French/Métis History of
Metropolitan Vancouver A citizen perspective
by Réjean Beaulieu
to the Burnaby Historical Society
8 February 2012
“Canadien” History of
Metropolitan Vancouver A citizen perspective
In support of an addendum proposed to
“Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver” (Harbour Publishing)
by Réjean Beaulieu
to the Burnaby Historical Society
8 February 2012
OVERVIEW
in search of defining…
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acts: explorations and first settlements
events
heroes
public spaces
new narratives
“Fun, fat, and filled with facts”
Chuck Davis
Way back on the coast
• What’s common in between Cortes, Juan de Fuca,
Quadra, Malaspina, Galiano, Texada, Gabriola,
Vancouver and … Lapérouse?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_P%C3%A9rouse
And today:
Environment Canada weather buoy #46026
Reef (off Haida Gwaii): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9a6nB2Np_4
“the best temperate water diving in the world and second only to the Red
Sea”
Jacques Cousteau
Way back through the continent
• What’s common in between
Alexander Mackenzie, David
Thompson, Lewis & Clarke and
Simon Fraser?
Hint: “heavy lifters”
And today:
“Simon Fraser and his men who had just descended the river []
explored the native village at Musqueam. Men of the village chased
them off, and the Europeans retreated back up the river”
Chuck Davis
“the Europeans”: Pierre Blais,Jean Baptiste Boucher(Waccan),Paul Boucher(La Malice),Amable
Bourbonnais,Brissere,Bugni,Pierre D'Allaire,Hugh Faries,Joseph Gagné,Louis LaCerte,Bazile Gervais,Gervais Lagarde,Peter
Paul Lalonde,François Laramme,James MacDougall,Joseph Ménard,Jean-Baptiste Proveau,Jules Maurice Quesnel,Gervais
Rivard,Saucier,Louis Saint-Pierre and John Stuart
Voir gif image #6
The first mixed descent
settlement trivia game
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Who was welcoming who and where?
Where were they actually coming from?
What did they actually trade?
What really happened?
Who actually stayed?
How was it commemorated?
And who was?
What famous trail is it located by?
Voir gif image #8
In search of events 1/3
Préambule
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1774: Québec Act
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1776: US Independance
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1786: French Lapérouse mapped the West Coast (Alaska->Monterey)
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1789: France became a Republic
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1802: Napoléon sold Louisiana
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1793: First “Canadiens” made it to the West Coast (Mackenzie)
1805: First “Canadiens” made it to the West Coast south of 49 (Lewis&Clarke)
1808: First “Canadiens” made it to the West Coast in southern BC (Fraser)
1811: First “Canadiens” settlement on the West Coast south of 49 (Fort Astoria)
1825: First “Canadiens” settlement north of the Columbia (Fort Vancouver)
1827: First “Canadiens” settlement in Southern BC (Derby or old Fort Langley)
1837/1838 (elsewhere): Patriots Uprising (1837/1838) against British; many Canadiens (including
lower clergy) moved out west (mainly south of the 49th parallel)
1846: The treaty of Oregon divided “Canadiens” across the 49th parallel (formerly territoire de
l’Oregon)
1849 (elsewhere): “Canadiens” Lafontaine/Baldwin parliament located in Montreal was moved to
a more British Toronto after riots from monarchists
1849: The colony of Vancouver Island was established as British
1858: The mainland colony was established as British (formerly Nouvelle-Calédonie)
In search of events 2/3
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1866: Both colonies merge to become British-Columbia
1871: British-Columbia join the Dominion of Canada
1885 (elsewhere): Métis leader Louis Riel is hung following the Red River rebellion
1896 (elsewhere): Sir Wilfrid Laurier became Canada's first native french speaker (francophone)
prime minister
1899 (elsewhere): Québec Premier Henri Bourassa opposed participation in British wars (Boer)
1900: Joly de Lotbinière became BC first francophone Lieutenant Governor
1909-1910: The first contingent of 110 francophones are brought to work on Fraser Mills
1930s: Many left the prairies dustbowl settling in BC, including a 2nd wave of francophones
1931: Major strike disrupted the Fraser Mills over labor rights
1945: Francophones organized themselves to look after the survival of French in BC
1946: A “caisse populaire” (credit union) was established in Maillardville; new parishes created
1951: Francophone students went on strike over unfairness of public education funding
1959: ~75 years after Riel, a francophone became the last capital punishment victim out west
1967/68: Radio-Canada started broadcasting a radio signal in French; a local newspaper followed
1971: A francophone peace activist and two other Canadians started Greenpeace
In search of events 3/3
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1976 (elsewhere): French Véronique Samson recorded “Vancouver” in London UK (“platinum”)
1977: The BC government recognized the right of francophones to be educated in French
1985: The Bombardier/Alcatel consortium finished building the Skytrain
1986: Supersonic French Concorde brought over Margaret Thatcher to visit EXPO 86; le Cirque
du Soleil performed “La magie continue”
1995: BC became the last canadian province to create a francophone school board
2010: Bilingual Winter Olympics were held. Gilles Vigneault was blamed for not releasing
requested rights of «Mon Pays» to an Aussie directing the opening/closing ceremonies. A french
mime saved the pedestal deployment at the end! Playwrights/actor Robert Lepage «Blue
Dragon/Le Dragon Bleu» sold out everynight showing China!
