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panorama_60EB2924_6F28_5D64_41DA_71E7A0CDC416.label = Europeans in the Gulf
panorama_D77975ED_DAFE_85E1_41D1_EDD4DE1538F0.label = Land ownership
panorama_B2E42FA0_BC61_6BCE_41E3_E636146A74C3.label = The battle of Halaboulina
panorama_DB6B5D3B_D5F2_5A3D_41BB_02DE89EFDF6F.label = The first permanent residents
panorama_52C34E1C_4B5A_6B6D_41C6_45FF8A42D36A.label = The first visitors
panorama_7F073141_6F28_4D1D_41D7_ECA570D12584.label = Walrus
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htmlText_C9F3C6F7_DF72_89FC_41E7_08A616DB04F1.html = A fisherman never reveals a good fishing ground! This is also true for the ancient Europeans who came to fish, hunt and trade in Canada's Maritime Provinces in the late 15th century. Norman, Basque and Breton fishermen were already aware of the importance of Atlantic Canada's resources and had met and traded with the region's indigenous people before Jacques Cartier “discovered” it.
Just because there are no records of Europeans in the Gulf before 1534 does not mean they were not there. It is likely that the first European fishermen ended up in the area by following the cod schools. The interest of these Normans, Basques and Bretons in the American fisheries was due to the great demand in Europe. Europeans consumed a lot of fish, not only because of the large number of lean days (among Christians, days of dietary restrictions when followers do not eat meat. However, they may eat fish. Depending on the church, there could be 150 to 250 lean days in a year), but also because fish fed the soldiers deployed during the expansion period. Fishermen also hunted whales, as their oil was an important source of income. Men in Europe were encouraged to become fishermen in order to develop skills at sea that would be useful in times of war.
The first written record of a walrus hunting campaign on the Magdalen Islands dates from 1591. The British privateer ship Pleasure intercepted a Breton ship, the Bonaventure, off the coast of the United Kingdom. The Bonaventure had a large quantity of walrus oil and tusks on board. The crew is said to have killed nearly 1,500 walrus on the Magdalen Islands.
Thus began the British interest in walrus hunting. The cargo that was confiscated was very valuable, especially the walrus oil. The great advantage of this oil is that, unlike seal or cod oil, walrus oil does not have a fishy smell (16) . It is therefore a very interesting substitute for soap making, oil lighting and candles.
The French and Basques regularly visited the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Magdalen Islands under the French regime. Some were self-employed, while others worked for different concessionaires on the islands who acquired hunting and fishing rights on the territory.
(16) Quinn, David B. England and the discovery of America, 1481-1620: From the Bristol voyages of the fifteenth century to the pilgrim settlement at Plymouth : the exploration, exploitation, and trial-and-error colonization of North America by the English. (New York: A.A. Knopf, 1974), 319-20.
Gridley's permanent settlement on the Magdalen Islands was the beginning of the end of walrus hunting on the archipelago. Intensive hunting and the arrival of more technologically efficient hunters contributed to the end of the Atlantic walrus on the Islands. Oral tradition has it that the last walrus was seen on the Islands in 1799.
The second half of the 18th century was disastrous for the walrus population of the Magdalen Islands. Captain Crofton of the Royal Navy reported in 1798 that walrus hunting on the Magdalen Islands was completely destroyed.
The decline was due to the large-scale exploitation of walrus by Gridley and his employees from the 1760s on. Then, the Treaty of Versailles in 1783 gave the Americans access to the waters around the Islands and the right to come and arrange their catches. Their hunting technologies were superior and their methods less sustainable. Males, females and young walrus were killed without discrimination. Those practices lead to the abandonment of the haulouts and the end of the walrus on the Magdalen Islands.
The Islands changed considerably over the walrus-hunting centuries, from the establishment of a permanent population on its territory to the loss of a species that had been visiting for thousands of years. One of the biggest impacts of walrus hunting on the Islands' landscape was the loss of a significant portion of the forest cover. The companies needed wood for buildings, heat, and most importantly, to boil walrus blubber to make their oil.
