Editorial & Rédaction
Each month, I will feature one of our writers. This month, she is a cousin and friend,
Norm Léveillée
Editor/Rédacteur
My first article for this Web site in February of 2003 discussed the use of sources. I pointed out that the older secondary sources for genealogy and history have errors that continue to be perpetuated. I also warned about the problem of relying only on secondary sources or indexes of vital records. This can be dangerous because all of the information that might be preserved in a primary source is not necessarily cited in the secondary source or index. As I wrote in 2003:Transcription of data in a record is usually incomplete. The record may have more details, sometimes crucial details that could modify the impression created by an excerpt. This is a particular problem when evaluating quotations cited in histories as well. What does the partial quotation omit?My article this month will discuss two of Brett Rushforth’s “partial” citations of documents in his “ ‘A Little Flesh We Offer You’: The Origins of Indian Slavery in New France,” published by the William and Mary Quarterly.[1](1). First I will consider his references to baptism records and then his use of details from a legal inquiry involving Joseph Panis Riberville and his wife, Marie Anne Angloise Winder.
For years I called from Texas to Vermont to talk with my mother. We’d spend a half hour every Saturday chatting in French to bring each other up to date. When Mama died in 1992, I was lost on Saturdays so I began to call her sole surviving sibling, Aunt Pauline in Alma, Quebec. She had lost her only daughter, so we filled a need in each other’s lives. Then last year Aunt Pauline passed away suddenly at age 91, and I was at loose ends again for a French visit on Saturdays. Enter Antoinette Lafreniere, my cousin’s mother-in-law who lives in Claremont, New Hampshire.
After many hours of reading, many hours, for the sheer pleasure of reading and learning versus researching or studying I let my thoughts go a bit into a mode I call "stumblings of a wandering mind".
It would be reasonable in my mind that when ships came in from away with the intentions of setting up a colony, such as La Heve, Trois-Rivières or even vessels whose homeport might have been Québec City and someone decided that it was high time to establish some holdings, that the first three people to set foot on land would have been a notary, a seigneur and a man of the cloth...
Le second article Défaut désagréable:
Le suivant est un extrait de Le Foyer Paroissial, 1950 que été publié dans La Carvelle, révue de la Société Historique de St-Romuald.
Voici par ordre d'importance les défauts les plus désagréables chez une femme, d'après un médecin et ses collaborateurs, qui ont interrogé 1,500 maris...
This is an account of one of our moose hunting trips in the northern woodlands of Québec.*Kokomus - Komus - Shomus: different Algonkian dialects for "grandmother".
It was the year 1978 and my father, Léo Roy had just lost his old hunting partner and brother, Omer. Omer Roy died of cancer in June of 1978 at seventy-four years of age. Dad invited his daughter Rita (yours truly) and her husband Henri to be his hunting partners this year...
You meet interesting people when staying at quaint bed and breakfast inns. Recently, I learned how one writer is teaching children about the Louisiana French-Acadian heritage by writing Cajun fairy tales. Usually, it's difficult to explain the English translations of French words to children unless they learn and use the words in familiar ways. But writer Sheila Hebert-Collins, a native of Louisiana living in Naples, Florida, has one clever way of bringing French heritage and language to children. Her Cajun fairy tales are spattered with a variety of French words intertwined into the storytelling. Franco-Americans who grew up speaking French will enjoy these clever bi-lingual children's stories...
Also, she states an opinion regarding Hurricane Katrina:
New Orleans, Louisiana looks more like an Isaac Asminov novel everyday. Although I'm not a big science fiction fan of the Asminov variety, I did read one story by this surreal writer when it caught my attention as required reading during a writer's workshop. I can't recall the exact title right now, it was a short story. In the particular plot, Asminov describes an ocean tide that flows out beyond the barrier reefs and never comes back in. People walk around like shadows, literally exploring the ocean floor.
