The abundance of supplies was partly the product of individual effort and partly the result of careful planning in France by the sieur de Mons, who had enlisted the aid of merchants in La Rochelle. Lescarbot, for one, was appreciative. “We owe much praise to the said M. de Mons and his partners, Messrs. Macquin and Georges of Rochelle, who made such honorable provision for us. For our rations we had peas, beans, rice, prunes, raisins, dried cod and salt meat, besides oil and butter.” Fuel was not a problem. “Our wood-sawyers several times made us a great quantity of charcoal.”43
In the late summer and fall of 1606, as we have seen, Poutrincourt and Champlain went exploring on the coast of Norumbega. The rest remained at Port-Royal under Lescarbot’s authority. He kept the peace, worked well with the Indians, supported the spiritual life of the colony, and spent much of his time at his writing desk.
On November 16, 1606, the sieur de Poutrincourt and Champlain limped back into Port-Royal in a battered barque with a broken rudder and three men wounded from their bloody encounter with the hostile Indians of Cape Cod.44 They were amazed to be welcomed by Marc Lescarbot with a theatrical entertainment, an elaborate masque that he had written specially for the occasion. It was staged on the water at Port-Royal with music, verse, costumes, and special decorations on the fort. French workers wore Indian clothing. The real Indians attended, some afloat in their canoes; more than a few were probably wearing articles of European dress that they had acquired in trade.45
Lescarbot called this spectacle Le Théâtre de Neptune. It had a cast of eleven actors: the Sea God Neptune, six Tritons, and four Frenchmen dressed as Indians, plus at least one trumpet and drum. Poutrincourt and Champlain were asked to take seats in their barque, while a shallop approached, bearing Neptune in a regal blue robe, wearing a crown and carrying a trident. He greeted the sieur de Poutrincourt with a poem of praise for his courage.
Marc Lescarbot’s masque, The Theatre of Neptune, was performed on November 16, 1606, to welcome Poutrincourt’s return to the colony. The drawing is by artist-historian C. W. Jeff reys.
Hail to you, Sagamos, rest and stay awhile!
Come listen to a God who welcomes with a smile! …
Neptune and his Tritons took turns reciting many lines of Lescarbot’s classical verse, punctuated by trumpet and drum, and leavened by Parisian jests that mocked the manners and speech of French colonists who came from the provinces to the south and west. The masque reached its climax in a panegyric to the sieur de Poutrincourt:
Go then with happiness and follow on the way
Wherever fortune leads you since I foresee the day,
When a prosperous domain you will prepare for France
In this fair new world, and the future will enhance
The glory of De Mons, so too, your name shall ring
Immortal in the reign of Henry—your great and puissant king.
This was the first recorded theatrical production performed in New France. Historian Marcel Trudel quoted a comment by an anonymous contemporary of Champlain: “When the French founded a colony, the first thing they built was a theater; the English, a counting house; the Spanish, a convent.”46
This masque was not the first European theatrical production in North America, as has often been claimed. Spaniards had performed at least three dramas before The Theatre of Neptune—at Florida as early as 1567, Cuba in 1590, and New Mexico in 1598. No texts have survived, but the theatrical in New Mexico was described as “written by a Spanish soldier in celebration of their conquests.”47 Marc Lescarbot’s Theatre of Neptune is all the more interesting by its contrast with that earlier work. It is not in any way a celebration of military conquest. Poutrincourt and the French settlers are welcomed by four Indians who “render homage” to the sacred fleur de lys of the French, and hope for the establishment of “all that is good and peaceful.” After the welcoming speeches, the Indians are welcomed in their turn to the French habitation and they all break bread together.48 The play proclaims the excellence of French culture, but treats Indians with respect, celebrates an entirely peaceful encounter, and ends with Indians and Europeans dwelling together in peace.49