The British were not very interested in walrus hunting in the early days of transatlantic travel. They were rather present on the coasts of Newfoundland where they fished the large cod schools. It was their contact with the French and the Basques, who were hunting the walrus, that sparked their interest in the resource. In one of the first British expeditions to the Magdalen Islands, Captain Charles Leigh and his crew attempted to colonise and monopolise the territory. This led to the first documented confrontation between the French, English and Mi'kmaq in North America.
The purpose of Charles Leigh's first voyage to the Magdalen Islands was to colonise the land with British subjects to ensure a stronghold on the walrus resource before others in the spring of the following year. It was with such ambitions that he set sail from England on April 8, 1597 on the Hopewell. It was accompanied by a second ship, the Chancewell, with Captain Stephen van Harwick in command. This second ship wrecked at Cape Breton and never made it to the Magdalen Islands.
On June 18, Leigh reached the Islands and entered a bay known as Halabolina. There he met four other ships; two Breton and two Basque. The two Breton ships from Saint-Malo presented themselves to the Hopewell to assure them that they did not wish to create conflicts, but the two other Basque ships from Ciboure avoided the English ship. Leigh was suspicious and took precautions against the two unknown ships. He asked them to deliver all their ammunition and gunpowder to ensure that their campaign on the Islands went smoothly.
The first ship proved its allegiance to France and caused no problems, but the second was suspicious and refused to surrender its weapons. Leigh then ordered his crew to take the weapons and ammunition by force, but the crew had another idea in mind. They were going to go against the captain's orders and loot the entire ship, but they were stopped and ultimately only took the weapons. Leigh's crew still planned to go and loot the ship the next day despite the captain's orders.
Their plan never came to fruition, for the next day the crew of the Hopewell awakened to the sight of 200 Basques and Bretons on the coast, accompanied by 300 Mi'kmaw allies. They were ready for a confrontation and aimed at the Hopewell with their three cannons. After a few exchanges of fire, they proceeded to negotiate. In addition to returning the ammunition confiscated from the Basques, his own and the Hopewell's secondary barge were confiscated. Leigh abandoned his weapons and his boat and left. Leigh's crew forced the captain to return to Europe empty-handed. The Hopewell was lucky in her misfortune. On their way back, they discovered the crew of the Chancewell stranded in Cape Breton, much to their delight (21).
Leigh had great ambitions and wanted to return to the Islands and install an armed garrison on Entry Island to discourage exploitation of the territory by other hunters. This plan was never carried out, and the Magdalen Islands only fell under English authority in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris signed at the end of the Seven Years' War.
(21) Quinn, David B. England and the discovery of America, 1481-1620: From the Bristol voyages of the fifteenth century to the pilgrim settlement at Plymouth : the exploration, exploitation, and trial-and-error colonization of North America by the English. (New York: A.A. Knopf, 1974), 353-4.
The Magdalen Islands were granted to various Frenchmen, Englishmen and even companies throughout their history. Residents owed rents for the land on which they lived, with little opportunity to own it. In response to a mass exodus in the 19th century, multiple requests and enquiries were made to return the land to the Magdalen Islanders living there (28).
Isaac Coffin was an accomplished officer in the English Royal Navy when he warned the Quebec Legislative Council of the situation on the Magdalen Islands (29) . American ships were taking advantage of the resources around the Islands and undertaking illicit trade on its shores. He was officially granted the Magdalen Islands in 1798, so that he could ensure some control over the illegal trade with the Americans. He did not think well of the Acadians, whom he saw as lawless enemies of the crown. Coffin introduced a feudal-type system to the Magdalen Islands. Some families had been established on the islands for 30 years without owing anything to anyone, so the new rents to be paid and Coffin's threats were not taken seriously.
Coffin hoped to attract an English-speaking population to the Islands. This is why he reserved the land on Coffin Island, which consisted of Cap-de-l'Est, Pointe-de-l'Est, Old-Harry and the present Grande-Entrée. This area represents 1/7 of the Magdalen Islands territory and was reserved to welcome a Protestant clergy . The biggest advantage of Coffin Island is that no taxes were charged. The first English-speaking inhabitants who settled on the eastern part of the Islands took advantage of this . Far less English-speaking people settled on the Islands than
he had hoped, so the reserve was transferred to the Crown. Around 1850, the land was sold in lots to individuals.
