Émile-Fortuné Petitot (also known as Émile-Fortuné-Stanislas-Joseph Petitot) (

Inuk Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and ...

name, ''Mitchi Pitchitork Tchikraynarm iyoyé'', meaning "Mr. Petitot, son of the Sun") (December 3, 1838 – May 13, 1916), a French Missionary Oblate, was a notable Canadian northwest

cartographer Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

ethnologist Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology) ...

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, and writer.

Early years

Petitot was born in

Grancey-le-Château-Neuvelle Grancey-le-Château-Neuvelle () is a Communes of France, commune in the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department in eastern France. The castle was built between 1705 and 1725 by Jacques Eléonor Rouxel de Grancey on the location of a medieva ...

, France. His father, Jean-Baptiste Petitot, was a

clockmaker A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and/or repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly to ...

; his mother was Thérèse-Julie-Fortunée Gagneur. Petitot attended the minor seminary and the Collège du Sacré-Cœur in Grancey. In 1859, he took minor orders of the priesthood before joining the Oblates in September 1860. His training occurred at Notre-Dame-de-l'Osier, and on March 15, 1862, he was ordained in Marseilles. Fourteen days after his

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorization, authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational ...

, he left for Canada's Mackenzie River. The young missionary Petitot traveled with Bishop

Alexandre-Antonin Taché Alexandre-Antonin Taché, O.M.I., (23 July 1823 – 22 June 1894) was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest, missionary of the Oblate order, author, and the first Archbishop of Saint Boniface in Manitoba, Canada. Early life Alexandre-Antonin ...

from Marseilles via Liverpool (where they were joined by another two Oblates,

Constantine Scollen Father Con Scollen OMI. (4 April 1841 – 8 November 1902) was an Irish Catholic, Missionary priest who lived among and evangelized the Blackfoot, Cree and Métis peoples on the Canadian Prairies and in northern Montana in the United States. H ...

and John Duffy) and Montreal to St Boniface (Winnipeg) arriving there on 26 May 1862. He left St. Boniface with the Portage La Loche Brigade June 8 arriving at the

Methye Portage The Methye Portage or Portage La Loche in northwestern Saskatchewan was one of the most important portages in the old fur trade route across Canada. The portage connected the Mackenzie River basin to rivers that ran east to the Atlantic. It wa ...

on July 20. By August 1862, he had traveled to

Great Slave Lake Great Slave Lake (french: Grand lac des Esclaves), known traditionally as Tıdeè in Tłı̨chǫ Yatıì (Dogrib), Tinde’e in Wıìlıìdeh Yatii / Tetsǫ́t’ıné Yatıé (Dogrib / Chipewyan), Tu Nedhé in Dëne Sųłıné Yatıé (Chi ...

in Canada's

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

with the

Hudson's Bay Brigade Trail The Hudson's Bay Brigade Trail, sometimes referred to simply as the Brigade Trail, refers to one of two routes used by Hudson's Bay Company fur traders to transport furs, goods and supplies between coastal and Columbia District headquarters at Fort ...

Career

Petitot was based at Northwest Territories' missions for 12 years, including Fort Norman, Fort Providence,

Fort Resolution Fort Resolution (''Denı́nu Kų́ę́'' (pronounced "deh-nih-noo-kwenh") "moose island place") is a hamlet in the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community is situated at the mouth of the Slave River, on the shores ...

, and

Fort Good Hope Fort Good Hope (formerly ''Fort Hope'', ''Fort Charles'', also now known as the ''Charter Community of K'asho Got'ine''), is a charter community in the Sahtu Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is located on a peninsula between Jackf ...

. Here he collected material for his dictionary of several

Athabascan languages Athabaskan (also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large family of indigenous languages of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, Pacific C ...

. He also collected extensive

legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

s of the Blackfoot,

Chipewyan The Chipewyan ( , also called ''Denésoliné'' or ''Dënesųłı̨né'' or ''Dënë Sųłınë́'', meaning "the original/real people") are a Dene Indigenous Canadian people of the Athabaskan language family, whose ancestors are identified ...

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

, Dogrib,

Hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...

, and Loucheux cultures. From 1864 through 1878, he worked on the design, decoration, and construction of the Church of Our Lady of Good Hope, designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...

. The late 1860s were troublesome years. In 1866, he was temporarily excommunicated, and in 1868, he developed short bouts of insanity. But in the midst of this, in 1867–68, Petitot became the first European to reach the Tuktut Nogait National Park area. Petitot returned to France in 1874 and published his dictionaries and other works. The following year, in 1875, he spoke at the inaugural

International Congress of Americanists The International Congress of Americanists (ICA) is an international academic conference for research in multidisciplinary studies of the Americas. Established August 25, 1875 in Nancy, France, the scholars' forum has met regularly since its incept ...