Music and celebration had a prominent place in the life of Port-Royal. To Lescarbot’s masque, Poutrincourt also added his own entertainments. He was a gifted musician who, in the words of one historian, “seriously contends for the title of North America’s first composer.”50 He also wrote religious and secular pieces for production in Port-Royal. Lescarbot wrote, “I remember that on a Sunday afternoon, the 14th of [January 1607], we amused ourselves by singing music along the banks of the Rivière l’Équille, now called Dauphin River, and that during this same month we paid visit to the cornields, two leagues from our fort, and dined joyously in the sunshine.”51
The settlers observed saints’ days and royal birthdays with musical events. In the spring of 1607, they learned that the queen had given birth to a second son, “Monseigneur le duc d’Orléans,” a large title for a newborn baby. His arrival greatly cheered the men of Port-Royal. The birth of a second son meant that their good king Henri IV had two sons who could inherit the throne, and his subjects had brighter hopes for peace and stability in France. Champlain wrote that the news brought “great rejoicing (rejiouissance).” Lescarbot recalled their celebrations. “We made bonfires in honour of the birth of my lord the Duke of Orléans, and began afresh to make our cannon and falconets thunder, with good store of musketry, though not until after we had sung a The Deum for the occasion.”52
* * *
The leaders of this French colony were devoted to the idea of living well in L’Acadie. When winter came in 1606–07, Champlain added his own contribution. He explained: “We spent this winter very pleasantly, and had good fare by means of an Ordre de Bon Temps, which I established and which everybody found beneficial to his health, and more profitable than all the varieties of medicines that we might have used.”53
In a happy turn of phrase, Champlain’s English-speaking editors W. F. Ganong and H. P. Biggar translated the “Ordre de Bon Temps” as the Order of Good Cheer, and so it has remained in anglophone Canada. Champlain himself thought of it as an order in the sense of a medal or decoration. “This order,” he wrote, “consisted of a chain which we used to place with certain small ceremonies around the neck of one of our company, commissioning him to go hunting that day. The next day it was conferred on another, and so on in succession. All competed with one another to do it best and to bring back the finest game. We did not come off badly, nor did the sauvages who were with us.”54
Lescarbot confirmed Champlain’s invention of this order, and added more detail. “To this Order,” he wrote, “each man of the said table was appointed Chief Steward in his turn, which came round once a fortnight. Now this person had the duty of taking care that we were all well and honorably provided for. This was so well carried out that, though the epicures of Paris often tell us that we had no Rue aux Ours over there, as a rule we made as good cheer as we could have in this same Rue aux Ours and at less cost,” than on that Paris Street famed for its cooked meats.55
Champlain founded the Ordre de Bon Temps, a dining society, at Port-Royal. This reconstruction by C.W. Jeffreys closely follows accounts by Champlain and Lescarbot.
He continued: “There was no one who, two days before his turn came, failed to go hunting or fishing, and to bring back some delicacy in addition to our ordinary fare. So well was this carried out that never at breakfast did we lack some savory meat of flesh or fish, and still less at our midday or evening meals; for that was our chief banquet, at which the ruler of the feast or chief butler [architriclin], whom the savages call Atoctegic, having had everything prepared by the cook, marched in, napkin on shoulder, wand of office in hand, and around his neck the collar of the Order, which was worth more than four crowns; after him, all the members of the Order, each carrying a dish. The same was repeated at dessert, though not always with so much pomp. And at night, before giving thanks to God, he ha
nded over to his successor the collar of the Order, with a cup of wine, and they drank to each other.”56