Coffin visited the islands only once in 1806. He hoped to meet these Acadians, whom he described as strong-headed, and threatened to imprison or deport those who did not submit to his laws. None of these threats were carried out and the Magdalen Islanders continued to claim their right to property.
Coffin also introduced a local currency which he called the Magdalen Island Token, which he had minted for use on the Islands. His efforts were unsuccessful, as it was rejected. On the one hand, Coffin was not a beloved authority on the Islands and on the other hand, bartering was the main form of trade. The Coffin reign continued for two more generations. The Coffins finally sold their holdings to the Magdalen Island Co. for $100,000 in 1902.
In the mid-19th century, there was a mass exodus of Magdalen Islanders. The situation was far from ideal, the fishing market was difficult and low yielding, and land ownership was difficult and unaffordable. The land agents became more demanding and imposed their rules. Many families moved to the North Shore or to Newfoundland, among other places. In spite of various investigations undertaken to liberate the Magdalen Islanders from the system, the situation did not change for good until 1958, when Hormidas Langlais, Member of Parliament for the Islands, and the Duplessis government bought back the seigneurial rights and reformed the cadastral plan of the Islands.
(28) Carbonneau, Pauline. Découverte et peuplement des îles de la Madeleine. (Rosemère: Humanitas, 2009), 193.
(29) Douglas, W.A.B. « Coffin, sir Isaac ». Université Laval/University of Toronto. Dictionnaire biographique du Canada [En ligne]. http://www.biographi.ca/https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=24104&type=pge
The Mi'kmaq are masters of navigation, from inland rivers to perilous journeys on the open seas. The seafaring canoe, which was used to travel to the Islands, is recognizable at first glance by its distinctive long sidings that curve upward to prevent waves from breaking over the sides of the boat. The most impressive is the material used to make the hull of these boats: birchbark.
Mi'kmaw oral tradition reveals that the construction and use of birchbark canoes are skills that were passed down to humans by Glooscap, the Creator. The exact date when the Mi'kmaq began using canoes is undetermined, but there is no doubt that these people have been travelling the water ways since well before the arrival of Europeans in America, perhaps for thousands of years.
Among the Mi'kmaq, there are four different canoe types: the hunting or forest canoe, the river canoe, the war canoe, and the seafaring canoe. The seafaring canoe differs from the others with its V-shaped hull that allows experienced sailors to make fast turns and have better control in waves, unlike other more rounded hulls. It is also larger, up to 8.5 m, and can hold between 8 and 12 people. (6)
The canoe-making process can take up to two weeks in good conditions, but once completed, a well-maintained birchbark canoe can be used for up to 20 years. One must be particularly careful of obstacles such as rocks and shoals that threaten to puncture the hull. This fragility is explained by the preferred canoe hull material: white birchbark. The boat's frame is made of spruce roots split and woven together, then a mixture of spruce gum, charcoal and animal fat is applied to the boat to make it strong and watertight. Finally, decorative features can be added by engraving the bark and adding bursts of colour using different ochres (rock that produces a natural red, brown or yellow pigment) (7). These canoes were manoeuvred with paddles or poles.
The ancestral seafaring canoes became increasingly rare after contact with the Europeans. They were transformed and traded out for European fishing boats and barges during the second half of the 17th century (8). Birchbark canoes were still used on inland waterways and on the coast. The traditional ways have almost ceased completely over the last century, but a few individuals keep the legacy alive today.
(6)Marshall, Ingeborg. «Le canot de haute mer des Micmacs» dans Les Micmacs et la Mer. Martijn, Charles A., dir. (Montréal: Recherches amérindiennes au Québec, 1986), 40.
(7) Marshall, Ingeborg. «Le canot de haute mer des Micmacs» dans Les Micmacs et la Mer. Martijn, Charles A., dir. (Montréal: Recherches amérindiennes au Québec, 1986), 40-43.
(8) Marshall, Ingeborg. «Le canot de haute mer des Micmacs» dans Les Micmacs et la Mer. Martijn, Charles A., dir. (Montréal: Recherches amérindiennes au Québec, 1986), 48.