2011: Adrian Dix, former executive director of «Canadian Parents for French» became the NDP
party leader with good chances to become the next BC Premier
In search of heroes 1/3
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Étienne Pépin: first “hivernant” (1827-28), blacksmith and farmer supplying the HBC
Ferdinand Boulanger alias “Peter Baker”: first gold prospector in the Upper Fraser
Paul de Garro: first to publish a newspaper “Le Courrier de Nouvelle-Calédonie” and 1st book
in BC - “The Fraser mines vindicated, or the history of four months” (Alfred Waddington). Or was it
David Cameron’s “Rules and manner of proceeding of the Supreme Court of civil justice for Vancouver’s
Island”?
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Jean Caux alias “Cataline”: first to operate a major transportation business (mule
packing!) supplying the gold fields during a career spanning 54 years!
Charles Pandosy: established 1st mission&school in the Okanagan; planted its first
vineyard and orchard; outspoken critic of the Durieu residential school system
Esther Parizeau alias “Sister-Joseph”: attended the construction of over 30
hospitals, schools and orphanages in the North-West including St-Paul, St-Mary and
St-Eugène
Laurent&Joseph Guichon: operated hotels and a steamship service to Victoria; also
pioneered cattle business in BC importing first Hereford herd
Onésime Naud: talented stonemason built important buildings in the Northwest; Bby
heritage house still stands; berry and orchard farmer first to employ Asians
Joly de Lotbinière: first native french speaker BC Lieutenant Governor known for
fighting political corruption, raising environmental issues and promoting nationhood
Adrien Gabriel Morice: first historian, linguist and anthropologist in northern BC
In search of heroes 2/3
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Marius Barbeau: ethnologist/folklorist became one of the first defenders of First
Nations art in Canada (BC tsimshians )
Délia Tétreault: established 1st orphanage and mission for Chinese people and
future missions to China; beatification steps undertaken in 1959
Jean-Baptiste “Johny” Decaire and Arthur Laverdure: first unions leaders during
the Fraser Mills strike signing up members for what is to become the “International
Woodworkers of America (IWA)”
Jean-Louis “Jack” Kerouac: (Elsewhere) Franco-american writer («On the Road»)
created the “Beat Generation” with Burroughs&Ginsberg; pioneered a new litterary
genre
Al DesLauriers: Ran “Save On Meats” for 52 years in spite of hardship in the
Vancouver east side area offering the lowest price and employing broken people
Léo Mantha: Last victim of capital punishment in western Canada
Lucille “Star” Savoie: First canadian artist to sell 1M records, the “French song”!
André Piolat&Jacques Baillaut: Local media pioneers – motus: “Ni peur ni faveur”
Paul Côté&Maurice Robert “Mike” Gravel: Peacenik pioneers behind Greenpeace
and the end of the Vietnam war draft
Claude/Inge Violet: Domaine de Chamberton winemaking pioneers in Fraser Valley
In search of heroes 3/3
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Richard “King” Brodeur and Justin Morneau: First Vancouver Canuck player to
lead its team to the Stanley Cup final; and first Canadian to become Most Valuable
Player in professional baseball
Marc Garneau, Julie Payette and Guy Laliberté: (Elsewhere) First canadians to
orbit earth, to work on the space station and to be a “space tourist”
Antonine Maillet, Émile Benoit, Zacharie Richard, Gilles Vigneault, Denis
Arcand, Denis Villeneuve and Robert Lepage: (Elsewhere) International writers,
artists, playwrights and film directors
Yves Potvin: Pioneered non-animal protein healthy fast food (e.g. veggie dog);
frequent guest on Oprah and Degeneres; Gardein sales ~ $100M
Honoré Gbedze: Ran “Afro-News” bilingual newspaper&new media, La Palabre
radio-show on Fairchild and the SAGE Foundation catering to new canadians
Kevin Potvin: Operated Magpie, one of the last independant bookstore in Vancouver
and published the Republic of East Vancouver; an early Green candidate
Marc&Yuki Fournier: Ran Sophia Books last independant bookstore in Vancouver;
outstanding multi-lingual content selection
Charles Demers: A product of “French immersion” (similar to 100000s young adults
in BC) media personality known as a top standup comedy act; author of “Vancouver
Special”
In search of “villains”
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Charles Bedaux: Suicidal Fascist Frenchman and Nazi collaborator that set fire in the BC interior
during the “Champagne Safari” or Citroen documentary along with wife, mistress and wine cellar
(as featured on the Vancouver convention centre historical promenade amongst BC pioneers!)
