Father Sebastien Rasles (1657-1724) was a French Jesuit missionary who moved to Canada in 1689. He learned many of the customs and languages of Wabanaki peoples, and advised Wabanaki peoples.

Rasles (also spelled Rasle or Rale) started a Jesuit mission and built a church on Wabanaki Homelands in the Abenaki village of Norridgewock, on the Kennebec River. There, he worked to convert Indigenous community members, and gave Mass in Abenaki language.

In January 1722 (1721 using the Julian calendar), English settlers from Massachusetts raided Norridgewock where Father Rasles was living. He escaped capture, but his strongbox containing letters and documents was confiscated.

The box is wooden with a hinged lid and wrapped with a stamped copper covering. The interior was divided into multiple compartments, including two removable leather covered boxes. The box has a secret compartment accessed through the outside back panel (only removable when the lid is open).

In August 1724, during what is known as the "Norridgewock Massaccre," British, Massachusetts militia and Mohawk forces destroyed the village at Norridgewock, killing Father Rasles and nearly 200 Abenaki men, women, and children.