French in Newfoundland

par Rompkey, Ronald

Today,French-speakers represent only a small fraction of Newfoundland and Labrador'spopulation. Although, since the 16^th century, the French have leftmany traces of passing in the history of this territory, their presence today moreresembles the stuff of imagination rather than anything concrete or deeplyrooted. This anthropological reality is somewhat like a "phantom" cultural communitywhich is fed by numerous memories, cultural echoes that have been passed on byhistory and literature, as well as by the names of places and a few traces of apast that have almost vanished. Yet, the region's French past is well acknowledged,studied and even commemorated. The 2004 celebrations were such an occasion torenew the French cultural heritage of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Article disponible en français : Français à Terre-Neuve

Sommaire

Past and Present French-Speakers
A Historic Heritage
An Ethnologic and Scientific Heritage
The Ongoing Presence of French Fisherman
The 2004 Celebrations and the Weight of Past
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
DOCUMENTS COMPLÉMENTAIRES
- Images
- Catégories

Past andPresent French-Speakers

Today, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, approximately 0.5percent of the population are French-speakers. It is a very small minoritygroup concentrated in three regions: the Port-au-Port Peninsula, Labrador Cityand the capital, St. John's. For the most part, the French-speakers of thePort-au-Port peninsula live in the Bay St. George region, in the southwestportion of the island. In the Avalon Peninsula, where the metropolitan regionof St. John's is located, lives a more diverse community of French-speakerscomposed of Acadians from the other Maritime Provinces and of French-speakersfrom Quebec and Saint Pierre and Miquelon. There is also a French-speakingpopulation in Labrador, notably in the mining cities of Labrador City andWabush, near the Quebec border. But these contemporary French-speakers are notrepresentative of the various groups that were a part of the long history ofthe French on the island.

Newfoundland and Labrador's history and literature have almostexclusively been written from an angle that embraced the imperial discourse ofGreat Britain. But there exists another version, that of the French settlementon the Island, which existed even before the arrival of Jacques Cartier in1534. One must remember that this territory was first named Newfoundland by GiovanniCaboto (John Cabot) who left from Bristol, England, sailed west and landedthere in 1497. The French version of the name appeared in 1524, when Giovannida Verrazano used the term Terra Nova on his map of 1529 ^{(NOTE 1)}. Around1550, each year, some 500 ships left various French harbours and headed towardNewfoundland ^{(NOTE 2)}.And so, the French government established a royal colony in Plaisance(Placentia today) in 1655, in the south of the island, while St. John'sremained the centre of activity for the English. The French also named manyplaces all along the west, north and south coast-all the way to the archipelagoof Saint Pierre and Miquelon. The passing of the French thus left its mark onthe island's toponymy.

AHistoric Heritage

The island was at war from 1660 to the signing of the Treaty of Utrechtin 1713. Placentia was attacked twice by the English (1690 and 1692). OnFebruary 25^th, 1690, 45 English corsairs took part in the initialattack; it was described by Pierre-François-Xavier de Charlevoix in hisHistoire et Description de la Nouvelle-France (1744) ^{(NOTE 3)}. The 1692 attack was describedby the Baron of Lahontan, an officer of the French Marine Corps ^{(NOTE 4)}. As forthe French, Pierre LeMoyne d'Iberville launched his famous attack on St. John'sfrom Placentia during the winter of 1696-1697. Having discreetly arrived inPlacentia, the French commander lead his troops in snowshoes across the AvalonPeninsula to storm the English colonies on the Eastern coast of Newfoundland,destroying buildings, burning fishing boats, emptying codfish warehouses andseizing all the cattle. In his book, Charlevoix gives a thorough description ofthe events that took place during the raid. Charlevoix's account helpedd'Iberville earn a reputation as a bold commander and the Canadians earned thereputation of being courageous fighters in winter conditions ^{(NOTE 5)}. Yet,it was Abbot Jean Baudoin, who joined d'Iberville as chaplain that left themost vivid descriptions of the siege of Saint-Jean [the French name for StJohn's] and of the hardships suffered by its inhabitants and its garrison ^{(NOTE 6)}.

