Editing Pierre-Esprit Radisson (section)

==Early life==

===Birth and emigration to New France===

Pierre-Esprit Radisson's birthplace is unclear, but was likely in France's lower [[Rhône]] region near the town [[Avignon]].{{sfnp|Nute|1978}} In a 1697 affidavit and a 1698 petition he reported his age as 61 and 62, respectively, suggesting birth in 1636.{{sfnp|Nute|1978|pages=40}} Yet a 1681 census in New France, Canada, reported his age as 41, suggesting birth in 1640.{{sfnp|Nute|1978|pages=41}} This coheres with baptismal records from [[Carpentras]], a city near Avignon, that concern Radisson's father, Pierre-Esprit Radisson Sr.{{sfnp|Nute|1978|p=43}}

Radisson would trace his family, the Hayet-Radissons, to the town [[Saint-Malo|St. Malo]],{{sfnp|Radisson|Scull|1885|p=1}} whereas records suggest either Paris or Avignon.{{sfnp|Fournier|2002}} According to Radisson, he emigrated from France to Canada on 24 May 1651.{{sfnp|Radisson|Scull|1885|p=1}} He may have arrived with his two sisters, Élisabeth and Françoise.{{sfnp|Fournier|2002|p=218}} They may also have been accompanied by their maternal half-sister Marguerite Hayet,{{sfnp|Mood|Turner|1950|pp=318–326}} who would eventually marry Radisson's later fur-trading partner, Médard Chouart des Groseilliers. By sometime in 1651, these three women were living together in [[Trois-Rivières]].{{sfnp|Fournier|2002|p=218}}

===Capture, adoption, and torture by Mohawk===
In 1651 or 1652, while hunting fowl near his [[Trois-Rivières]] home, Radisson became separated from his hunting group.{{sfnp|Radisson|Scull|1885|pp=25–134}} After discovering its several men killed by a [[Mohawk people|Mohawk]] raiding party, he was captured by the warriors. {{sfnp|Radisson|Scull|1885|pp=25–134}} Perhaps because of his youth, he received fairly mild treatment and, as he showed interest in [[Mohawk language]] and culture, was adopted and assimilated.{{sfnmp|1a1=Radisson|1a2=Scull|1y=1885|1p=25–134|2a1=Nute|2y=1978|2p=45}} In the Mohawk custom of adopting young captives, whether indigenous or European, to replace relatives lost to disease or warfare, Radisson joined a local Mohawk family near modern-day [[Schenectady]] in New York.{{sfnmp|1a1=Radisson|1a2=Scull|1y=1885|1p=25–134|2a1=Nute|2y=1978|2p=45}}

Not long after Radisson's integration, which took about six weeks,{{sfnmp|1a1=Radisson|1a2=Scull|1y=1885|1pp=25–134|2a1=Fournier|2y=2002|2p=23}} while out hunting with three Mohawk, he met an [[Algonquin people|Algonquin]] man who convinced him to defect and return to Trois-Rivières.{{sfnp|Radisson|Scull|1885|pp=25–134}} Together, they killed Radisson's Mohawk companions, traveled 14 days, and sighted the town, but were captured by patrolling Mohawk. {{sfnmp|1a1=Radisson|1a2=Scull|1y=1885|1pp=25–134|2a1=Fournier|2y=2002|2p=24}} The Mohawk killed the Algonquin and subjected Radisson, along with some 20 prisoners, to ritual torture. His adoptive, Mohawk family advocated for him and materially compensated the bereaved families to spare him execution and temper his torture.{{sfnp|Fournier|2002|pages=33-34}}

As the Iroquois despised cowardice and punished it with death, Radisson's adoptive parents advised him to be brave and yet not too brave, since the Iroquois also sometimes ate the hearts of exceptionally brave men to acquire their courage.{{sfnp|Fournier|2002|page=34}} Radisson's fingernails were pulled out while he was forced to sing, one finger was cut to the bone, and he watched ten [[Wyandot people|Huron Indians]] get tortured to death.{{sfnp|Fournier|2002|page=33}} The next day, an old man burned Radisson, tied to a scaffold, and a young man drove a red-hot dagger through his foot.{{sfnp|Fournier|2002|page=34}} After three days of similar treatment, the Mohawk brought out Huron prisoners and, using [[tomahawk]]s, bashed in the heads of some, whereas the rest were adopted by individual families.{{sfnp|Fournier|2002|page=35}}

Once eventually released, the overwhelmed Radisson found that, as he would recall, "all my pains and griefs ceased, not feeling the least pain. [My father] bids me be merry, makes me sing, to which I consented with all my heart."{{sfnp|Radisson|Scull|1885|p=60}} He felt deep gratitude to his adoptive parents, whom he described as very loving, for saving his life.{{sfnp|Fournier|2002|page=35}} By Iroquois standards, Radisson's torture had been moderate.{{sfnp|Fournier|2002|page=35}} Radisson recounts witnessing other torture: "They burned a Frenchwoman; they pulled out her breasts, and took a child out of her belly, with they broyled [broiled] and made the mother eat it, so in short she died".{{sfnp|DeVoto|1998|page=99}} Sometime after his own wounds healed, Radisson spent some five months on a war-party expedition.{{sfnmp|1a1=Radisson|1a2=Scull|1y=1885|1p=79|2a1=Fournier|2y=2002|2p=40}}

===Departure from Iroquois and missionary work===

With other Mohawk warriors, Radisson traveled to a trading post at [[Fort Orange (New Netherland)|Fort Orange]], then controlled by the [[Dutch Empire|Dutch]], located in present-day [[Albany, New York]].{{sfnmp|1a1=Radisson|1a2=Scull|1y=1885|1p=79|2a1=Fournier|2y=2002|2p=40}} There, a governor recognized him as a Frenchman and offered to pay for his freedom. But Radisson returned to his Mohawk village. He escaped on 29 October 1653, "at 8 of the clock in the morning".{{sfnp|Nute|1978|p=47}} Reaching Fort Orange, he was hidden at a farm, then met a [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] priest [[Joseph Poncet|Joseph Antoine Poncet]], who made him "a great offer", whereby he returned to [[Holland]] in early 1654 under an agreement now unclear but perhaps involving missionary work.{{sfnp|Radisson|Scull|1885|p=85}}

Later that year, 1654, Radisson returned to Trois-Rivières in New France. Over the next three years, he would embark on several missionary expeditions. His writings largely ignored this period, so little is known about his whereabouts during it, apart from a documented a [[deed]] of sale that he signed in November 1655.{{sfnp|Nute|1978|p=50}} In 1657, Radisson accompanied a joint Franco–Iroquois expedition into [[Onondaga people|Onondaga]] territory to aid a Jesuit priest named [[Simon Le Moyne]] operate his mission and to promote further fur trading.{{sfnp|Nute|1978|p=50}} In 1658, under rising tensions with local Iroquois, the French left, ending the expedition. Radisson soon returned to [[Quebec City|Québec]].