Les "Paspillats"

“IL y a vingt ans de cela, par une belle matinée de juillet, le vapeur "Campana", de la Québec Steamship Co., me laissa à Grande Grève, sur la côte sud de la fameuse péninsule, à dix milles de la ville de Gaspé, et continua sa route vers l'ouest. Il me restait à parcourir en voiture — à part Gaspé et New-Carlisle, qui sont de petites villes — les vingt-huit paroisses et villages du littoral gaspésien, échelonnés à des distances variant de six à dix milles.

Pour faire ce trajet, j'avais retenu, par lettre, les services du capitaine Ben Asselin, du Barachois de Malbaie, vieux loup de mer en rupture de ban, colosse aux épaules de fer, dans son jeune temps grand casseur de mâchoires, selon lui, mais qui à mes yeux possédait encore une bien plus précieuse faculté: celle de connaître la plupart des légendes de la côte et de les traduire avec leur couleur locale, c'est-à-dire avec la même invraisemblance dans le récit de chaque événement que dans la relation de ses prouesses.”

This loosely translates to:

“Twenty years ago, on a beautiful morning in July, the steamer "Campana", from the Quebec Steamship Co., left me at Grande Grève, on the south coast of the famous peninsula, ten miles from the town of Gaspé, and continued its course towards the west. I had to travel by car - except Gaspé and New-Carlisle, which are small towns - the twenty-eight parishes and villages on the Gaspé coast, spread out at distances of six to ten miles.

To make this trip, I had retained, by letter, the services of Captain Ben Asselin, of Barachois de Malbaie, old sea wolf breaking of ban, a colossus with iron shoulders, in his early days a great jawbreaker, according to him, but which in my eyes still possessed a much more precious faculty: that of knowing most of the legends of the coast and translating them with their local color, that is, with the same implausibility in the story of each event as in the relation of its prowess.”

http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2021701

Based on this excerpt, I believe it appropriate to conclude that Auguste Galibois’ 1928 publication entitled, “La Gaspésie Pittoresque et Légendaire: Les Terreurs du Capitaine Asselin” was written based on his own voyage to the region of Gaspé, Québec.

We have to note also that on Wednesday, June 15, 1904 edition of the Québec newspaper “Le Soleil”, there is an article titled: “Croquis sue la Gaspesie: Scènes et Légendes de la Grève”, it contains an excerpt from “La Gaspésie Pittoresque et Légendaire: Les Terreurs du Capitaine Asselin.” The fact that “Croquis sur la Gaspesie: Scènes et Légendes de la Grève” was published 1904, is very important because it demonstrates that “La Gaspésie Pittoresque et Légendaire: Les Terreurs du Capitaine Asselin” was written based on a voyage that Auguste Galibois actually made to the Gaspé region prior to 1904.

Although this publication contains many important details concerning the region of Gaspé, Québec in the early 1900s, I’ve chosen to focus the current summary on only one excerpt from it. This excerpt can be found on pages 41 and 42 (page 05 of the Wednesday, June 15, 1904 issue of “Le Soleil”) and concerns the inhabitants of Paspébiac, Québec when Mr. Galibois was there. This rather lengthy excerpt is as follows:

“… S'il est sur notre littoral un autre endroit aussi joli que Paspébiac, aussi visité par les tourists, aussi vanté par son site pittoresque, il n’en est aucun, certes, dont la population ait à un si haut point défrayé la chronique des côtes pendant au delà d'un demi-siècle. Cette population, aujourd’hui mixte et composée de Jersiais, de Canadiens, d'Irlandais et d'Acadiens, contient aussi un cinquième élément hétérogène qui tend à disparaître à présent mais qui un jour n'en peupla pas moins toute la ville à lui seul en opposition aux Irlandais et aux “colonists” compacts de New-Carlisle. Tombés Dieu seul sait d'où exactement, et Dieu seul sait par quel moyen, les “paspillats” dont le caractère indique des points d'homogénéité avec une autre race nombreuse ici, révèlent aussi des traits qui les en éloignent, et sont évidemment le résultat de plusieurs générations de sang-mêlés où l'Acadien breton domine aujourd'hui, mais dont l'origine est hypothétique. Selon la version de quelques historiens, et c’est la plus vraisemblable, il faudrait chercher fort loin la provenance du premier élément constitutif de cette race. Sur de pressantes demandes, Colbert aurait, vers 1670, envoyé à Plaisance un groupe de soldats recrutés un peu partout, défenseurs dont il ne fournissait peut-être pas en même temps le dossier de l'état civil. Ces miliciens, mis en disponibilité peu après, émigrèrent en Acadie, firent chasse et vie commune avec les Souriquois et opérèrent une sélection à rebours: leurs fils épousant des “squaws” de la tribu Micmac, pendant que leurs filles, brunes ou blondes, une denrée rare à cette époque, s'alliaient aux caboteurs basques et un tout petit nombre aux pêcheurs bretons.