Despite these conflicts, fishing activities continued for the thousandsof French sailors hired to fish overseas and who needed the shores ofNewfoundland to dry a great deal of the fish caught on the Grand Banks.Traditionally, they embarked in March of each year on a number of ships, fourto eight hundred, which left from Dieppe, Fécamp, Granville and Saint-Maloharbours to spend the next six months fishing on the banks. But those FrenchTerra-Neuvas left almost no trace of their passage, with the exception of a fewplace they gave Normand and Breton names that still exist today.

Newfoundland Island became British territory in 1713 after the Treaty ofUtrecht. From that day on, Frenchfishermen only maintained their right to fish in the waters surroundingNewfoundland and to dry their codfish on its shores. They weren't howeverallowed to build permanent buildings there. Their activities were limited tothe west coast of the island (called French Shore) and France kept thearchipelago Saint Pierre and Miquelon as a supply station. After that, a seriesof conflicts erupted between Newfoundland fishermen and French fishermen, as thelatter would be about their business on the French Shore. These conflictsbetween fishermen had to be arbitrated up until the signing of the EntenteCordiale of 1904. In the meantime, the rights of the French were under theprotection of the Newfoundland Naval Division and its base ^{(NOTE 7)}.

The two nations continued to fish cod while respecting past agreements,even though the Utrecht Treaty had officially recognised England's sovereigntythere. The French Shore stretched from Cap Bonavista, to the north of theisland, to the Point Riche, on the west coast. English fishermen were forbiddento occupy or make use of the area between those two points on the coast. In 1763, the Treaty of Paris renewed thisagreement, with the exception that England restricted France's rights to thewest coast of Newfoundland and to the east side of the Northern Peninsula in1783, taking away France's rights to the coast between Cape Bonavista and CapeSt. John. And so, Newfoundland became a place occupied only seasonally by theFrench.

AnEthnologic and Scientific Heritage

Although the French have mostly only occupied Newfoundland Island duringthe fishing season, over four centuries of seasonal visits, they have establishedvarious rituals, ceremonies and songs and they also produced a lot of travelliterature and of novels about life at sea on the Grand Banks. Thus, in his Aventures (1738), Claude Le Beaudescribes the Bonhomme Terre-Neuve rite, which reminded him of a similarceremony performed when sailors crossed the Equator. It was a mock christeningfor sailors newly arrived on the Grand Banks. The ship's captain acted ascelebrant and newcomers had to choose between being immersed and buying a roundof drinks for all their shipmates. Le Beau writes that this ancient custom wasso faithfully respected "that I believe they would have rathered give up theChristian christening" ^(NOTE8). Constant Carpon, professional surgeon who practicedfrom 1826 to 1865, also describes a ceremony in connection with the codfishindustry: the triumphant parade of the salter[a specially skilled individual who oversaw the salting of the catch]. Analmost military like procession was organised on the last day of the fishingseason, the day before the fleet returned to France. On a bed of green leavesthey would lay a crown of intertwined birch, fir and juniper branches. The salter would be brought, crowned andlaid down on a litter born by four men. Bearing the national flag at the end ofa rake handle, a standard-bearer would join the procession ^{(NOTE 9)}.

In the 19^th century, observers and scientists began to show arenewed interest in the natural history of the island and for the culturalevolution of the colony. A great number of experts came to the island. Amongthem, Auguste Bachelo de la Pylaie, naturalist and archaeologist, who left hisvast collection to the library of the MuséumNational d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris. In addition to his research on thefauna and flora of Newfoundland, he dedicated himself to the study of the fogthat regularly forms there, analyzing the various properties of oceanic orcontinental condensations, as well as other water vapours. He also identifiedvarious types of trees and plants and inquired about the existence of potentialmineral deposits.

