Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Oiouhaton, Teresa

OIOUHATON, Teresa, Indian convert, b. in 1627. She was the daughter of Chiouatenhoua, a Huron chief, the principal support of the Mission of the Conception, who was slain by the Iroquois in 1640. In compliance with the dying wishes of her father, her uncle, Teondechoren, took her to the Ursuline convent in Quebec, where she learned to speak and write French, and acted as interpreter for the Indians that came to the town. When, in 1642, her uncle went to Quebec to take her away in order to marry her to a Huron chief, she refused to leave the sisters; but the influence of Father Jogues was invoked, and she finally consented. Having been provided by the Ursulines with all she required for her marriage, she set out with Father Jogues and her uncle in August, 1642. The party were captured by the Iroquois, and she fell to the lot of a young warrior, who married her. A large ransom was offered for her release by the French governor, but without effect. She continued a Christian to the end of her life, and instructed others in the faith. She received the missionary Le Moyne into her house in 1654.