, and in 1695 at Seven Islands in the lower river. During all the period after his return from the West he was occupied with linguistic labors and left three manuscripts: "Preceptes, Phrases et Mots de la Langue Algonquine Outaouise pour un Missionaire Nouveau"; "Dictionaire Algonquin"; "Homilies in the Montagnais Language. " A small catechism in the native tongue was printed in 1693.

He never returned to France, and died at Quebec in 1715.

Achievements

• Andrew's major achievement was his devotion to teaching, and later assistance with the evangelization of the American Indians in Quebec. He is also notable for his linguistic and scientific research: he complied Ottawa and Algonquian dictionaries, prepared an Algonquian catechism, and wrote a journal of the Green Bay tides.

Religion

For his whole life he remained a Jesuit.

Connections

No record of his family can be found. Presumably, he never married.