The Mi'kmaq make use of all of the materials provided by the animals they hunt. To waste a useful part of the animal would be disrespectful to the animal. In the case of the walrus, its rich meat, thick waterproof skin, large fat reserves and big strong bones were used to their full potential. The large ivory tusks were also salvaged and used to make tools and crafts. Small playing tokens were also made from walrus tusks (13) . These two-sided dice are used in a game of chance called Waltes, also known as woltestakun or altestakun in Mi'kmaw language.
Waltes is a Mi'kmaw game of chance played by two people. To play, you need a shallow bowl, traditionally carved from maple wood, placed on a soft surface like a piece of cloth or thick leather (14) . Six two-sided dice are placed inside the bowl. One of the surfaces of these dice is flat and decorated with a flower, while the other is convex, without decoration. A third person assists the players and keeps the score. The scoring is counted using 55 sticks, each worth 1, 5 or 10 points.
Initially, the six dice are placed in the bowl with the decorated side facing down. The first player lifts the bowl and taps it against the surface on which it is placed to flip the dice. If at least five of the six dice land on the same side up, the player marks points and keeps playing until he no longer succeeds. Then the second player gets their turn.
The game ends when one of the players has all the sticks or forfeits. However, there is a third way to win: when a player has collected almost all of the sticks, the loser can ask for an all or nothing. If they are lucky, they win the game. This is one of the appeals of the game of Waltes: the game is not over until the very end.
(13) Whitehead, Ruth Holmes, Harold Franklin McGee et Kathy Kaulbach.The Micmac: how their ancestors lived five hundred years ago (Halifax, N.S.: Nimbus Pub, 1983), 47.
(14)Culin, Stewart. Games of the North American Indians : Games of Chance (Vol. I). (University of Nebraska Press, 1992), 74-76, https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/9604.
The Mi'kmaq’s ancestors settled in the southern portion of Atlantic Canada, in some areas north of Maine and on the Gaspe Peninsula. This ancestral territory is called Mi'kma'ki. Some of those groups would have already visited the Islands during the Woodland period, between 2500 BCE and 1000 BCE. The perilous journeys to the archipelago could be explained by a lack of resources on the continent and by an interest towards specific resources found on the Islands. Thirst for adventure may have also played a part in it.
The earliest written evidence of Mi'kmaw presence on the Islands dates back to 1597.
The Mi'kmaq have a nomadic lifestyle. In the summer, they gather in large groups on the coasts when resources are accessible and abundant. In winter, when resources are scarcer, they retreat to the mainland in smaller family units.
The Mi'kmaq sometimes came to the Magdalen Islands during the summer season. They called the islands Memquit, or Island floating on the water. The reasons for leaving the mainland are debatable. Since they risked a dangerous journey of several dozen kilometres on the high seas, the crossing must have been necessary. Some speculation is raised as to the circumstances that led the Mi'kmaq to cross the Gulf, when the resources of the Islands are similar to those of the coast of Mi'kma'ki.
The journey to the Magdalen Islands was probably made in summers when the coastal resources could not support the entire group. This type of situation may be due to environmental factors such as salinity and water temperature that affect the migratory path of the fish bands. (9). They would not stay the whole year on the Islands, and they did not stock up either, because they would have to bring everything back to the mainland before the ice came (10). It would have been a temporary situation and they would have returned to the mainland before winter arrived.
Another reason to cross over to the Islands would simply be the extensive resources and the ease of acquiring them once there (11). The most common types of hunting on its shores were for seals and migratory birds. The seasonal collection of eggs was also a very profitable activity. In addition, herring and mackerel are important resources on a seasonal basis. Other types of resources are also present on the Islands, such as an important deposit of red ochre on Entry Island. This important deposit that would have been of high value to the Mi'kmaq (12).
(9) Martijn, Charles A. «Les Micmacs aux Îles de la Madeleine: visions fugitives et glanures ethnohistoriques» dans Les Micmacs et la Mer. Martijn, Charles A., dir.( Montréal: Recherches amérindiennes au Québec, 1986), 167.
