"Lorette Was Originally A Colony Of Christianized Huron Indians, To
Whom Lands Were Granted By The French.
The village is now principally
inhabited by whites and half-breeds, though there are some of the pure
race left - the men wearing European dresses, the women adhering to the
ancient costume.
Their cottages are generally neat and clean. Andre
Romain, the chief, resides in the centre of the village, a high pole
denoting his residence and rank. I found him bending over his simple
dinner of milk and coarse bread. He was dressed in old, and somewhat
ragged, garments. He seemed so extremely old, that I did not trouble
him with more than a very short conversation, in French. He showed me a
portrait of George IV., given to him, he said, from the hands of that
monarch, and a coloured engraving of the installation of one of the
royal princes as chief of the Hurons. The poor old man, broken down
with extreme age, had still the remains of a commanding presence, which
even his miserable dress, unshaven beard, and bleared and misty eye,
could not altogether extinguish.
"This village gives an example of the fate of all the Indian tribes.
Here, once brought together to live after the manner of the whites,
this tribe has been reduced in number, and finally all but absorbed;
and in a few years not one of the unmixed race will remain, and the
language of the tribe will be obliterated.
"At Lorette are the falls of the St. Charles, which are very
interesting.
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