Black Robe

Black Robe, first published in 1985, is a historical novel by Brian Moore set in New France in the 17th century. Its central theme is the collision of European and Native American cultures soon after first contact. First Nations peoples historically called French Jesuit priests "Black Robes" because of their religious habit. The novel was adapted into the 1991 film Black Robe directed by Bruce Beresford, for which Moore wrote the screenplay. Plot In Quebec, a tribe of Algonquian agree in exchange for muskets to guide the "Black Robe" (Father Laforgue) and his 20-year-old French assistant, Daniel Davost, for a few weeks upriver to a spot beyond a set of rapids. There, Father Laforgue travels onward to the Huron village of Ihonatiria where a Jesuit mission is already established. Along the way, Father Laforgue falls under suspicion of being a demon, and his attempts to baptize (convert) his Algonquian guides are unsuccessful. He is captured by unfriendly Iroquois, who torture him, but he escapes and eventually arrives at the fever-ridden Huron village. In exchange for promising them a "water cure" for their sickness, the Hurons agree to be baptized.