(10) Dumais, Pierre et Gilles Rousseau. «Menagoesenog ou les Îles de la Madeleine: contexte environnemental» dans Les Micmacs et la Mer, Martijn, Charles A., dir. (Montréal: Recherches amérindiennes au Québec, 1986), 97.
(11) Dumais, Pierre et Gilles Rousseau. «Menagoesenog ou les Îles de la Madeleine: contexte environnemental» dans Les Micmacs et la Mer, Martijn, Charles A., dir. (Montréal: Recherches amérindiennes au Québec, 1986), 77.
(12) Dumais, Pierre et Gilles Rousseau. «Menagoesenog ou les Îles de la Madeleine: contexte environnemental» dans Les Micmacs et la Mer, Martijn, Charles A., dir. (Montréal: Recherches amérindiennes au Québec, 1986), 71.
The first permanent inhabitants of the Magdalen Islands came under Richard Gridley, a Bostonian and colonel in the English army who received a temporary permit to fish and hunt on the Magdalen Islands in 1760, without being granted a concession to the islands. At the beginning of walrus exploitation, Gridley established 12 French-speaking families on the islands, living in five different houses. Other Acadians came to settle thereafter, followed by several waves of immigration from Miquelon towards the end of the 18th century, which rapidly increased the population of the Islands.
Gridley employed French Canadians and Acadians who had fled the deportation to hunt walrus and process their products on the Magdalen Islands. He would have preferred to employ English subjects, but the Acadians and French Canadians knew better hunting and processing methods than the English. In a correspondence between Gridley and Amherst dated December 5, 1761, he explained that he was only employing Canadians and Acadians for one winter, with the aim of learning how to hunt, and would then employ subjects of His Majesty (18) . This would not be the case, because in August 1765, Gridley's 22 employees signed an oath of allegiance to the British crown. The names of the occupants of the Islands at that time are therefore preserved, and it turns out that his workers were still Acadians and French Canadians.
Even though Gridley settled in Amherst, now known as Havre-Aubert, hunting was mainly carried out in the eastern part of the Islands, at Old Harry. The fat from the sea cows was transported to Grosse-Île where there was the necessary lumber to fuel the fires to transform the fat into oil.
Walrus was the primary economic activity that began the settlement of the Islands, but it continued even when the walrus declined drastically. In 1793, one of the largest waves of immigration occurred when Father Allain landed with about 250 people, or 40 Acadian families, from Miquelon (19) . He left the French island with his followers because he refused to swear an oath to the new civil constitution of the clergy (Reorganization of the French clergy which ordered the members to obey the nation rather than the Pope. They become elected officials under the control
of the nation) in place following the French Revolution.
The initial population of the Islands at that time was 150 people, it more than doubled overnight! These people settled mainly in Havre-Aubert, Havre-aux-Maisons and Étang-du-Nord. A few Acadian families initially settled on Entry Island, but did not stay there; From 1822 on, only English-speaking people inhabited this small island (20).
(18) La Société Historique Acadienne, « Richard Gridley à Amherst » Papiers Amherst (1760-1763): Concernant les Acadiens 3, 7 (1970), 312.
(19) Gaudet, Rose-Delima. Recherches sur les origines des habitants des Îles de la Madeleine (Havre-Aubert: Musée de la mer, 1978), 8.
(20) Carbonneau, Pauline. Découverte et peuplement des îles de la Madeleine. (Rosemère: Humanitas, 2009), 92.
The first writings on the Magdalen Islands come from Jacques Cartier's voyages. On his first voyage, he passed by Bird Rock, which he named Île Margaux, and Brion Island, where he described his encounter with the sea cows (an expression used to describe manatees or dugongs, but in this context it refers to walrus). Since, hunting techniques have been developed and improved. At its peak, walrus were hunted on haulouts at night. With only a dozen hunters, hundreds of animals could be killed in a few days.
