The Mi’kmaq Hieroglyphs in Vienna: Christian Kauder and the Leopoldine Society

This article documents the specific activities by Christian Kauder in the context of Catholic mission work and their direct influence on the daily life, culture, and religion of the Mi’kmaq. These activities were the mechanism of forced culture change and took place long after the arrival of the first Europeans. Kauder’s writings give us a small but excellent glimpse of what he wanted to do and how he set about it, while describing some elements of Mi’kmaq culture he encountered. This article tries to shed light on how Kauder, who, having left his order, and living in a missionary outpost in Nova Scotia, was able to garner the necessary support for this monumental and unique task, the printing in Vienna, Austria, of a religious instruction manual in “hieroglyphics” destined for missionary work among the Mi’kmaq.