(Image is Ai generated)
According to Huron tradition, a Jesuit missionary priest, Fr Jean de Brebeuf, wrote their first Christmas Carol around 1640-41. The Huron built a small chapel of fir trees and bark in honor of the manger at Bethlehem.
Aloki ekwatatennonten shekwachiendaen
Iontonk ontatiande ndio sen tsatonnharonnion
Ouarie onnawakueton ndio sen tsatonnharonnion
Iesous ahatonnia!
Within a lodge of broken bark
The tender Babe was found,
A ragged robe of rabbit skin
Wrapped His beauty 'round;
But as the hunter braves drew nigh,
The angel song rang loud and high:
Jesus, your King is born,
Jesus is born,
In excelsis gloria.
The animals at the manger were the Fox, the Buffalo and the Bear. The Huron also made a traditional tent of skins and their nativity figures were all dressed as Native Americans. This Huron Carol, originally written in the Huron language and later translated to French, has become a loved Canadian carol today.