Frederick Ducharme: “The killer was eventually identified as Frederic Ducharme, 34, a very odd
and twisted piece of work, with a record for indecent exposure and bizarre behaviour that can’t be
described here and was only hinted at in the more straitlaced newspaper reporting of the day”
Introducing a Prime Minister: “Wilfrid Laurier presided over the [PNE] official opening ceremony
on August 16. The News Advertiser wrote, “Petrified women, sacrificial crocodiles from the sacred
river Ganges, and dusky negroes who dodge swiftly thrown baseball, to say nothing of the
numerous Salome dancers, Spanish Carmens, Dutch comedians and chorus girls are some of the
attractions being offered the visitors at the fair this week” ”
“Ennui Communications”: not the best place to hang around; and neither is “Here are […] a
multitude of memorable minor events like city hall’s official attempt to shut down the Dupont Street
red light district” (frontpage backcover)
“Fun, fat, and filled with
facts”
Chuck Davis
In search of public spaces
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“Nostalgia”: Derby cairn (&Fort Langley), Saint-Paul&Saint-Joseph Hospitals,
Maillardville (e.g. Carré Laval), cemeteries, churches, public archives and buildings
(e.g. Gastown, Naud House, Michaud House), Convention Centre Historical
Boardwalk
Living spaces: Alliance Française de Vancouver,Centre Culturel Francophone (West
7th)/Théâtre de la Seizième/Maison de la Francophonie, Festival du Bois,Festival du
Film&Beaux Jeudis, “C’est Extra”, Conseil Scolaire Francophone (CSF) schools and
SFU&UBC related programs
Commercial spaces: Café Montmartre,Bistro/Bistro,Chez Mémé and “Les Amis du
Fromage”
Business spaces: Alcatel,SNC/Lavalin,Bombardier,Viacom/JDecaux
Bilingual/Multilingual organisations: MEC,Westjet,Telus,school districts immersion
program (e.g. BSD “École Brantford Elementary School”), BPL, city of Burnaby (e.g.
garbage collection brochure!), surrey.ca,YVR, BC Tourism
Print&electronic medias: The Source/La Source,Community Digest/Nouvelles
Communautaires,Afro News/Rubrique Française,Radio-Canada/CBC and Postmedia!
Social media/citizen spaces: Google,Wikipedia,Craigslist,Meetup.com,Facebook
(e.g. SHFCB), francouver.ca and Twitter #frcb #csfcb #frcan
In search of new narratives
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“Lilac Moon” 2005: In a provocative western Canada history essay, prairies writer Sharon Butala
asked the question “What makes a Westerner?" and courageously put forward "Our stubborn
refusal to recognize the French fact" after musing over why her favorite grandmother humble
origins were such a taboo topic, i.e. French/Métis
SFU downtown campus 2009: Jean Barman, fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and
Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia, presented as part of the Grace MacInnis
Visiting Scholar Lecture “Taking everyday people seriously: How French Canadians saved British
Columbia for Canada”; numerous historians (professional and citizen) have done background
research to assess fur trader (and afterward) “heavylifters” off newly digitized/scanned archives
with Internet support: John Jackson, Bruce Watson, Dick Garneau and Robert Foxcurran
the challenges 2012: people limited interest in BC history, treatment of history by medias,
changing the ministry of education history curriculum, native french speakers withdrawal and
remaining bastions of intolerance (e.g. Publishing)
the solutions 2012&onward: citizens and communities engagement, and social medias
In search of a new narrative:
a Proposed Plate
PEOPLE
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<sto-lo>WELCOME / BIENVENUE /<haiwaiian>
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La Première Nation Kwantlen et son chef Whattlekainum accueillirent jadis en ce lieu un groupe
de Voyageurs formé de Premières Nations, d’Hawaïens, de Métis et de Canadiens. Un premier
poste de traite et de terre agricole était ainsi établi (1827-1839) dans la vallée du Fraser. Ces
pionniers ont appris langues, cultures, mœurs et coutumes, ont formé de nouvelles familles et ont
pris racine.
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The Kwantlen First Nation and chief Whattlekainum greeted on this site a group of Voyageurs,
formed of First Nations, Hawaiians, Métis and Canadiens. The first trading post and farm
settlement were hence established (1827-1839) in the Fraser valley. These pioneers learnt
languages, cultures, manners and customs, formed new families and took root.
~
<sto-lo>I REMEMBER / JE ME SOUVIENS / <haiwaiian>
François Noël Annance, Amable Arquoitte, James Baker, George Barnston, Louis Boisvert, Olivier
Bouchard, Pierre Charles, Como, Joseph Cornoyer, Jean Baptiste Dubois, Jean Baptiste Ettue,
Dominique Faron, John Kennedy, Anawiskum Macdonald, James MacMillan, Donald Manson,
Peopeoh, Antoine Perrault, Jacques Perrault, François Piette, Simon Plomondeau, Louis
Satakarata, Laurent Sauvé, François Xavier Tarihonga, Abraham Vincent. Louis Ossin. Étienne
Pépin. Bazile Brousseau,Narcisse Falardeau,Frédérique Minie,Angus McPhail,Ta-i,Pierre
Therrien and James Yale.
Épilogue
“Canadiain” History of
Metropolitan Vancouver A citizen perspective
What’s yours?
La Fin/The End