Photo: Window Picture Hospital Sainte Marie Among The Hurons Midland Ontario

This is the view someone would have looking out of the window in the hospital in the French Jesuit settlement, Sainte-Marie among the Hurons in modern-day Midland, Ontario. This hospital was located in what was known as the 'Native area' of the complex.

This was the first non-Aboriginal settlement in what is now Midland, but what was then called Wendake in Wendat. It was in operation from 1639 to 1649 and was the centre of the Jesuit missions in the area. The missionaries worked to convert the local population to Christianity, plus it provided an example of what a European settlement was like to the Native peoples. The complex contained many buildings, including residences, a cookhouse, a hospital (from which this window picture is taken) and a smithy.

This settlement led to a division among the Wendat people as some converted to Christianity and some did not want to. The people that did convert felt that the others should embrace the new religion, and those that did not convert felt that the ones that did were traitors. This created a rift in the Native peoples that could not be healed.

One of the side effects of a new colony of Europeans was the introduction of diseases that the locals had not had any contact with before. This building in the photograph was the hospital in the mission, but the missionaries did not know how to treat all of these new diseases and their side-effects and as a result many people died. This led to even further divisions among the visiting Europeans and the Aboriginal people.

Looking out the window of the Hospital in the Native Area of the Sainte-Marie among the Hurons complex in the town of Midland, Ontario, Canada.