The Blackrobes Response

"In my dreams, the blackrobe stands alone. There is also death." Solitude and death are 2 of the corresponding themes in this movie, as related to the history of the Great Plains. The Comanche also dealt with these issues in their every day lives. The Comanche believed that people needed to coexist, through trade for example, to prosper and that being alone could cause death if they didn't have the necessary tools to survive. The Algonquin chief, Chomina, has a reoccurring dream that depicts an image of the Jesuit missionary, Father LaForgue, walking in a black robe all alone, and a raven attacking and paralyzing the chief. To the Algonquin, dreams were more real than actual life. This dream, like all others, has a great significance, but the chief is having trouble deciphering it. The real meaning behind the dream is the moral behind the story in the film and also why it is said to be controversial. 

By coming to the New World and wanting only to convert the Indians into Catholics, encompasses a whole different image of Catholicism than is viewed in today's society. The film portrays Catholics, like Father LaForgue, to be very single minded; their way alone is the right way. They do not seem to accept, not want to accept any other form of religion. Today, Catholics want to be portrayed as open and welcoming to anyone that wants to join the community. This is not the case in the film. The Catholics, just like the Europeans that traveled to the Great Plains, think the Indian's way of life is not sufficient and that they need to change it in order to form a peaceful country. The Indians knew this was not the case. In this movie, the Algonquin were welcoming to the French and shared everything they had with them, no questions asked. The French on the other hand, were selfish and didn't want to share the things they brought with on the journey. The Indians saw this as a sign of disrespect and disloyalty. They believed that if different groups of people worked together and helped each other survive, they could all flourish and coexist. The Comanche held the same view. When one group wanted to take over and rule alone, destruction and death arose. In the end of the film, this is exactly what happens. The Hurons go against all their beliefs and decide to have Father LaForuge baptize them. They had lost all other hopes of a prosperous life because so many of their people kept dying and their old ways of medicine were not working. The Indians didn't know of the diseases the Europeans brought over with them to the New World. Not having knowledge about these diseases, like the Comanche, they didn't know how to treat them, and it brought death. Had the Europeans not tried to be the dominating rulers of this new land and change the way of life and religions of the Indians, much less death and destruction would have been inflicted upon these tribes. 

Indians fought and killed each other for many years to have solitary control over claims of land. Tribes didn't want to mix, or coexist, because they thought it would reduce their power. The Comanche didn't want to share land with other tribes, but they did want to peacefully trade with them to obtain essential items for their survival. Tribes had their own, different ways of life. The Europeans and Indians contributed to the destructions and death of the prosperous life on the Great Plains because they each thought their way of life was the right and only way to live. This movie shows that there isn't always a right and a wrong way. The blackrobes walking alone and the death symbol of the raven were to predict the future of the Indians, which should be a good premonition for the rest of the world: Being alone is what is going to destroy you. People need to coexist to survive.