Black Robe is an interesting look at the initial interaction of the Huron Indians of Quebec and the French Jesuit missionaries who came to convert them to Christianity. While the Jesuit priests were genuinely interested in converting the Indians to Christianity, their efforts ended up delivering the Indians into the hands of their enemies, resulting in their destruction not their salvation. The film provides many aspects of colonialism and native Indian interactions that are of interest to the anthropologist. The film demonstrates the utmost realism when portraying architectural details of Indian habitat, methods of hunting and food acquisition, and they way they often banded together in cooperation and trust to fend off the harsh and deadly climate.
The film also demonstrates how quite often indigenous cultures are destroyed by colonial forces who believe they need to ôsaveö or ôconvertö indigenous cultures in order to ôsaveö them. The Indians have their own religion and belief system and have little need of or interest in Christianity. As one point Father Laforgue tells Daniel that what an Indian woman told him about heaven is ôchildish,ö (Beresford, 1991). Daniel replies, ôIs it harder to believe in than Paradise where we all sit on clouds and look at God?ö (Beresford, 1991). We see how often modern Western religions like Christianity were often as fanatical in their conversion and methods as Eastern religions that are criticized for such behavior today, like fundamentalist Islam.
We also see how colonial forces often impose their culture, beliefs, and values on indigenous cultures due to believing their own culture is superior. Dogmatic and convinced of their rightness, the Jesuits ride roughshod over indigenous values and beliefs. Those they do convert often change merely to get what they want or need, not because of some newfound belief or insight. One pathetic Indian in the movie wears a crucifi
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