So enthused was Lescarbot that he added more detail. “I have already said that we had abundance of game, such as ducks, bustards, grey and white geese, partridges, larks, and other birds; moreover, moose, caribou, beaver, otter, bear, rabbits, wildcats (or leopards), raccoons, and other animals such as the savages caught, whereof we made dishes well worth those of the cook-shop in the Rue aux Ours, and far more; for of all our meats none is so tender as moose-meat (whereof we also made excellent pasties), and nothing so delicate as beaver’s tail. Yea, sometimes we had half-a-dozen sturgeon at once, which the savages brought us, part of which we bought, and allowed them to sell the remainder publicly and to barter it for bread, of which our men had abundance. As for the ordinary rations brought from France, they were distributed equally to great and small alike; and, as we have said, the wine was served in like manner.”57
Champlain intended his Order of Good Cheer to be something more than merely a dining society. He believed that scurvy could be kept at bay by a diet of fresh meat and that health could be improved by exercise and entertainment. The Order of Good Cheer also promoted comity among the leaders of the colony, and encouraged an idea of service and mutual support. Altogether, it was a brilliant success.58
Most of its members can be identified. At the head of the table was Poutrin-court, “commandant” of the colony. Others included his son Biencourt and cousins Charles and Claude de la Tour, Captain Boullay, surgeon Estienne, apothecary Hébert, nobleman Fougeray de Vitré, Robert du Pont-Gravé, son of Champlain’s old friend, Daniel Hay, Marc Lescarbot, and Champlain. Also a member was François Addenin, one of the best shots in the settlement, who supplied the table “abundantly with gamebirds.”59
The “lower orders” of French colonists were not invited, but Indians were very much a part of these events. “At these proceedings,” Lescarbot wrote, “we always had twenty or thirty sauvages, men, women, girls and children, who looked on at our manner of service. Bread was given to them gratis as one would do to the poor. As for sagamore Membertou and other chiefs who came from time to time, they sat at table, eating and drinking like ourselves. And we were glad to see them while, on the contrary, their absence saddened us, as happened three or four times when they all went away to the places wherein they knew that there was hunting.”60
A key to Port-Royal’s success was the relationship between the French and the Acadian Indians, who were four nations by Champlain’s reckoning, and six by ours today. Champlain and Lescarbot referred to them as Souriquois (now the Mi’kmaq), mostly on the east coast of the Bay of Fundy, the Etchemin (now Maliseet, Penobscot, and Passamaquoddy) on the west coast, Abenaquioit (now Abenaki or Wabenaki) inland to the west, and the Canadien, who lived north of Acadia and south of the St. Lawrence River. The Canadien were probably a southern branch of the people who were called Montagnais by Champlain. These nations were primarily hunters and gatherers, but they were not primitive, as too often they have been made to appear. They were highly skilled traders, and thought of themselves as superior to the farming nations to the south and west. All spoke Algonquian languages, but in different dialects. All were enemies of the hated Iroquois, but they also fought each other. They hoped that the French would be trading partners and allies in their incessant wars. Champlain tried to keep peace among them.61
The French deliberately settled very near the Indians and were comfortable in their presence. In a country of enormous size, they did not attempt to drive the Indians off the land or to push them away. To the contrary, French leaders of Port-Royal invited Mi’kmaq sagamores to share their table, and to eat and drink with them as equals on a regular basis. The Mi’kmaq in turn welcomed the French as neighbors. Each side invited the other to tabagies, as Champlain had done at Tadoussac and again on the Penobscot River. In these festivals, the French were quick to adopt Indian customs of evening feasts, with speeches and dancing, and smoking together. The Mi’kmaq sponsored some of these gatherings, and the French reciprocated. It was very different from the English in Massachusetts and Virginia, who settled apart from the Indians, kept them at a distance, annexed large tracts of land, and cultivated an attitude of distrust and contempt.
