History is written for you by people who have decided what they think is important for you to know, most everything else tends to get lost or there are only tidbits to go on. Whether it is a strictly historical account there will always be some bias. Well this is my historical account of the Lower North Shore based on my research for the purpose of this blog. I have excluded alot of information that I think is worth knowing if you've got the time so I have included some links to websites with more in depth information. Today I will briefly tell you about the history of discovery, exploration and settlement on the coast. During a fairly quick internet search I discovered what I have known to be true that there is little or no mention of our specific geographical area in the history of Quebec or Canada. What I feel to be an important enough aspect of our province and nations history apparently does not warrant even a footnote of mention in the curriculum taught to us in high school and have found that to be true in higher education as well.
Everyone knows that Jacques Cartier was one of the first explorers to come across and document the Gulf of St Lawrence and the St Lawrence River but most of the time when discussed in history they talk about him visiting Newfoundland and Gaspe and of course Stadacona and Hochelaga. The maps included above are the first two of his three voyages to North America. As you can see both voyages took him and his crew along the LNS. In the history of Jacques Cartier (JC) they mention marooning Marguerite de LaRocque on what was then known as the Isle of Demons. We know that this island was located on the Gulf of St Lawrence off the coast of Quebec. The island that is believed to be the Isle of Demons is now known as Harrington Harbor; I will tell you about the legend later when I discuss this village in detail. There is further evidence that a place called Brest was located around the village we call Old Fort Bay which was documented on early maps of the region and JC wrote about visiting the port in 1534. Apparently JC described the LNS as “the land god gave to cain.” The port of Brest was probably named after a town in Brittany. In any case it likely proves that JC did visit the LNS. Anyway you should already know all about the initial discovery of North America with reference to Cartier and Cabot. However these men were not the first to find North America. All along the St Lawrence and the Gulf there are archeological sites that have found evidence that the Basque whalers had used North American waters to hunt for whales before Jacques Cartier’s time. The Vikings deserve their due for being the first Europeans to reach our shores. Jacques Cartier apparently used the Basque knowledge of the land and also benefited from their amicable relationships with the native population. There are archeological sites in, Gros Mecatina, and Havre Boulet. The digs began in 2001 and are being conducted by the Arctic Studies Center of the Smithsonian Museum; the project is called the St Lawrence Gateways Project if you are interested in learning more. http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/features/gateways/pages/page2.htm
The villages along the Lower North Shore were established during the 1700’s for the purpose of exploiting the areas resources. The land rights (seigneuires) were granted to a few noblemen by the King of France. Augustin Le Gardeur de Courtemanche was given all the land between Kegaska and Hamlet Inlet (Labrador) for 10 years beginning in 1702. Apparently the King thought Courtemenche was Cain and gave him the entire strip. Afterwards he took a lifelong concession of Bradore Bay. In 1763, the Brits kicked the French out and began to enforce their own business interests. The British did not want the area to be settled as they wanted to maintain a monopoly over the industry. However as the North American population grew more and more people migrated to the LNS from England, Scotland, and the Jersey Islands. The Jersey Island fishermen were mostly bilingual and were the main reason for later immigration as they were responsible for setting up the cod industry. They attracted the Newfoundlanders, other Quebecer’s and the Acadians during the 19th century. They were also responsible for New Jersey.
The ancestral composition of the LNS is made up of Scottish, British, French, Jersey, Newfoundland, Acadian and Innu backgrounds. The native population on the coast is Innu; they were formerly known as the Montagnais, the Mountain people. There are two Innu reserves on the coast: Unamen Shipu located near La Romaine and Pakua Shipi, located across the river from St Augustine. On the LNS the European settlers and the Native’s existed peacefully. The Innu taught the Euro’s how to survive, how to travel, and hunt this particular stretch of land. They taught them to move inside for the harsh winter months and outside for the summer season; (inside as in Inland, and outside as in on the shore). The Innu were the last nomadic groups in North America. Nowadays everyone has a permanent year round home since trapping and hunting are not as economically vital to the region.
A really good timeline is available on the web at: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~qclns/timeline_second.htm
It details the history of the LNS and of important events in Canadian history from Early Maritime Archaic (8000 to 4500 years ago) to 1984.
Here is a list of sources I used:
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Thanks for reading!
