Carhagouha

44°46′00″N 80°05′18″W / 44.766755°N 80.088272°W / 44.766755; -80.088272

An early 20th century map showing the locations of Jesuit missions in Huronia. The believed location of Carhagouha is shown near the top left.

Carhagouha was a settlement of the Huron/Wendat people. The place near where it is thought to have existed, near present-day Lafontaine, Ontario, Canada, is commemorated with a historical marker. Carhagouha was the site of the first Catholic Mass celebrated in what is now Ontario, on August 12 (or June 24[1][2]), 1615, by Fr. Joseph Le Caron (member of the Recollets order) in the presence of French explorer, Samuel de Champlain,[3] and the Wendat.

Each year a Mass is celebrated to mark the anniversary. The exact place is not precisely known.[4]

It was also the name of the village that Father Joseph Le Caron was staying in when Samuel de Champlain arrived in Huronia in 1615 to assist them in their war against the Iroquois.

  1. ^ (in French) "La Première messe sur île de Montréal - 24 juin 1615" Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ John J. O'Gorman, S.C.D., "Ontario’s Pioneer Priest," Catholic World 102 (March 1916), 751-756.
  3. ^ Heidenreich, C. E. (1968). "A New Location for Carhagouha, Recollect Mission in Huronia" (PDF). Ontario Archaeology. 11. Ontario Archaeological Society: 39–46.
  4. ^ Labine, M. Gustave (1893). Histoire des premieux travaux des pères récollets en la nouvelle France 1615-1629 (PDF) (in French). Montréal: Imp. de l'Institution des Sourdes-Muets. Retrieved 2017-08-09.