TheOngoing Presence of French Fishermen

In 1815, after the Treaty of Paris, in order to encourage fishermen tofish overseas, the French government offered bonuses to ship owners: fiftyfrancs for each man who worked in a coastal fishery and fifteen francs forthose fishing on the Grand Banks. As a result, the census of 1828 recorded morethan 9,000 men who went to fish on the northwest shore of Newfoundland. In1830, the number of ships of the fishing fleet rose to a total of 300 or 400boats with 12,000 men on board. This is why the custom of hiringNewfoundlanders started up again in 1816, when French fishermen, who, uponreturning to the site of the previous year, discovered that English people hadsettled in almost every haven. Knowing they would return to the same place thefollowing year, the captains tolerated them instead of driving them away. Theyleft their equipment in their care and, in return, paid them in fishing lines,hooks, etc. that they could use to fish for themselves. Since that time, thisbicultural agreement continued. Travel accounts of that time speak of the existence of small groups ofEnglish or Irish inhabitants who were able to subsist year after year withoutthe support of government services. In the summer these people would trade alot, selling wood and different types of baits; in the winter they kept awatchful eye on the French boats and equipment. It was a custom born of habit,a necessary agreement that was settled without any opposition.

Although the practice had been illegal since 1713, it went on secretly.Boats, scaffolds and other buildings were left in the care of a few Britishsubjects who received enough payment in kind to live on and that theysupplemented this with seal hunting and selling furs. In the middle of the 19century, the French built great boats in these local havens and stored them thereduring winter. Although most were eventually evicted by force, some of theEnglish-speaking inhabitants who had settled in these French havens had succeededin making an informal and viable, although illegal, agreement that went on fora long time ^{(NOTE 10)}.

In 1832, Great Brittan granted Newfoundland the right to arepresentative government and then in 1855 the island region was grantedpolitical autonomy under a responsible government (elected and accountable).During that same period of time, one of the most significant events took place:the creation of a French consulate in St. John's. This post enabled the Frenchgovernment to create a network of agents operating out of the Quebec City consulatethat, along with the Newfoundland Naval Divisions and its base, representedFrench interests in all its North American possessions ^{(NOTE 11)}. In1854, the French government created an agency in St. John's, Newfoundland,before creating a Consulate in Quebec City in 1859. The ambiguous situation ofNewfoundland was finally resolved with the Entente Cordiale of 1904, whichrestricted the French's fishing rights to the Grand Banks and to theterritorial waters of Saint Pierre and Miquelon.

The 2004Celebrations and the Weight of Past

The 2004 celebrations commemorating 400 years of French presence on theisland allowed Newfoundland and Labrador to honour the existence of an almostinvisible subculture in the province. On that occasion, in addition to thesocial festivities, the population commemorated the existence of many familiesthat are the descendents of French fishermen, as well as the existence ofcemeteries linked to shipwrecks and other archaeological remains that confirmthe long history of French overseas fishing expeditions. In 2004, as a part ofthe celebration activities, fishing boats were built according to the originalspecifications of those of the French fishermen; stone ovens for baking breadwere also built; and everyone sang sailor songs. And so, for the first time,Newfoundlanders celebrated the historical presence of the French on their land,as well as the traces they left in the collective memory of the people, therebyoffering the possibility to study and visit the places where the French oncesettled a long time ago.

Newfoundland and neighbouring lands have long been depicted as exoticplaces in the literature and shared memory of the French. In his book Non-Lieux (1992), the anthropologistMarc Augé suggests that an anthropologist and his subjects share one thing incommon: that they inhabit, live, work, defend and guard the borders of the sameplace. However, both groups also recognise that land holds the remnants ofancestors or spirits, which the people of this land hold dear to their hearts,as if the people who celebrate them today also represented the very essence oftheir past. In that sense, Newfoundland has been a mythical place for theFrench. And so this almost unnoticed piece history will carry on as long as thememories of the great expeditions overseas, as well as the artefacts anddocuments the French have written or left behind continue to exist.

RonaldRompkey

Professor, Department of English

Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland

NOTES

Note 1. Marc Lescarbot, Histoire de la Nouvelle-France, p. 27-29.

