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Gabriel Sagard was a French missionary who travelled through New France (Canada) and became the first religious historian in Canada. He spent much time with the Huron and wrote in detail about their customs and beliefs. It was during this missionary work that Sagard met Auoindaon, who was a Huron chief at the time. Sagard's writings including The Long Journey to the Country of the Hurons is some of the most detailed and complete accounts of older Huron civilizations and lifestyles.
Auoindaon and Sagard bonded well together and Auoindaon welcomed Sagard as a visitor. From Sagard's own writing he claims that Auoindaon offered to stay the night with him because Auoindaon feared that Sagard would be harmed by Iroquois who had stormed through the village not too long before.
Sagard accompanied Auoindaon on an annual fishing trip, which was an important part of Huron culture at the time. Documentation of the event describes that fish nets were put out at night and pulled in with catches in the morning. The people attending the event slept in wigwam type structures and set the nets out nearby. A fish- preacher was also present who would talk out to the fish while reciting hymns in the effort to lead the fish to the nets that were set out. Various other rituals were also performed such as throwing tobacco into the fire while reciting hymns and incantations. The fish that were caught during this trip were used for a multitude of things. Many of the fish were boiled for oil, while some others were gutted and hung up to dry. This annual fishing trip was a time of great merryment and celebration for all the members attending.
Auoindaon became convinced that the Europeans were "oki", influential spirits or forces, because the continuous rain storm that had been occurring stopped itself until just after the cabin was finished. Oki were spirits or deities that were particularly respected by the Huron. Although the term could refer to several subjects: such as good and bad spirits as well as revered prophets, deities, angels, or demons.
At one point, they had been allies with the Iroquois, but after a series of attacks the Huron were pushed from their homeland. This is how it was when the Huron first made contact with the Europeans, they were still enemies with the Iroquois. The Huron had strong trading, social and political relations with many tribes of the Ottawa Valley. These tribes include the Petun, Algonquin people, Nipissing, Neutral Nation and Odawa. The Huron community would move locations every decade or so after natural resources in the area had been exhausted such as crop soil and firewood. They also established a confederacy of their own along the northern coastal part of Lake Ontario. Trading was very important to the Huron and the trade relations they established meant that they had access to seashells, wampum, copper, and tobacco.
The Huron accepted and helped French missionaries so that they could establish good trade relations. The first French missionaries to arrive were the Recollects, who were who were French reformers of the Friars Minor. The Recollect missionaries arrived around 1615. Within ten years however, these missionaries would be replaced by Jesuits in 1625. The Jesuits were the people who got permission from Auoindaon to commission and begin building Sainte-Marie among the Hurons nearby the Huron village of Quieunonascaranas.
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