St. Jean de Brebeuf, 1593 - 1649, was a french born Jesuit missionary and martyr of New France who arrived in America in 1625 to evangelise Native Americans. He lived among the Huron for over 15 years under difficult and challenging circumstances. In 1648 the Iroquois launched a war of extermination against the Huron, their traditional enemies. Refusing to flee when their Huron villlage was attacked, Brebeuf and his assistant, Gabriel Lalemant, were captured the following year and tortured to death by the Iroquois. Brebeuf was canonised in 1930 with seven other missionaries who are collectively called the North American martyrs. He is the patron saint of Canada. His feast day is September 26th.