The French also sent young gentlemen of the highest rank in the colony to live among the Indians, master their languages, and learn their ways. Three in particular did so in Acadia. One was Poutrincourt’s son Charles de Biencourt, fifteen years old in 1606, and his young cousin Charles La Tour, aged about fourteen. A third was Pont-Gravé’s son Robert, who was about the same age.62 They leaped at the opportunity. Biencourt and La Tour learned the languages of the Souriquois and the Etchemin. Gravé became fluent in the Etchemin tongue. All of them learned much more besides. As M. A. MacDonald writes, “the French boys” began to “acquire woodcraft, visiting the Indian camps and taking easily to Indian ways.” She tells us that they learned how to build a birchbark canoe, and steer it without splash or ripple. They learned to glide through the forest without a sound, and mastered “the wide-swinging snow-shoe stride, tracking moose through deep snows, learning to keep all senses alert, to be aware of everything—wind direction, broken twigs, shades of expression on a human face.” All three became leaders of French settlement in Acadia. They moved easily among Indian and French cultures, and understood the customs of the country.63
Champlain also fostered Indian relations in another way. More than any other high leader in New France, he sought out Indians in their own territory, and visited them with only one or two companions. He formed enduring relationships with many native leaders. Among his friends were Secoudon the sagamore of the St. John Valley, Bessabez in the Penobscot Valley, Sasinou in the Quinibequi country (Kennebec today), and many more.64
The most important of these relationships was with the Souriquois sagamore Membertou, who lived close to Port-Royal. Some scholars have tried to minimize his role and have accused Champlain of exaggerating his position, but Lescarbot and the missionaries had the same judgment of his importance. Nearly all wrote that he was a man of great influence, the leader of a group of four hundred Indians, and builder of “a town surrounded by high palisades.” Jesuit Father Pierre Biard met him and described him as “the greatest, most renowned and most formidable savage within the memory of man: of a splendid physique, taller and larger-limbed than is usual among them, bearded like a Frenchman, though scarcely any of the others have hair upon the chin; grave and reserved; feeling a proper sense of dignity for his position as a commander.”65 He appeared before the French in a “beautiful otter robe” that was much coveted by French leaders and added greatly to his gravitas. Membertou combined many roles as warrior, magistrate, healer, and soothsayer. He was also a shaman or aoutmoin—a prophet, healer, and medicine man. His biographer writes that “the prestige of aoutmoin reinforced that of the sagamo and gave him a special authority in the councils.” At the same time Membertou was a leader in trade and acquired his own European shallop, which he decorated with his own totems and used to sail the coast of Acadia.66 He sailed far out to sea, met approaching ships, and offered Indian goods at high prices—forestalling the coastal markets.
When the French arrived, Membertou was elderly but fit and very strong. Lescarbot, never at his best with numbers, reckoned his age as “at least 100,” and he had a son aged sixty, “though even now he does not look more than fifty years old.”67 The French were amazed by the keenness of Membertou’s senses. One morning, he shouted to the French that a sail was heading toward Port-Royal. “All ran to see, but none was found with such good sight as he,” Lescarbot remembered. “We soon saw [that it was] a small merchant vessel.”68
Lescarbot, Poutrincourt, and Champlain held Membertou in high respect, but they understood him in different ways. Lescarbot was mainly interested in writing a work of literature that celebrated the humanity of the American Indians. “From a human point of view at least,” he wrote, “the savages
were more humane and more honorable than many of those who bear the name of Christians.”69 He applied that idea to Membertou and made him the model of a noble savage who led his people with wisdom. “He has under him a number of families whom he rules, not with as much authority as our king has over his subjects, but by his ability to harangue, to give counsel, to lead into war, and to give justice to those who received injury.” Lescarbot added, “He does not impose taxes on them, but if there is a hunt, he gets a share without taking part in it. It is true that sometimes he is given presents of beaver pelts and other things when he is employed to heal the sick or exorcise demons, or to reveal the future or those who are absent…. Membertou is the one who has practised these arts among his people. He has done it so well that his reputation is very high among the other sagamores in the land.”70
This “Gourd of Membertou” was elaborately carved to symbolize an alliance between the Mi’kmaq sagamore Membertou and the French. It also bears the arms of the Robin family, who helped to fund Port-Royal and sent several men to Acadia.
Poutrincourt approached the Indians in another spirit. He “regarded as the chief end of his journey thither to bring about the salvation of these poor, savage and barbarous tribes.” To that purpose, he saw in Membertou a way of converting the “savages of Acadia” to Christianity, and persuaded him to be baptized along with his family. Poutrincourt himself served as the sponsor and chose Christian names for each convert. Membertou and his wife and eldest son were named Henri, Marie, and Louis after the first family of France. Other members of Membertou’s family were christened with the names of French noblemen.71
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