Keep in mind that the Jesuits’ beliefs were based in Western, Christian thought. This ideology focused on a patriarchal society—i.e., a society in which the male is the figurehead and the bloodline of the people is traced through the father. Because of this attitude, the Jesuits believed and taught that women were inferior to men and must be subjugated.

Conversely, many of the Amerindian societies in present-day Canada and the northern U.S. were matriarchal. As the bloodline of the society was traced through the mother, she was the parent of prime importance. In addition, many of these native societies were matrilocal, meaning the husband moved in with the wife’s family (which was usually headed a by grandmother or den mother).

Social roles were different than what we (and the Jesuits of the time) considered normal. Although in many of these Amerindian societies the males usually performed the hunting and fishing, the women were in charge of the farming and hide preparation.

The fur trade was a huge factor in the Jesuits’ gaining of influence in these Amerindian societies. Although women prepared the hides and goods (and thus were the “breadwinners” and controllers of wealth in the family), the Jesuits and European merchants refused to trade with women. This shifted the control of wealth from the women to the men in these societies.

This is when the Jesuit ideology began to take root. Women were also the storytellers, so they were in charge of the history, politics and religion of the tribe/clan/longhouse. Women were also the ones who disciplined children. With men gaining an increasing amount of social power, these things—history, politics, religion and the disciplining of children—quickly became a part of Men’s Sphere. Backed by the Jesuits and their religion, Amerindian men were allowed to limit Women’s Sphere to mirror how it was in Europe—restricted to domesticity.

While some of these Amerindian societies were integrated into the Westerners’ “New World” (especially in present-day Canada), some were scattered to the winds by their Jesuit-free neighbors—e.g., the end of Huron society due to Iroquois aggression.

A perfect glimpse at the impact the Jesuits had on Amerindian society can be found in Karen Anderson’s wonderful book ‘Chain Her by One Foot: The Subjugation of Women in Seventeenth-century New France.’ Although I do not agree with some of her conclusions and observations, Anderson’s work is very thorough and comprehensive.