New France Group Project Roles

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New France Activity Roles

Filles Du Roi: You are poor female citizens of France. You have been sent to New France by order of the king to marry colonists and aid in the population growth of the colony. Once you have married, you will receive 1 ox, 1 cow, 2 pigs, 2 chickens and some money. Your life will be better than it was in France.

Coureurs de bois: You are an adventurer! You have come to New France to live among the First Nations groups and learn the ways of the land. You want to develop survival skills. You were promised adventure, money and freedom when you came over from France, and you love fur trapping as well as teaching other Frenchmen all of your new skills.

Jesuits: You have been sent by the Catholic Church to teach, run hospitals, care for the poor and hold religious services. The colonists will donate some of their income to your church on a regular basis; you do not earn your own money. Also, you will be trying to spread Catholicism to the First Nations people, and will be trained by a Bishop. They are ‘savages’, and need to be shown the way of God.

Governers: You are the most powerful members of the Sovereign Council. You represent the king here in New France. You are also in charge of all defense and relations with both allies and enemies of the colony (other Europeans and the First Nations people).

Bishops: You are the head of the church here in New France. You have a heavy influence over politics and are in charge of training any new priests that arrive in the colony. You should also be planning the conversion of the local Natives to Catholicism.

 Intendants: You are in charge of day-to-day affairs in the colony. You supervise courts, construction, manage the economy (money and trade), and look after the colonists in general. You’re like mayors, basically, and you need the people to cooperate with you in order to do your job well.

First Nations: You have lived here all your life and are watching the French take over the land piece by piece. They are forcing themselves into your tribe’s day-to-day lives as well, trying to teach you about their religion, as if you don’t have one. You are concerned about ownership of the land you once shared with other groups of First Nations people as well as your culture.

Seigneurs: You are land owners in New France. The king gave you some land near the St. Lawrence River, and now you have to find colonists to rent and work on your land. You will receive some of the crops and income from the land, but you each must build and sustain a church and a mill for your habitants.