Lieutenant Peter Frederick Haldimand, under Captain Samuel Holland, was commissioned to write a report on the Magdalen Islands in 1765 as part of a survey of British North America. He provides a very detailed account of the walrus hunt that took place that year. He explains that this hunt was carried out by a party of 10 to 12 people who sneaked onto the haulouts where hundreds, if not thousands, of walrus rested. The best place to practise this hunt was at Old Harry on its two beaches: the Grande Échouerie and la Manche. The hunt started at nightfall, since walrus do not have very good vision, but they have an excellent sense of smell! It was done at this time of day to avoid being spotted. Hunters made sure to approach the herd silently against the wind. They were armed with 12-foot long poles that were used to tap the backsides of the walrus to drive them into two separate groups; one side near the coast, the other one inland. When the herd was split in two, the hunters would stand between the two groups and make loud noises to cause panic. The walrus between the men and the coast would flee to the sea, but those inland would try to escape further inland. This creates confusion and walrus on land quickly lose their energy, leaving them vulnerable. When the hunters were ready, they simply shot the animals in the head with a musket. It is necessary to act quickly once the animal is dead to recover its fat and boil it down to an oil.
Hunting was mainly carried out during two seasons: spring and autumn. In the spring, there were more walrus on the haulouts and a greater number of kills took place. In the autumn, although there were fewer animals and less slaughter, just as much walrus oil was gathered, since walrus were up to three times fatter in the autumn than in the spring (17) . Depending on age, size, sex and season of slaughter, one barrel could contains the fat of 2 to 4 walrus.
(17) Mowat, Farley. Sea of Slaughter. (Boston; Toronto: Atlantic Monthly Press ; McClelland and Stewart, 1985), 318.
The first written description of the Atlantic walrus on the Magdalen Islands comes from the French explorer Jacques Cartier. When he approached Brion Island in 1534, he described the species as follows, "There are around this island, several large beasts, like large oxen that have two teeth in their mouths like elephant teeth, which go out to sea. Of which there was one sleeping on the land by the water's edge, and we went with our boats to try to catch it, but as soon as we got near it, it threw itself into the sea (2)."
The walrus presence in the Gulf of St. Lawrence dates back to ancient times. They were already in the region during the last ice age and are thought to have remained in the Gulf when the ice migrated north over 10,000 years ago. While the largest walrus herd in Atlantic Canada migrated to the shores of the Magdalen Islands, other significantly smaller herds were also found elsewhere in the Gulf of St-Lawrence and near Sable Island.
To understand the immensity of the walrus, we can refer ourselves to the description made by Peter Frederick Haldimand when he visited the Islands in 1765 under the direction of the Surveyor General of British North America, “They are when very young about 50 lbs. weight, extremely small in proportion to the bulk they afterwards grow in the space of five
or six years, about which time they are computed to weigh 2000 pounds. They are the most unwieldy, ugly creature imaginable. Their bodies in shape and colour a good deal resembling a Toad’s. Their heads in some respects not much unlike that of an Ox, except that they have no horns. Their ears are nothing but a very small hole on each side. An Ivory Tusk of one foot and a half long is fixed on each side the upper jaw, which assists them to get upon the flat Rocks and Banks where they frequently rest themselves (3).”
Walrus are generally peaceful animals, but there are some hunters' tales of walrus knocking over boats when they felt threatened. They are very agile in water despite their large size. On land, however, they are much clumsier and therefore more vulnerable.
The uses of the walrus
Walrus are a valuable resource. These huge animals produce a lot of meat that is rich in zinc, iron, and omega-3 fatty acids that reinforce the immune system, blood circulation and promote heart
health (4). In addition to the nutritional benefits, walrus are exploited for their thick, tough and waterproof skin. Their skin can be used to make very strong rope, and even to make the hulls of small boats. On the Islands, the walrus was hunted above all for its blubber.
For Europeans, the main interest in walrus was the quality of the oil that can be produced by heating their blubber. The oil is coveted because it does not give off a fishy smell like cod or seal oil. Therefore, it can be used to make soaps and candles, as well as in oil lamps. In the early days of European exploitation, the tusks were also sold at a very high price, as they were considered of higher quality than those of elephants, until the 17th century. Other uses of walrus products are rather unusual. A British physicist stated that the walrus tusk he obtained from a trip to the Magdalen Islands was just as effective against poisons as unicorn horns! (5)
Today, the Atlantic walrus is considered a species of concern because of its reduced numbers and the various pressures affecting its environment. Walrus hunting is regulated and commercial hunting is prohibited. It is mainly found in the cold waters of northeastern Canada and in the Arctic Ocean.
