This article was translated by John R. Bopp
In Canada, the Regional Municipality of Waterloo is made up of three towns, Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge. A regional daily there, The Record, has just published an article about a new ferry connection between nearby Fortune and the French islands of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon.
We’ve spoken about these French islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence many times, for obvious reasons: the Basque influence there is extraordinary. It can bee seen in so many ways: a sporting club founded at the beginning of the 20th century called “Zazpiak Bat”, or an Euskalextea founded in 2017 with official recognition from the Basque Government.
The influence can also be felt, as we’re told by the mayor of Fortune in the article, in their linguistic quirks, as the French spoken on those islands is different to that in the rest of Canada and “is different from what we’re used to in Newfoundland, but it’s very similar … to the (language spoken in) the Basque region of France”.
We can’t help but highlight that this newspaper is published just 60 miles (100km) away from where the first iron instrument ever found in North America was discovered. We’ve talked about that a lot, too.
As you can read more about here, this tool was an ax made in the 15th century in Gipuzkoa, which appeared in the remains of a Huron village made up of dozens of longhouses surrounded by a defensive palisade and large cornfields in what is today the municipality of Whitchurch-Stouffville. Around 2,000 people may have been living there in the year 1500.
The Record – 1/5/2018 – Canadá
New ferry will allow Canadians to drive to France
If all goes well, Canadians will soon be able to drive to a little-known corner of France. The French islands of St-Pierre-Miquelon just off the south coast of Newfoundland — North America’s last vestige of colonial New France — have long attracted adventurous travellers seeking an unusual European experience.
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Last Updated on Dec 20, 2020 by About Basque Country
