Fransaskois Heritage.
Grandparents: N. Paul Remlinger was born in Saskatchewan in
1933 in his grandmother’s house. He spent most of his life in
Liberty.
Carol Mae Cook was born in California in 1938.
She grew up in California and moved to Liberty when she was 18
when she married grandpa.
Rachel Rompre was born in the hospital in Prince
Albert in 1928. She was born in a hospital instead of at home
because she was 2 months premature. She was second youngest
out of 10 children. She grew up in Henribourg and Albertville area
on her parents homestead. (Northeast of Prince Albert.) Grandma
Rompre was a nun for 23 years. She left the convent after Vatican
II and eventually finished high school and worked as a nanny.
Grandpa Rompre’s parents came from Quebec.
Great Grandpa Rompre was a blacksmith who came west by
working as a blacksmith for the railroad. Great Grandpa Rompre
was born in St. Anne de la Perade and Great- Grandma Rompre
was born in St. Alban. Great Grandma Rompre was a seamstress
and a milliner. (She made hats.) They met during World War II
when Great-Grandpa was working in a factory where you make
gun parts, and Great- Grandma was making gloves for the war
effort.
Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Gobeil came
from Maine, up to Quebec, then to Saskatchewan. Great Grandma
was working in the mills when she was only 6 years old tying
knots in the threads under looms.
My family and I live on our great grandparents (remliger) farm.
Our house was built by my great grandpa and my grandpa. My dad
is a farmer and my grandpa helps him. My grandma drives the
grain truck and my mom helps them when they need help.
There have been ancestors of the Rompres and Gobeils in
Canada since 1600.
My mom is 100% French Canadian. Dad is English, Irish, Scotch,
Dutch, French, and Germen. So I’m more than 50% French.
The Fransaskois Flag.
The flag is yellow with a green cross on it. A Red Fleur De
Lis is on the lower part of the flag.
The yellow stands for the wheat fields. The green stands for
the forests. The red stands for the heart.
The flag was the first Francophone Flag in western Canada. It
was chosen in the late 70’s.
Fransaskois Music.
Fransaskois settlers who came to the prairies and they
brought some of their traditional music with them. The music has
been here for a very long time. The musicians make the music
comes alive. The music is very important to the Fransaskois. When
they have festivals or events, it is very rare when it ends without
music.
Fransaskois Liticure.
Liticure is also very important. More than 30 books and
stories are made by Fransaskois authors. It was developed in the
Fransaskois community. It is supported very well.
Fransaskois Dance.
Some generations ago Fransaskois settlers filled their homes
with music and dance. They usually do this on long cold winter
nights. The dancers have a good spirit, and they like to keep the
music and dance alive.
Fransaskois Communities.
There are lots of communities where there are Fransaskois
groups. Some of them are in Debden, Albertville, Duck Lake,
Gravelbouge, Marcelan, Val-Marie, and Doremy. There are lots of
other communities too.
Doremy was made by settlers from France. Auguste Bodarde
helped a lot. He was an official immigration agent.
There are only 24,000 Fransaskois left in Saskatchewan.
About Fransaskois.
Fransaskois culture is the culture of French-speaking people
in Saskatchewan. The ancestors of the Fransaskois were pioneers.
The pioneering history is important to the Fransaskois people.
The Catholic Church is important to the Fransaskois. The
religious feast days are also important to the Fransaskois. One of
mom and auntie’s favorite days was the Fete de St.Catherine
(Nov.24) when they would make pull toffee in the snow.
The Fransaskois culture is well spoken in their language.
They speak French but it is a bit different then the Québec
language. People who still live in French communities have a
different accent when they speak French. The Fransaskois
newspaper is called L’eau vive (living water), and a Fransaskois
radio-station (CBKF Saskatchewan). There are lots of French
cultural association, is 2 Fransaskois dance groups, a choir, and
lots of bands. There is also a French lending library in Prince
Albert.
Great Grandpa Rompre homesteaded in Ens, SK. He moved
to Doremy because it was a French place. The people in Ens spoke
Ukrainian and English, he didn’t understand them.
Great Grandpa and Great Grandpa Gobiel homesteaded in the
Henribourge /Albertville area. Great Grandma was only 16 when
she moved to Canada. Her first child was born just before she
passed the border in to Canada in 1909.
The last name Remlinger means “Farmer”. The last name
Rompre is a French name that means, “break”.
Fransaskois food is simple. It is just pioneer food. They ate
lots of meat, potatoes, bread, and whatever could be grown in a
garden. Maple Syrup and Cream Feature was usually in their
desserts. Maple Syrup was hard to get in SK so it was replaced
with brown sugar. One of the desserts were Sucre a la cream
(sugar pie) and Grandperes auSyrop d’Erable (dumplings in maple
syrup). Mocha cake is a special dessert. Tourtiere (meat pie made
up of ground pork and ground beef) is a well known of the
traditional French Canadian food. Pea soup and backed beans were
often eaten too.
The Ceinture-fleche is the name of the belt traditionally worn
by th ecourreurs du bois. The fiddle and the spoons were the most
common instruments. Marionnettes (wooden puppets) were fun
entertainment.