- published: 04 Apr 2016
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Saint Antoine Daniel (27 May 1601 – 4 July 1648) was a Jesuit missionary at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, and one of the eight Canadian Martyrs.
Daniel was born at Dieppe, in Normandy. After two years' study of philosophy and one year of law, Daniel entered the Society of Jesus in Rouen on 1 October 1621. He was sent as a missionary to Canada. He was slain by the Iroquois at Teanaostaye, near what is now Hillsdale, Simcoe County, Ontario.
Daniel travelled to New France in 1633 and studied the Wendat (Huron) language. He was first stationed at Cape Breton (in what is now Nova Scotia), where his brother Captain Daniel had established a French fort in 1629. In 1634 he travelled to Wendake with Frs. Brébeuf and Daoust. For two years, in what is now Quebec, he had charge of a school for Indian boys, but with the exception of this period, he was connected with the mission at Ihonatiria, in Huron country, from July 1634, until his death fourteen years later.
He returned to Teanaostaye in 1648. Shortly thereafter, the Iroquois made a sudden attack on the mission while most of the Huron men were away.