De ces quatre éléments seraient issus les “Paspillats”, qui pour cela n'en sont pas moins fiers! “Les “paspillats”, vous diront-ils, “ils étions des hommes rares: pour la chasse, pour “la pêche et pour prie le bon Dieu, ils n'en craignions point.” “Emmanuel Brasseur”, écrivait l'abbé Ferland en 1866, “est le type idéal de la race. Sec, fort et vigoureux, “les yeux brillants, pleins de vie et de feu, il passe pour un habile pêcheur et un intrépide marin. Ses prouesses sur la mer sont nombreuses et il aime à les raconter. Sa langue ne lui suffit pas pour exprimer ses pensées; car quoiqu'il parle vile et haut, il emploie toutes les parties de son corps pour présenter avec plus d'énergie les incidents et les faits que sa parole s’occupe à décrire. Vous dit-il les tempêtes qu’il a essuyées dans sa barge! Il se balance comme les mâts, il bondit comme la vague, il siffle comme les vents déchaînés. Rappelle-t-il quelques exploits de pugilat? Sur voire tête, il promène un poing décharné et dur comme un Marteau, et à chaque instant menace de vous assommer. Vous raconte-t-il comment le médecin à coupé la jambe à son fils? Il s'étend sur le plancher, s'arme d'un couteau, se roidit, se roule, se tord comme une couleuvre blesse, et cherche ainsi à exprimer les sensations de la douleur que lui-même n'a jamais éprouvées! Cette dernière est une longue histoire qu'Emmanuel, termine en déclarant que pendant une semaine le “charculot” n'avions pas d'autre goût que de “flairer de la douceur”. Dans le langage des Paspillats, le charculot est le dérnier garçon de la famille, et “flairer de la douceur”, cela, veut dire manger du sirop. Il est sûr qu'il y a entre eux du basque: Chapados, Esquiros, Hesparos, ces noms vous donnent tout de suite l’illusion d’une descente à St-Jean-Pied-de-Port. A part cela, leur front nul, leurs petits yeux ronds à fleur de tête, leur rire indien en saccades, leur entêtement stupide, leur imprévoyance naturelle, leur irascibilité dès la plus légère ivresse; d'autre part leurs moeurs frugales, leur empressement à render service, leur vie discrète et efface, sont des traits généreux où l’on saisit aisément la triple lignée des Basques, des Indiens et des Bretons, et plus malaisément, sans doute, celle de ces braves soldats dont Turenne n'avait peut-être pas voulu pour son armée d'Allemagne.

Quoiqu’il en soit, si ce petit peuple vient à disparaître, fusionné dans d'autres races, il aura certes vécu heureux, n’ayant pas d'autre histoire qu’une origine controversee…”

This loosely translates to:

“… If it is on our coast another place as pretty as Paspébiac, also visited by the tourists, also boasted by its picturesque site, there is none, certainly, have the population had at such a high point made the chronicles of the coasts for more than half a century. This population, today mixed and composed of Jersiais, Canadians, Irish and Acadians, also contains a fifth heterogeneous element which tends to disappear now but one day populated the entire city by itself in opposition to the Irish and compact "colonists" of New Carlisle. Fallen God knows only where exactly, and only God knows by what means, the “Paspillats” whose character indicates points of homogeneity with another large race here, they also reveal features that remove them, and are obviously the result of several generations of mixed-bloods where the Acadian Breton dominates today, but whose origin is hypothetical. According to the version of some historians, and this is the most likely, one would have to look far into the provenance of the first constituent element of this race. On pressing demands, by 1670, Colbert had sent to Plaisance a group of soldiers recruited from everywhere, defenders of whom he did not at the same time provide the record of civil status. These militiamen, who were laid off soon after, emigrated to Acadia, hunted and lived together with the Souriquois, and made a backward selection: their sons marrying "squaws" of the Micmac tribe, while their daughters, brown or blond, a rare commodity at that time, allied themselves with the Basque coasters and a very small number with the Breton fishermen.

