The Residents of the Gaspé Region in the Early Twentieth Century: Le Devoir, November 04, 1922

313. The Residents of the Gaspé Region in the Early Twentieth Century: This folder contains a copy of the Saturday, November 04, 1922 edition of the Montréal, Québec newspaper, “Le Devoir.” The importance of this edition lies in an article written by “J.W.” that can be found on pages 01 and 02. This article is properly entitled, “Dans la péninsule de Gaspé: Ce qu’est le pays de Gaspé – La Baie des Chaleurs et la Golfe – La question des transports – Différents éléments de la population gaspésienne.”

Unfortunately, I was unable to figure out who the author of this rather lengthy article was, as their name is simply signed as “J.W.” Therefore, I’ll now begin my discussion concerning this article, which is a published account of “J.W.’s” voyage to the region of Gaspé, Québec. To provide a bit of background information concerning this article, I will begin by providing you with its opening paragraph. This paragraph is as follows:

“Je viens de passer deux mois dans le territoire devenu le diocese de Gaspé. Ce pays était un peu nouveau pour moi, comme il l’est pour la plupart des gens d’en haut, — c’est ainsi que l’on désigne par Ici les populations des régions de Montréal et de Québec. — J’étais venu ici avec l’idée d’observer, d'interroger et de communiquer mes impressions; mon but est d’apporter mon petit appoint à la colonization de ce beau pays qu’est le littoral de la baie des Chaleurs et du golfe St-Laurent. Il est formé des deux comtés de Bonaventure et de Gaspé. Je ramène les quelques détails, que J’ai à donner, sur le nouveau diocèse à ces quatre chefs: territoire, population, besoins, avenir…”

This loosely translates to:

“I just spent two months in the territory that became the diocese of Gaspé. This land was a little new to me, as it is for most people from above, - this is what the populations in the regions of Montréal and Québec are called here. I had come here with the idea of observing, questioning, and communicating my impressions; my goal is to bring my little extra to the colonization of this beautiful country that is the coastline of the Baie-des-Chaleurs and the Gulf of the St. Lawrence. It is made up of the two counties of Bonaventure and Gaspé. I bring back the few details, which I have to give, on the new diocese to these four leaders: territory, population, needs, future ..."

This excerpt is important because it tells us that “J.W” had recently spent two months in the region of Gaspé, Québec and that “Dans la péninsule de Gaspé: Ce qu’est le pays de Gaspé – La Baie des Chaleurs et la Golfe – La question des transports – Différents éléments de la population gaspésienne” is part of a published account of this two month journey.

Now that we have a bit of background context for “Dans la péninsule de Gaspé: Ce qu’est le pays de Gaspé – La Baie des Chaleurs et la Golfe – La question des transports – Différents éléments de la population gaspésienne,” I‘ll now provide you with an important excerpt. This excerpt can be found on page 01 of the Saturday, November 04, 1922 edition “Le Devoir” and concerns the people that “J.W.” observed, and interacted with in the Gaspé region. This excerpt is as follows:

“… La population du diocèse de Gaspé se compose, d'éléments assez disparates; l'on peut y distinguer cinq groupes; les Gaspésiens proprement dits, les loyalistes anglais protestants, les Irlandais catholiques, les Canadiens français, les Acadiens; chacun de ces groupes a conservé le caractère, les qualités et les défauts de sa race d’origine.

Les Gaspésiens proprement dits sont les descendants des pécheurs venus surtout de Bayonne et des Sables-d'Olonne, quèlques-uns de Bretagne; leurs chefs furent les seigneurs Denis, Hubert et Lefebvre; ils émigrèrent en Gaspésie surtout de 1743 à 1755; ceux qui les précédèrent et ont fait souche, sont l’exception.

Privés de relations après la conquête, avec le groupe du Québec et le groupe acadien, ces gens forment encore un groupe ethnique à part; la partie de cette population qui depuis 1780 s’est trouvée sous le joug des Robin s’est développée d’une façon caractéristique et tranche encore sur tous les autres groupements. L’influence de la puissante compagnie n’a pas été à leur avantage. Heureusement que, de plus en plus, grâce au clerge, à la culture intellectuelle mieux suivie, aux relations plus fréquentes avec les autres groupes la situation s’améliore; le joug tout mercantile des Robin est secoué et le jour n’est pas loin, espérons-le du moins, où ces braves gens auront fait tout le progrès qu’il faut…”

This loosely translates to:

“… The population of the diocese of Gaspé is composed of rather disparate elements; five groups can be distinguished; the Gaspésiens proper, the Protestant English Loyalists, the Irish Catholics, French Canadians, Acadians; each of these groups has retained the character, qualities and defects of its original race.

The Gaspésiens, properly named, are the descendants of fishermen, who came chiefly from Bayonne and Sables-d'Olonne, some from Brittany; their leaders were the Seigneurs Denis, Hubert and Lefebvre; they emigrated to Gaspésie especially from 1743 to 1755; those who preceded them and made their stock, are the exception.

Deprived of relations after the conquest, with the Québec group and the Acadian group, these people still form a separate ethnic group; the part of this population which, since 1780, has been under the yoke of Robin has developed in a characteristic manner and still cuts across all the other groups. The influence of the powerful company has not been to their advantage. Fortunately, more and more, thanks to the clergy, to the intellectual culture better followed, to the more frequent relations with the other groups, the situation is improving; the mercenary yoke of Robin is shaken and the day is not far off, hopefully at least, where these brave people will have made all the progress it takes..."

This excerpt is important for a number of reasons. This first reason being that there were five distinct groups of people residing in the Gaspé, Québec region in 1922 when “J.W.” made their voyage there. This is important because as this excerpt suggests, these five groups rarely, if at all intermarried people from other groups. This observation is not new to this collection, as it is a conclusion that we’ve seen many times before in our discussions.

The second importance of this excerpt is that based on other documentation found in this collection, we can conclude that the “Gaspésiens” who were observed by “J.W.” to have not intermarried with members of the other groups, were a mixed-blooded peoples. I state this assertion based on other documentation that we’ve discussed throughout this collection that states the first settlers to the Gaspé and Baie-des-Chaleurs region were fishermen who married the local First Nations women and the mixed-blooded offspring of these original intermarriages tended to marry other mixed-bloods.

In conclusion, “J.W.’s” Saturday, November 04, 1922 article entitled, “Dans la péninsule de Gaspé: Ce qu’est le pays de Gaspé – La Baie des Chaleurs et la Golfe – La question des transports – Différents éléments de la population gaspésienne” is a very important addition to this collection. My reasoning for this statement is that this article is a published account of “J.W.’s” own two month excursion to the region of Gaspé, Québec and therefore, the information published in this article is first-hand observations made in 1922.

The fact that these observations were made by “J.W.” themself is especially important when we consider that “J.W.” observed the “Gaspésiens,” whom we know from other documentation discussed in this collection to have been the descendants of intermarriages between the original fishermen to arrive in the region in the 1700s and the local First Nations women, were still considered to have been “un groupe ethnique à part” (“a separate ethnic group”) that the four other groups of people residing in the Gaspé region did not marry. 
Basically, it has become apparent to me that these mixed-blooded “Gaspésiens” were a unique Peoples with their own unique history and cultural practices/lifestyle even as late as 1922.