In 1890, eight hundred French-speaking families from Precious Blood parish in Holyoke, Massachusetts were assigned by Bishop Patrick T. O'Reilly, the first bishop of Springfield, to a new parish in the northern part of the city. Father Charles-Edouard Brunault was named the first pastor of the parish, baptized "Notre-Dame du Perpétuel Secours", in English, Our Lady of Perpetual Help...
En 1890, huit cent familles francophones, membres de la paroisse du Précieux-Sang de Holyoke deviennent les premiers paroissiens de la paroisse Notre-Dame du Perpétuel-Secours, nouvellement établie dans la partie nord de la ville par Monseigneur Patrick O'Reilly, premier évêque de Springfield. Charles-Edouard Brunault est nommé le curé fondateur de la paroisse...
Dear Pope BenedictFirst many good wishes and blessings on your new mission! It has been a decade since I have communicated with the Vatican! In 1987 Pope Jean Paul was invited to attend a ceremony for Peace at the Scottsdale Yearly Native American Pow Wow to which I was coordinator for the Sunrise Ceremony for Peace to honor Our Mother Earth in the name of our Lord and for the Cause of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. His Holiness sent us his good wishes for a successful event...
Also, A painting of Joseph Stebbins appeared in Fr. Owen Taggart's September article "The Raid on Deerfield - February 29, 1704"...
First of all, you need to know that I have an Algonquin ancestor by the name of Mite8ameg8k8e who married Pierre Couc, a French solider/trader in the 17th century. I was born an American of an American mother and a French-Canadian father who became an American citizen. Both my paternal and maternal ancestries are of French-Canadian origin, in addition to my Algonquin ancestry. Therefore, with this article, I will try to give both sides of a controversy that exists regarding Columbus Day.
However, I am a Métis - a descendant of mixed blood: French-Canadian and Algonquin. I am proud of my heritage - both the "white" and the "red". Because of this heritage, I am a Catholic. I am sure that you will read some bias on my part, but then I'm writing this article!
The American Canadian Genealogical Society [ACGS] of Manchester, New Hampshire recently purchased the Drouin database. All of the records contained therein once belonged to the Drouin Institute of Quebec. When the Institute closed Mr. Pepin purchased all of those records as well as the rights. He was first selling the microfilm copies of the records and not too long ago decided to digitize everything onto hard drives. This is what ACGS purchased.
Deux textes parus sur un "chat" en septembre dernier lève le voile sur les descendants des Magoua, des Métis issus de la grande région de Trois-Rivières. Ces deux textes se passent de commentaires. Le premier a été écrit par Steve Blanchette, dit Namass, le second par Pierre Montour, directeur de Corporation métisse du Québec et l'Est du Canada. Les voici ...
And translated into English by Norm Léveillée: The Descendants of Magoua:
Two texts appearing in a "chat" session last September reveals the descendants of Magoua, Metis born in the great region of Trois-Rivières (Three Rivers). There were not comments on these two texts. The first was written by Steve Blanchette, dit Mamass, the second by Pierre Montour, director of the Metis Corporation of Quebec and of Eastern Canada. As follows...
Chers parents de Dina,
Voici le Dina pense à vous 45 Il vous est destiné, bien sûr, ainsi qu’aux amis de Dina qui pourraient y trouver joie et réconfort. Les célébrations du 4 septembre, ont entouré Dina d'un grand rayonnement. Vous avez raison d'être fiers.
Fraternellement unie,
Réjane Veilleux, R.J.M.
Dear relatives of Dina,
Here is Dina is thinking of you 45. It is intended for you, of course, but alos for the friends of Dina who can find joy and comfort. The celebrations of September 4 (Dina's feast day, Ed.) filled Dina with great radiance. You have much to be proud of.
Fraternally united,
Réjane Veilleux, R.J.M.
En espagnol Dina piensa en ti 45
" Yo puedo todo en aquel que me da la fuerza " La Palabra de Dios es alentadora! Que gracia y que luz! ¿Pero hay que soportar todo y con alegría?....(Please note: An Internet connection is needed for the above links)
