This is Amy Wagenaar from the Historical Society of Michigan with a Michigan History moment. Names in Michigan, such as Detroit, Grosse and Sault Ste. Marie hint at the French presence in the state. Long ago, French missionaries of the Society of Jesus, commonly known as Jesuits, played a key role in interactions between indigenous peoples and early European colonists. Jesuit priests arrived in Sault Ste. Marie in the 1660s. They took great care to learn about indigenous cultures and become fluent in local languages. Jesuits in the Great Lakes region, such as Father Jacques Marquette, were no different. Marquette traveled from Sault Ste. Marie to present day Wisconsin, meeting a group of Wyandotte who had fled the Iroquois. Marquette and the Wyandotte moved to Mackinac island And then to St. Ignace, named after the founder of the Jesuit order St. Ignatius of Loyola. The mission flourished in part due to Marquette's respect for indigenous culture. However, the arrival of Christian missionaries also caused divisions in indigenous society, opening debates over cultural practices and the presence of crosses in villages. In 1673, Marquette explored the Mississippi river with a party of French Canadian canoemen but died on the return trip. Other Jesuits assumed control of the mission, but they were forced to grapple with the growing influence of fur traders. The presence of non religious groups led to both increased secularization and exploitation of the Wyandot and Anishinaabek. Missionaries fought with limited success to ban the brandy trade and its corrupting influence among the native population. In 1696, the French Crown ordered the closure of most posts in in the Great Lakes region in part to limit the brandy trade. When the Jesuits re established a mission at the Straits of Mackinac, they placed it on the southern shore. The Jesuit missions and indigenous populations struggled in the aftermath of the French and Indian War. As a result of the British victory in 1763, the British gained control of a great deal of French territory in North America. The Jesuits brokered a fragile peace between Michigan's indigenous peoples and the British. But all Jesuit missions in the Great Lakes region closed in 1765 and the order was dissolved in 1773. In 1814, the pope restored the order and Jesuit priests returned to the region. Their influence, along with that of the French in general, lives in Michigan today. This Michigan history moment was brought to you by michiganhistorymagazine.org.