(2) Cartier, Jacques. Voyages en Nouvelle-France. Les Cahiers du Québec ; 32 : Collection Documents d’histoire. (Québec: Hurtubise, 1977), 49.
(3) Traduction de Paul Hubert, dans Les Iles de la Madeleine et les Madelinots (Rimouski : Imp. générale de Rimouski, 1926), 44. http://archive.org/details/lesilesdelamadel0000hube.
(4) Canada. Nunavut. Ministère de la Santé. Nutrition Fact Sheet Series Inuit Traditional Foods Série de fiches sur la nutrition: Aliments traditionnels inuits. (S.l., 2013), 11, https://livehealthy.gov.nu.ca/sites/default/files/resource_attachments/FR_WEB_itf--nutrition-fact-sheet-series.pdf.
(5) Hakluyt, Richard. The Principal Navigations Voyages Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation, vol. 8, Cambridge Library Collection - Maritime Exploration (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 156, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107286597.
Today, the majority of the English-speaking population of the Islands is concentrated in Grosse Île and Entry Island. From the very beginning of Anglophone immigration, those were also the two main areas of affluence. Catholic and Protestant Anglophones began to settle on the Islands in the 1820s. In the 1831 census, there were 20 Anglophone families out of a total of 195(22) .
The first three English-speaking families mentioned in the Grosse Île church records are John Rankin and Else Pierce, James Clarke and Mary Goodwin and George Goodwin and Margaret Dickson. These three families came from Baie-Sainte-Marie, Nova Scotia. Oral tradition has it that they settled on the Islands in Grosse Île and East Cape, on Coffin Island, when a group of French-speaking residents left their homes and moved to Pointe-Basse in Havre-aux-Maisons(23) . The date when these people settled on the Islands is uncertain, but the year 1828 is generally accepted as their settlement date, in accordance with the founding of the village of Grosse-Île. There is also mention of the Dickson and McLean families, who came from Nova Scotia and settled on Entry Island in the 1820s.
In 1831, there were approximately 16 different Anglophone surnames in the registers. Forty years later, this number tripled. The influx of Anglophones to the Islands can be explained by the immigration of Anglophone families from the Maritimes. In addition, the hundreds of shipwrecks around the Islands have also brought their share of castaways, some of whom have never left. For others, there were deserters who left their post during a layover on the Islands, or even stowaways. Among others, Irish, Scots, Russians, Syrians and Lebanese settled on the Islands. Immigrants were able to integrate easily with the locals by joining families through marriage(24) .
The majority of Anglophones settled on the eastern part of the Islands and on Entry Island to pursue fishing and farming, but a few merchants preferred to settle on the other main islands near their French-speaking clients(25).
At its peak, Anglophones represented 12.5% of the Islands' population . In the most recent census in 2016, Anglophones only represented 5.7% of the population, for a total of 695 people .
(22) Fortin, Jean-Charles, et Paul Larocque. Histoire des Îles-de-la-Madeleine. Collection Les régions du Québec 15. (Sainte-Foy: Institut québécois de recherche sur la culture, 2003), 95.
(23) Gaudet, Rose-Delima. Recherches sur les origines des habitants des Îles de la Madeleine (Havre-Aubert: Musée de la mer, 1978), 38.
(24) Carbonneau, Pauline. Découverte et peuplement des îles de la Madeleine. (Rosemère: Humanitas, 2009), 179.
(25) Ibid. 109
(26) Arseneau Bussières, Stéphanie et Hélène Chevrier. Profil socio-économique de la communauté anglophone des Îles-de-la-Madeleine. Centre de recherche sur les milieux insulaires et maritimes, Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Rapport présenté à Industrie Canada, (2008), 4.
(27) Community Health and Social Services Network. Demographic profile of the english-speaking communities in the administrative region of Gaspésie– Îles-de-la-Madeleine & MRC les Îles-de-la-Madeleine based on the 2016 census of Canada. MRC Profile Series. (s.l. 2018), 8.
