LES CANADIENS-FRANÇAIS (2) (224 ENGLISH)
One must not forget, « Les Filles du Roi », the daughters of the king who were a great help in the development of the country. In 1665, 3 boat loads of chosen and educated young girls (728 ) arrived in New France to help colonize the country. Furthermore they each had brought a dowry from the king to help get started and Sister Marie de l’Incarnation received them here and sheltered them until they left to get married.
The king had chosen Jean Talon to organize encounters and social gatherings where the bachelors could meet these girls, and then where they could celebrate their marriage…. Catherine de Baillon was one such daughter in more ways than one. Thanks to her mother, Louise de Marle, she had noble blood and descended from Charlemagne…furthermore Catherine’s husband, Jacques Miville dit Deschènes, was a Swiss of royal blood also, and their marriage was held a few weeks after her arrival. So today one can say that many French-Canadians, perhaps 5 million, have a bit of royal blood from this couple.
In the 1666 census, the first in Canada, there were 3,100 people. Of these people there are probably 1500 ancestors who have left a lineage. In 1681, this number was greatly increased by the arrival of the Filles du roi. Today one c an estimate about 3000 ancestral heads of families colonized Canada. All children born in New France became French-Canadians when Canada came into being. We became a people of 10 million, 6 million in Quebec, 3 million in the United States, 1 million in the West. Furthermore we are all related. If one counted the number of years that each couple lived in Canada, one could say with pride that one’s children have probably had one million years of ancestors in Canada. I developed this statistical exercise for my children, and even though my mother was born in Belgium, my husband’s parents greatly helped in reaching the million.
Our ancestors have left us many traditions; they were innovators. Amongst these traditions, one of the most interesting is the arrowhead sash, a braided woven colorful sash to go around one’s waist to be used for warmth, or to hold things and for other uses. Another tradition was the collection of songs, refrains and the call-and-response songs; or the accompaniment of these songs with a rhythmic spoon. It seems that no one has thought about collecting this music…Another tradition could be the collection of recipes, for example the famous pigs’ feet, or the Lac St. Jean tourtière (meat pies) (this certainly did not come from Paris), and one must not forget maple syrup, and other national delicacies…
In Donnelly there was a group of very good and unified friends who each had his own song to sing at a gathering or wedding reception. My father, for example, sang “La soupe à l’oignon” where he described his love for onion soup; another was “Au pas camarade” which was a marching song. But when it was at a wedding party, my father sang the “Angelus of Love’. Mrs. Blanche Beland had copied all the popular songs in a notebook; it still existed not too long ago, but no one can find it now. While searching for it, I found another notebook belonging to a relative of hers which dates from 1905; 1905 to today, 2015 means 110 years ago.
It is a fact the descendants of our ancestors who with the help of the First Nations people, fought against the British and won the 1812 War against the Americans. Have you ever wondered what Canada would have been had the French-Canadians and the Fist Nations not joined forces to fight and win the war? There would have been enormous repercussions , to name just a few: our natural resources would now be in the hands of the Americans; our natural water which the Americans need so badly would be under their control, etc. Unfortunately the Canadian Government spent $25 million dollars on television ads yet gave a very poor history of the 1812 War. No credits were given to the French-Canadians nor to the First Nations people; . It took many weeks and many phone calls to them for them to admit as an after-thought that these two peoples had contributed…It was obvious that this was an add-on just like when one adds a few inches to a little girls dress when she has grown too fast…
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