with the
Mi’kmaq people at the Bay of Chaleur. The next year he set off
again from France with three ships and 112 men. With the help of
friendly Iroquois guides, he ventured further up the St. Lawrence
and was told stories of fabulchous riches to be had in the land
beyond. On his return voyage to France in 1536, he made a curious
diversion as he was sailing homeward out of the Gulf of St.
Lawrence. East of the Magdalens, he noticed the striking
mountainous coastline of Cape Breton. He sailed south, then north,
in a sort of hairpin turn, giving him a closer look at the coast
from Inverness to Cape North. But that was probably as close as he
came to Nova Scotia. Nonetheless, Cartier’s expeditions would
eventually set in motion political and expeditionary activities
leading France into the ensuing power struggle for Nova Scotia that
would continue for well over two centuries.
Cartier set off again in 1541 and stayed on in the New World
through a debilitating winter. He was convinced, however, that he
had discovered gold and diamonds and returned to France with what
turned out to be false evidence. After this fiasco, Cartier retired
to a quiet life in Saint Malo, and France more or less lost
interest in the New World for another fifty
years.
Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Hazards of the Acadian
Winters
In 1524 Giovanni da Verrazzano used
the term “Arcadie” on a map he created of the northeast coast of
North America. The name referred to a legendary land of
tranquillity and beauty. Map-makers over the years had moved this
label to several locations as maps improved, until it eventually
stuck to the territory that includes present-day Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick and parts of Quebec. The original name may have been
mixed with the Mi’bkmaq term for a safe harbour, “cadie,” resulting
in the French adopting “Acadie” to put on the maps.
By the early seventeenth century both England and France
believed the new lands could be exploited for profit. Colonies
could provide a new form of wealth, and expansion of territorial
rule might prove of military importance in the future. There was a
degree of stability in France under Henry IV and rivalry with Spain
was taken care of with the Edict of Nantes in 1598. True to the
spirit of business exploitation, a Protestant merchant named Pierre
du Gua de Monts was put in charge of French colonization. Henry
magnanimously granted de Monts authority over all the territory
between the fortieth and forty-sixth parallels and threw in a
ten-year monopoly to trade with the Native people there. In terms
of geography, Henry really had little idea of what he was
granting.
One might wonder how both England and France could proceed to
give away (or license proprietorship over) something they had not
fully charted, indeed something they had no right to own. It would
be an alien and absurd notion to the Mi’kmaq or to any fair-minded
citizen of this century, yet property ownership in Nova Scotia to
this day can be traced back to all the various “grants” of land
that would be made to the English as they superseded the French
with their appropriation of land. Since a Mi’kmaq lived on the land
and with the land, he saw no need for ownership. The European mind
would see things differently. 1
De Monts could have chosen to establish a colony in any
number of places between the fortieth and forty-sixth parallels,
but he chose Acadia because of its proximity to the sea, benevolent
Native people, good agricultural lands, the prevalence of
fur-bearing animals and hopes that the nearby waterway of the St.
Lawrence might yet be found to be the route to Asia. This colony
would also be positioned relatively close to the Grand Banks
fishing grounds.
In 1604 de Monts began his two-month voyage along with the
wealthy nobleman Jean de Poutrincourt and Samuel de Champlain, who
would act as geographer. Because of his later efforts on behalf of
the king, Champlain would
Mi’kmaq people at the Bay of Chaleur. The next year he set off
again from France with three ships and 112 men. With the help of
friendly Iroquois guides, he ventured further up the St. Lawrence
and was told stories of fabulchous riches to be had in the land
beyond. On his return voyage to France in 1536, he made a curious
diversion as he was sailing homeward out of the Gulf of St.
Lawrence. East of the Magdalens, he noticed the striking
mountainous coastline of Cape Breton. He sailed south, then north,
in a sort of hairpin turn, giving him a closer look at the coast
from Inverness to Cape North. But that was probably as close as he
came to Nova Scotia. Nonetheless, Cartier’s expeditions would
eventually set in motion political and expeditionary activities
leading France into the ensuing power struggle for Nova Scotia that
would continue for well over two centuries.
Cartier set off again in 1541 and stayed on in the New World
through a debilitating winter. He was convinced, however, that he
had discovered gold and diamonds and returned to France with what
turned out to be false evidence. After this fiasco, Cartier retired
to a quiet life in Saint Malo, and France more or less lost
interest in the New World for another fifty
years.
Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Hazards of the Acadian
Winters
In 1524 Giovanni da Verrazzano used
the term “Arcadie” on a map he created of the northeast coast of
North America. The name referred to a legendary land of
tranquillity and beauty. Map-makers over the years had moved this
label to several locations as maps improved, until it eventually
stuck to the territory that includes present-day Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick and parts of Quebec. The original name may have been
mixed with the Mi’bkmaq term for a safe harbour, “cadie,” resulting
in the French adopting “Acadie” to put on the maps.
By the early seventeenth century both England and France
believed the new lands could be exploited for profit. Colonies
could provide a new form of wealth, and expansion of territorial
rule might prove of military importance in the future. There was a
degree of stability in France under Henry IV and rivalry with Spain
was taken care of with the Edict of Nantes in 1598. True to the
spirit of business exploitation, a Protestant merchant named Pierre
du Gua de Monts was put in charge of French colonization. Henry
magnanimously granted de Monts authority over all the territory
between the fortieth and forty-sixth parallels and threw in a
ten-year monopoly to trade with the Native people there. In terms
of geography, Henry really had little idea of what he was
granting.
One might wonder how both England and France could proceed to
give away (or license proprietorship over) something they had not
fully charted, indeed something they had no right to own. It would
be an alien and absurd notion to the Mi’kmaq or to any fair-minded
citizen of this century, yet property ownership in Nova Scotia to
this day can be traced back to all the various “grants” of land
that would be made to the English as they superseded the French
with their appropriation of land. Since a Mi’kmaq lived on the land
and with the land, he saw no need for ownership. The European mind
would see things differently. 1
De Monts could have chosen to establish a colony in any
number of places between the fortieth and forty-sixth parallels,
but he chose Acadia because of its proximity to the sea, benevolent
Native people, good agricultural lands, the prevalence of
fur-bearing animals and hopes that the nearby waterway of the St.
Lawrence might yet be found to be the route to Asia. This colony
would also be positioned relatively close to the Grand Banks
fishing grounds.
In 1604 de Monts began his two-month voyage along with the
wealthy nobleman Jean de Poutrincourt and Samuel de Champlain, who
would act as geographer. Because of his later efforts on behalf of
the king, Champlain would
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