Huron Carol (English/French/Wendat)

This is my original arrangement of Canada's oldest Christmas Carol.
Purchase on my website if ya like! www.adamruzzo.com

Adam Ruzzo - Vocals, guitar, bouzouki - www.adamruzzo.com
Ian Tamblyn - Hammer Dulcimer - www.iantamblyn.com
Max Senitt - Percussion - https://www.maxsenitt.com

This song is considered to be Canada's oldest Carol. A Jesuit by the name of Jean de Brebeuf wrote the words in wendat to an old French traditional melody "Une Jeune Purcelle" while living among the Huron people on the shores of Lake Huron in 1640. History is messy, history happens... He wrote the song in an effort to teach the Hurons about Christianity, about the birth of Jesus. He likely thought he was saving these people from eternal suffering because they didn't know of Christianity.

Regardless of moral opinions the matter, the song encapsulates the early origins of modern day Canada - Jesuits, Huron people, imagery of wilderness, native culture meets European culture, Gitchi Manitou meets Jesus so to speak.

Shortly after writing this song for the Huron people, Jean and other Hurons were taken captive, ritually tortured and killed by Iroquois in 1649. But this song remains, and the result is a hauntingly beautiful gem of history bordering on the mystical.