Note 2. Georges Musset, "Les Rochelais à Terre-Neuve, particulièrement de1525 à 1550", p. 137-145.

Note 3. Pierre-François-Xavier de Charlevoix, Histoire et DescriptionGénérale de la Nouvelle-France, 2, p. 74.

Note 4. Louis-Armand de Lahontan, Nouveau Voyages de Mr le Baron de Lahontandans l'Amérique Septentrionale, 1, p. 241-246.

Note 5. Charlevoix, 2, p. 185-198.

Note 6. Jean Baudoin, Journal d'une Expédition de d'Iberville, p. 41-51.

Note 7. See, for example, [Jules Sandeau], "Pêcheries de Terre-Neuve et lesTraités", p. 130-141; and Julien-Olivier Thoulet, Un Voyage à Terre-Neuve, p.46-47, 49-58.

Note 8. C. Le Beau, Aventures du Sr C. Le Beau, p. 34.

Note 9. C.-J.-A. Carpon, Voyage à Terre-Neuve, p. 102-106.

Note 10. Ronald Rompkey, "Sans Moyens Visibles: les Gardiens Terreneuviens etla Pêche Française", Annales du Patrimoine de Fécamp, No. 10, 2003, p. 67-71.

Note 11. See Jacques Portes, "L'Établissement du Réseau d'Agences ConsulairesFrançaises au Canada (1850-1870)", Études Canadiennes, No. 3, 1977, p. 59-71.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Augé, Marc, Non-Lieux :Introduction à une anthropologie de la surmodernité, Paris, Éditions duSeuil, 1992.

[Baudoin, Jean], Journald'une expédition de d'Iberville, ed. l'abbé A. Gosselin, Évreux, Imprimeriede l'Eure, 1900.

Carpon, C.-J.-A., Voyageà Terre-Neuve : Observations et notions curieuses propres à intéresser toutesles personnes qui veulent avoir une idée juste de l'un des plus importantstravaux des marins français et étrangers, Caen, Eugène Poisson ; Paris,Éditions Dutot, 1852.

Charlevoix,Pierre-François-Xavier, Histoire et description générale de la NouvelleFrance, avec le journal historique d'un voyage fait par ordre du Roi dansl'Amérique septentrionale, 3 vols., Paris, 1744.

Lahontan, Louis-Armand de, Mémoiresde l'Amérique septentrionale, ou la suite des voyages de Mr le baron deLahontan, 3 vols., Amsterdam, 1705.

Landry, Nicolas, Plaisance(Terre-Neuve), 1650-1713 : Une colonie française en Amérique, Québec,Éditions du Septentrion, 2008.

Le Beau, Claude, Avanturesdu Sr C. Le Beau, avocat en parlement, ou voyage curieux et nouveau parmi lessauvages de l'Amérique septentrionale, Amsterdam, Herman Uytwerf, 1738.

Lescarbot, Marc, Histoirede la Nouvelle France, Paris, Jean Milot, 1609.

Musset, Georges, « LesRochelais à Terre-Neuve, particulièrement de 1525 à 1550 », Bulletin de laSociété de géographie commerciale de Paris, 14, 1891-1892, p. 137-145.

Perret, Robert, Lagéographie de Terre-Neuve, Paris, E. Guilmoto, 1913.

Portes, Jacques, «L'établissement du réseau d'agences consulaires françaises au Canada(1850-1870), » Études canadiennes, n^o 3, 1977, p. 59-71.

Rompkey, Ronald, Enmission à Terre-Neuve : les dépêches de Charles Riballier des Isles (1885-1903),Rennes, Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2007.

Rompkey, Ronald, "Sansmoyens visibles: les gardiens terreneuviens et la pêche française," Annalesdu patrimoine de Fécamp, No. 10, 2003, p. 67-71.

[Sandeau, Jules], «Pêcheries de Terre-Neuve et les traités », Revue des deux mondes, 6,1874, p. 111-141.

Thoulet, Julien-Olivier, Un Voyage à Terre-Neuve, Paris,Berger-Levrault, 1891.

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