Nancy, France Nancy ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Nanzisch'' is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the northeastern Departments of France, French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It was the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine, which was Lorraine and Barrois, an ...

making a strong case for the Asiatic origin of

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

and

North American Indian The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...

s. He was awarded a silver medal by the

Société de Géographie The Société de Géographie (; ), is the world's oldest geographical society. It was founded in 1821 as the first Geographic Society. Since 1878, its headquarters have been at 184 Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris. The entrance is marked by two gig ...

for his

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

maps, including the partially traveled

Hornaday River Hornaday River (variants: Big River, Homaday River, Hornaaa River; or Rivière La Roncière-le Noury) is a waterway located above the Arctic Circle on the mainland of Northern Canada. The upper reach of a river first discovered in 1868 was named R ...

, though he referred to it as Rivière La Roncière-le Noury, named in honor of the president of the Société de Géographie. After two years in France, Petitot returned to the North, mostly helping and studying the people of the

area. In late 1881, at Fort Pitt (Sask) he "married" Margarite (Margarita) Valette, a mature Metis woman. In January 1882 he was forcibly taken east by

, an Oblate who had traveled with him and Bishop Tache, to Canada, in 1862. He entered an asylum near Montreal. By 1883, however, his ill health forced him to end his missionary work and return to France. Honoring his scientific contributions, he was awarded the 1883 Back Prize by the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. He became a

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

October 1, 1886 at Mareuil-lès-Meaux, France. Here, he ministered to the sick, and published books and articles on Northern Canada. He died in 1916.

Legacy

* The

Petitot River Petitot is a river in northern Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. It is a tributary of the Liard River. Petitot River originates from Bistcho Lake in northwestern Alberta, and flows westwards along the northern borders of Alberta and Bri ...

is named in his honor. * Painted circa 1867, Petitot's painting of

Fort Edmonton Fort Edmonton (also named Edmonton House) was the name of a series of trading posts of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) from 1795 to 1914, all of which were located on the north banks of the North Saskatchewan River in what is now central Alberta, ...

hangs in the

Alberta Legislature The Legislature of Alberta is the unicameral legislature of the province of Alberta, Canada. The legislature is made of two elements: the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta,. and the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The legislature has existed s ...

's library. * 1975, a plaque was placed by the Canadian Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs at Mareuil-lès-Meaux to commemorate Petitot's scientific contributions to Northern Canada. * 1980, a copy of Petitot's works were donated to the Institute for Northern Studies,

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. * 2005, selections of Petitot's writings on his time in the Canadian North were edited and translated by John Moir, Jacqueline Moir and Paul Laverdue and published by the

Champlain Society The Champlain Society seeks to advance knowledge of Canadian history through the publication of scholarly books (both digital and print) of primary records of voyages, travels, correspondence, diaries and governmental documents and memoranda. Th ...

Partial bibliography

In English: * Moir, John; Moir, Jacqueline; Laverdue, Paul, eds. ''Travels Around Great Slave Lake and Great Bear Lakes, 1862-1882'' The Champlain Society. Toronto: Champlain Society, 2005. In French language: * ''Vocabulaire Français-Esquimau'' OCLC 46291818 * ''Les Amérindiens du nord-ouest canadien du 19e siècle selon Emile Petitot préc. d'une prés. gén. des indiens dènè-dindjié'' (''The Amerindians of the Canadian Northwest in the 19th century, as seen by Émile Petitot''), OCLC 179804765 * ''Monographie de Dènè-Dindjié.'', OCLC 77347629 * ''De l'origine asiatique des Indiens de l'Amérique arctique'', OCLC 45903111 * ''Petit vocabulaire sarcis'', OCLC 35326154 * ''Mémoire abrégé sur la géographie de l'Athabaskaw-Mackenzie et des grands lacs du bassin arctique de l'Amérique'', * (1874). ''Outils en pierre et en os du MacKenzie (cercle polaire arctique)'', OCLC 67291221 * (1876). ''Dictionnaire de la langue dènd̀indjié ; dialectes montagnais ou chippewayan, peaux de lièvre et loucheux renfermant en outre un grand nombre de termes propres a sept autres dialectes de la même langue; précédé d'une monographie des dènè-dindjié, d'une grammaire et de tableaux synoptiques des conjugaisons'', OCLC 78851365 * (1884). ''De la formation du langage. Mots formés par le redoublement de racines hétérogènes, quoique de signification synonyme, c'est-a-dire par réitèration copulative'', OCLC 67290388 * (1890). ''Accord des mythologies dans la cosmogonie des Danites arctiques'', OCLC 253141763 * (1891). ''Autour du grand lac des Esclaves'', OCLC 13624838 * (1911). ''Dates importantes pour l'histoire de la découverte géographique de la puissance du Canada.'', OCLC 62929581

Musical score

* (1889). ''Chants indiens du Canada Nord-Ouest'', OCLC 47709084

Filmography

* 2001, ''I, Emile Petitot — Arctic Explorer and Missionary'', a Getaway Films documentary.http://shandel.ca/blog/film-previews/i-emile-petitot/accessdate=2009-01-12 A one hour documentary produced by Tom Shandel (who also portrays Petitot in the documentary!).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petitot, Emile 1838 births 1916 deaths 19th-century French Roman Catholic priests Roman Catholic missionaries in Canada French Roman Catholic missionaries Missionary linguists People temporarily excommunicated by the Catholic Church Anthropological linguists 19th-century French cartographers 20th-century French Roman Catholic priests French expatriates in Canada Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate