Mission to the Nipissings 1667

Text from the plaque

On May 29, 1667, beside the Nipigon River, Father Claude Allouez, S. J., celebrated the first Mass west of Sault Sainte Marie, thus re-establishing spiritual contact with the Nipissing Indians who had fled from their home area during the Iroquois onslaught of 1649-50. After visiting their village on Lake Nipigon he returned to his Mission of the Holy Spirit on Chequamegon Bay (now Ashland Bay, Wisconsin). Father Allouez, born in St. Didier-en-Florenz, France, had entered the Jesuit order in 1642 and come to Quebec in 1658. He established the Chequamegon Mission in 1665 and, until his death, ministered to the Indians of an area including much of the present north-central United States.

Transcribed from the marker, not summarised.

Find the place

The District of Thunder Bay
The Township of Nipigon
At the Nipigon River lookout, Highway 11/17, Nipigon