The Magdalen Islands (Archipelago in the Gulf of Saint-Lawrence ) are a place where different populations met and converged over a common goal: acquiring resources. Hunters and fishermen from near and far came to access the abundant resources the Islands provided. One of the great instigators of this interest was the Atlantic walrus, also called the sea cow. Centuries ago, people came to the Islands to hunt the huge walrus herds that relaxed on the haulouts (A place where walrus gather to rest and digest. They can spend several days there).
The Europeans who engaged in this hunt believed the Magdalen Islands walrus was an infinite resource, but it would not be so for long. A few centuries after the first Europeans came to hunt on the Islands, walrus were considered rare in the Gulf. It is said that the last walrus was seen on the Magdalen Islands in 1799, but some documents and oral history mention its coming and going on the archipelago sporadically and in small numbers over the following centuries(1) . Nowadays, the walrus's passage on the Magdalen Islands can still be attested through bone and teeth remains sometimes found on the beaches. Place names, such as Sea-Cow-Point in Old Harry also remind us of a time when the walrus surrounded the Islands.
(1) S.a. « The Walrus ».The Penny magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge 6, 2S (1837), 315.
The Magdalen Islands (Archipelago in the Gulf of Saint-Lawrence ) are a place where different populations met and converged over a common goal: acquiring resources. Hunters and fishermen from near and far came to access the abundant resources the Islands provided. One of the great instigators of this interest was the Atlantic walrus, also called the sea cow. Centuries ago, people came to the Islands to hunt the huge walrus herds that relaxed on the haulouts (A place where walrus gather to rest and digest. They can spend several days there).
The Europeans who engaged in this hunt believed the Magdalen Islands walrus was an infinite resource, but it would not be so for long. A few centuries after the first Europeans came to hunt on the Islands, walrus were considered rare in the Gulf. It is said that the last walrus was seen on the Magdalen Islands in 1799, but some documents and oral history mention its coming and going on the archipelago sporadically and in small numbers over the following centuries(1) . Nowadays, the walrus's passage on the Magdalen Islands can still be attested through bone and teeth remains sometimes found on the beaches. Place names, such as Sea-Cow-Point in Old Harry also remind us of a time when the walrus surrounded the Islands.
(1) S.a. « The Walrus ».The Penny magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge 6, 2S (1837), 315.
The Mi'kmaq preserve their history through a rich oral tradition. It is passed down from generation to generation and informs us of the history of these people up to the present day. We also rely on the material remains left by the Mi'kmaq on the land to better understand how they occupied it. There have been a few archaeologists interested in the Magdalen Islands prehistory, but there is still a lot to discover on the subject.
Archaeological research on the prehistory of the Islands is still very limited. A few seasons of exploration accompanied by surveys and excavation pits have been undertaken to identify and determine the potential of various prehistoric sites. Rigorous and systematic excavations have not yet been conducted on the Magdalen Islands (15) . The urgency of undertaking professional excavations on the Islands is explained by the location of many of the sites recorded: they are coastal sites. Erosion is contributing to the loss of these rich sites that would allow us to better understand the first visitors to the Islands, their types of settlements, their means of subsistence, the causes, consequences and duration of their stays.
(15) McCaffrey, Moira T. « Maritimes Walrus and Their Hunters on the Îles de la Madeleine, Québec » Arctic Studies Center Newsletter 23 (2016), 50.
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Once Upon an Island
Funder: Canadian Heritage
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A special thanks to
The Musée de la Mer
Centre d'interprétation du phoque
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Raynald Cyr
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Olivia Pealey, Heritage Development Agent, CAMI
Illustrator:
Gerald Gloade
Photographer:
Nigel Quinn
Once Upon an Island
Funder: Canadian Heritage
Partners & Collaborators:
A special thanks to
The Musée de la Mer
Centre d'interprétation du phoque
Jarrett Quinn
Raynald Cyr
Jean-Simon Richard
Yolande Painchaud
Roger Lewis
Project Coordination & Content Development:
Olivia Pealey, Heritage Development Agent, CAMI
Illustrator:
Gerald Gloade
Photographer:
Nigel Quinn
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