by Shelley J. Pearen
WIIKWEMKOONG—One hundred and seventy-nine years ago, in 1844, a diary officially known as the Wikwemikong Diarium, was started by a Jesuit priest who had joined the Anishinaabe settlement at Wikwemikong. The Diarium included information about daily life, special events and the residents of the vast Wikwemikong mission that stretched from the Bruce Peninsula to Sault Ste. Marie.
Tragically the Wikwemikong Diarium was destroyed in a fire in the mid-1950s. Summaries of the diary made by Jesuit historian priests prior to the fire exist, but these summaries are like having the index to a great book but not having the book.
Miraculously, the Diarium has reappeared. Miraculously is not a word I have ever typed before. But this is a 19th century handwritten document created by priests describing events on a largely undocumented land. So, miraculously, a photostatic copy of the Diarium, created at the Jesuit Mission Academy in Toronto in 1951, has been found and restored. The photostatic images had been rolled and stored for decades. In 2010 they were discovered by a researcher who copied the pages, frame by frame, with a digital camera. The negatives were inverted to positive images and bundled as volumes of pdf (portable document format) digital images.
The years 1844-1875 of the Diarium exist as almost 1,000 images. The images reflect their age and the technical limitations of the 1950s photostat technology. Some entries are illegible or partially illegible, however they contain invaluable details of life and events.
In 2012 I was given the 1,000 images on a flash drive. Not only were they barely legible, but they were in largely in handwritten French. I had previously transcribed and translated about a dozen volumes of letters and reports written in by the same Jesuit priests who created the Diarium so the industrious researcher who created the images thought I might enjoy tackling the Diarium.
She was correct. I did enjoy tackling the Diarium, though I did not think it would take me 10 years. Ten years, word by word, actually mot à mot, phrase à phrase, et page à page. One day I will look back on the pandemic and say that at least I accomplished something staying home—1,000 pages of something, to be exact.
The Wikwemikong Diarium was created by Jesuit priests at the Sainte-Croix or Holy Cross Roman Catholic Mission at Wikwemikong. Jesuit priest Jean-Pierre Choné started the Diarium, his successors continued it well into the 20th century. Entries vary by the author and their experiences and interests. An entry simply recording the temperature or quantity of hay harvested one day, might be followed by a detailed description of a marriage or a council gathering.
The result is a three-volume set totalling almost 500 pages: Wikwemikong Diarium Part 1: 1844-1853; Wikwemikong Diarium Part 2: 1854-1863; and Wikwemikong Diarium Part 3: 1864-1873.
The Diarium is making its way home. Transcription and translation in Ottawa, printing in Espanola, and launching on Manitoulin in May 2023. Then the Wikwemikong Diarium will be returned to the people of Wiikwemikoong, placed with Wikwemikong Development Commission’s Wikwemikong Tourism for distribution. Miraculously, back where it belongs.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Shelley Pearen has been researching Manitoulin history for 50 years. She is the author of Four Voices: the Great Manitoulin Island Treaty of 1862 and the ever-popular Exploring Manitoulin guide.
