The Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador had difficulty digesting that François Legault had stressed “the importance of starting with Champlain” in his future National Museum of the History of Quebec.
Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Legault and his Minister Lacombe announced the creation of a brand new national museum, that of the history of Quebec, to open in Old Quebec in 2026.
“The Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (APNQL) would like to remind the government of Quebec that the history of Quebec begins well before the arrival of Europeans on the territory,” denounced the AFNQL in a press release published on Wednesday.
The Minister of Culture and Communications, for his part, believes that everything is perfectly logical.
“First and foremost, it is a museum project on the history of the Quebec nation. It’s important to make this distinction. It will not be a museum on the history of the occupation of the territory of the St. Lawrence Valley. It is a museum on the history of our nation, the Quebec nation,” commented Mr. Lacombe, Wednesday in the corridors of the National Assembly, a few moments after the publication of the AFNQL press release.
“We are very respectful of the history of the First Nations, but we are different nations. They themselves tell us that they wish to have this posture of dealing from nation to nation. That does not prevent us from having a museum about our nation, the Quebec nation,” he continued.
Minister Lacombe subsequently recognized “between[r] on slippery ground. But they themselves recognize that they form nations distinct from the Quebec nation. It is obvious to say that our nations are different and that we have a different history.
Not absent either
The AFNQL also denounces the comments made on this occasion by historian Éric Bédard, to whom Prime Minister Legault entrusted the creation of the museum’s content. The Museum of Civilization will manage the entire project.
Mr. Bédard affirmed that “history begins with writing, and before history, there is prehistory. Perhaps the natives represent a little of the prehistory of Quebec.
The Minister of Culture of Quebec recognizes that he “will not have[t] not phrased that way. But I understand what Mr. Bédard wanted to put on the table, that is to say that the First Nations were here before. But the history of the Quebec nation is the history of the Quebec nation as such.”
He adds in the same breath that “the contribution of the First Nations and the Inuit” must nevertheless be highlighted within the National Museum of the History of Quebec.
“Is it possible to see a museum on the history of the Quebec nation arrive without talking about the contribution of the First Nations and the Inuit? Of course not. Obviously, the indigenous nations, the Inuit, have influenced the history of the Quebec nation and contributed to it. I imagine that there will also be this portion which will be integrated,” commented the minister.
“Narrow nationalism”
Head of APNQL, Ghislain Picard qualifies the remarks of MM. Legault and Bédard of “unacceptable”.
“We are inseparable from the history of this land, and the arrival of Champlain does not define Quebec. The First Nations have been present here for millennia and are deeply attached to this territory that they occupy,” declared Mr. Picard in the press release.
“To suggest that we are prehistory amounts to relegating us to a secondary role, when our contribution to the formation of modern Quebec is fundamental. This narrow nationalism does not represent the history of Quebec; he omits entire sections for political reasons.”
