Chrestien Le Clercq, O.M.R., (born 1641) was a Recollect Franciscan friar and

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

to the

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...

on the Gaspé peninsula of Canada in the mid-17th century. He was a chronicler of

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

, who wrote two early histories, and translator of a Native American language of that region, adapting an apparently indigenous

mnemonic A mnemonic device ( ), memory trick or memory device is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval in the human memory, often by associating the information with something that is easier to remember. It makes use of e ...

glyph system into a writing system known as Míkmaq hieroglyphic writing.

Life

A Fleming by birth, Le Clercq joined the Recollect

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of St.

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, based in

Artois Artois ( , ; ; Picard: ''Artoé;'' English adjective: ''Artesian'') is a region of northern France. Its territory covers an area of about 4,000 km2 and it has a population of about one million. Its principal cities include Arras (Dutch: ...

. He was sent to the missions of the

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in Canada in 1673. On 11 October of that year, he was put in charge of the Micmac mission by Francois de Laval, the Bishop of Quebec. There he learned the language of that tribe and devoted himself to its evangelization. In 1676 he tried to persuade the Micmacs that it would be more advantageous to build houses in the French manner, which earned him a stunning rebuke from the Micmac Chief.Penny Petrone, ''First People, First Voices''
University of Toronto Press: (1984), p. 18 Le Clercq, said that he had seen some

children using charcoal to write on birchbark with hieroglyphics. He was inspired by this to adapt these symbols to teach hymns and prayers. The Mi'kmaq sometimes used porcupine quills directly into the bark in the shape of symbols. Le Clercq's superiors sent him back to France in 1680 on business connected with the Franciscan missions in Canada. He returned the following spring with letters authorizing the foundation of a friary in

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, where he went during the summer of 1681 to carry out this work. In November he returned to the Micmac mission, where he spent the next twelve years. In autumn 1686 Le Clercq left Canada permanently and returned to France, where he filled various positions of authority in the Artois Province of his Order. The date of his death is unknown, but he was still living in 1698. After his return to France, he completed two works which he published at Paris in 1691. An English translation of one of these works, ''Nouvelle Relation de la Gaspesie'', was provided by William F. Ganong in 1910 as part of the Champlain Society's General Series.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''''Establishment of the Faith'' by Le Clercq
* ''New Relation of Gaspesia'' by Le Clercq, Part of the Champlain Society's General Series {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Clerq, Crestien 1641 births 17th-century French Roman Catholic priests 18th-century deaths Creators of writing systems Franciscan missionaries French Roman Catholic missionaries Mi'kmaq in Canada People from Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine Clergy from Nord (French department) Recollects Roman Catholic missionaries in Canada Roman Catholic missionaries in New France Missionary linguists