Of these four elements would come the “Paspillats”, which for that are not less proud! “The “Paspillats”, they will tell you, “they were rare men: for hunting, for “fishing, and for praying to the good God, they did not fear it.” “Emmanuel Brasseur,” wrote Abbé Ferland in 1866, "is the ideal type of the race. Dry, strong and vigorous, “his eyes bright, full of life and fire, he is considered a skillful fisherman and a fearless sailor. His prowesses on the sea are numerous and he likes to tell them. His language is not enough for him to express his thoughts; for although he speaks vile and high, he uses all the parts of his body to present more energetically the incidents and facts which his word is occupied in describing. He tells you the storms he has experienced in his barge! He swings like the masts, he leaps like the wave, he whistles like wild winds. Does he recall some feats of pugilism? On even his head, he walks a gaunt and hard as a hammer, and every moment threatens to knock you out. Does he tell you how the doctor cut off his son’s leg? He stretches himself on the floor, arms himself with a knife, stiffens himself, rolls himself, twists himself like a snake, and thus seeks to express the feelings of pain that he himself has never experienced! The latter is a long story that Emmanuel concludes by stating that for a week the "charculot" had no other taste than to "smell sweetness". In the language of the Paspillats, the charculot is the youngest boy of the family, and "smell sweetness", that means to eat syrup. It is certain that there is between them Basque: Chapados, Esquiros, Hesparos, these names give you immediately the illusion of a descent to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port. Apart from that, their browless, their little round eyes on the edge of their heads, their Indian laugh in jerks, their stupid stubbornness, their natural improvidence, their irascibility from the slightest intoxication; on the other hand, their frugal manners, their eagerness to render service, their discreet and effaceous life, are generous traits in which one easily understands the triple lineage of the Basques, the Indians and the Bretons, and more uneasily, no doubt, that of those brave soldiers who Turenne had perhaps not wanted for his German army.

Be that as it may, if this little people is to disappear, merged into other races, it will have certainly lived happy, having no other history than a controversial origin…”

This lengthy excerpt is very important for multiple reasons, the first being that it suggests the “Paspillats” (“Pasbyjacks,” “Paspébiacs,” etc.) were born of the intermarriages between the sons of the first settlers to the region, who were Soldiers and of the First Nations women of Acadia, who were members of the “Souriquois” (“Mi’kmaq) Tribe, or between the daughters of these settlers and the “caboteurs basques et un tout petit nombre aux pêcheurs Bretons” (“Basque coasters and a very small number with the Breton fishermen”) however, Auguste Galibois states that these origins are “hypothetical.”We know however, based on other documentation foun din this collection concerning the “Paspillats,” that it appears to have been a general consensus among Historians and in first-hand accounts that these people were of mixed-First Nations and European blood.

The second important part of this excerpt is that it is asserted that the “Paspillats” were a separate category of people in the Paspébiac, Québec region who had their own language, behaviours/demeanor, and physical characteristics in comparison to the surrounding groups of inhabitants.

It’s also important to note that Auguste Galibois relied on observations made by Père Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Ferland during his own voyage to the Gaspé region in 1836. In case you’ve forgotten, we’ve already discussed Père Ferland and his voyage in detail in our discussion from “Folder #58” of “Volume 1” of this collection therefore, I won’t be discussing this document/voyage in the current summary.

In conclusion Auguste Galibois’ 1928 publication entitled, “La Gaspésie Pittoresque et Légendaire: Les Terreurs du Capitaine Asselin” (and his previously published article from the Wednesday, June 15, 1904 issue of “Le Soleil,” properly entitled, “Croquis sue la Gaspesie: Scènes et Légendes de la Grève”) is a very important addition to this collection. I make this statement based on the fact that it provides further first-hand observations made by someone who voyaged to the region of Paspébiac, Québec in the early twentieth century and observed a group of the inhabitants of this region, properly called the “Paspillats” to have been of mixed-Mi’kmaq and European blood.

These mixed-bloods are noted by August Galibois, and are consistently noted by various authors in this collection to have developed their own unique mannerisms, way of life, and language and therefore, I firmly believe it appropriate to conclude that the “Paspillats” can be considered to have historically been a “Métis” People.

Summary by: Chris Boudreau

Note from the editor: The writing style and the way he depicts our ancestors are from another time and might offend some people, yet his observation in a strange twist of history becomes another important witness of our existence well into the early 20th century. This one simple extract to me is really powerful, as we are clearly identified as a “People”;

“Quoiqu’il en soit, si ce petit peuple vient à disparaître, fusionné dans d'autres races, il aura certes vécu heureux, n’ayant pas d'autre histoire qu’une origine controversee.”

It translate into:

“if this little people is to disappear, merged into other races, it will have certainly lived happy, having no other history than a controversial origin.”

I find that the way this text end is amazing, since the half-breed diaspora of the Baie-des-Chaleur’s origins, about 100 years after M. Galibois travelled in the Baie-des-Chaleurs, still remain highly so controversial.