Jean-Marie-Raphaël Le Jeune (born Jean-Marie; 12 April 1855 – 21 November 1930) was a CanadianRoman Catholic priest, linguist, author, and newspaper publisher.[1]
Born in Pleyber-Christ in Brittany in northwestern France, Le Jeune was educated in his village and in the neighbouring town of Saint-Pol-de-Léon. At the age of eighteen he began his theological studies at Autun in Burgundy, where he was ordained on 7 June 1879. Soon after, he volunteered for missionary service, and was assigned to the Indian missions of British Columbia.
Le Jeune and another young missionary, Father Eugène-Casimir Chirouse, travelled to North America in the company of Bishop Paul Durieu, who on the voyage across the Atlantic instructed them in the basic vocabulary of Chinook Jargon, a pidgin trade language in use in the Pacific Northwest comprised of Chinookan, Nootkan, French, and English. After crossing the continent by train and travelling by steamer from San Francisco, the party arrived in New Westminster in October 1979, where Le Jeune spent the winter. The following June he was sent to the Fraser Canyon area to begin his missionary work among the Indians and minister to the Catholics who were among the thousands of workmen then employed in the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. While there, Le Jeune began his study of the Thompson Indian language.[2][1]
In the fall of 1880, Le Jeune was sent to St. Mary's Mission, which had been established by the Oblates in 1861 as the centre for missionary activity among the Indians of the Lower Fraser Valley, where he spent the next two years.[1]
In 1882, Le Jeune was assigned to St. Louis Mission in Kamloops, and traveled throughout the region proselytizing to the native communities.[1] In 1891 he became rector of St. Joseph's Church on the Kamloops Indian Reserve, and in 1893 succeeded Father Jean-Marie J. Le Jacq as superior of St. Louis Mission, a post he held until 1929.[1]
Le Jeune's shorthand system
Le Jeune spoke several native languages,[1] and in 1890 adapted Duployan shorthand to Chinook Jargon.[1][3] The system was widely adopted among the native community and in 1891 Le Jeune launched a newspaper written in English and Chinook Jargon called the Kamloops Wawa.[1] Le Jeune wrote a number of pamphlets about native languages such as Practical Chinook vocabulary (1886), Prayers in the Okanagan language (1893), Polyglott manual of prayers (1896, contributor), and Chinook rudiments (1924).[1]
Le Jeune died November 21st, 1930 at New Westminster and is buried in the Oblate cemetery at Mission.[1]Lac Le Jeune, near Logan Lake, bears his name.[4]
