Jean de Brebeuf (1593-1649) served as a Jesuit missionary among the Huron people of Canada; he learned their language and is credited with creating the first Huron dictionary. He wrote the hymn “Jesus Ahatonhia” (Jesus is Born) in 1643. Martyred by the Iroquois during a war between the Iroquois and Huron, he is considered one of the patron saints of Canada.

The son of a Methodist minister, Jesse Edgar Middleton (1872-1960) wrote the English paraphrase in 1926. It presents imagery set within Native American culture, rather than first-century Bethlehem, and refers to God by the Algonquian name Gitchi Manitou. Middleton was a music columnist for various Canadian journals, a church choirmaster, and poet; his poems include “Hell’s Half Acre.”

1. ‘Twas in the moon of wintertime,
When all the birds had fled,
That mighty Gitchi Manitou
Sent angel choirs instead.
Before their light the stars grew dim
And wondering hunters heard the hymn:
Jesus, your King, is born,
Jesus is born.
In excelsis gloria.

2. Within a lodge of broken bark
The tender Babe was found;
A ragged robe of rabbit skin
Enwrapped his beauty round.
The chiefs from far before him knelt
With gifts of fox and beaver pelt:
Jesus, your King, is born,
Jesus is born.
In excelsis gloria.

3. O children of the forest free,
O ye of Manitou,
The Holy Child of earth and heaven
Is born today for you.
Come kneel before the radiant boy
Who brings you beauty, peace, and joy.
Jesus, your King, is born,
Jesus is born.
In excelsis gloria.

Above:  a haunting arrangement by The Canadian Tenors; below, Bruce Cockburn singing the carol in the original Huron.