The Hurons-Wendats at the heart of a new course at Cartier-Brébeuf Park

Parks Canada gives the floor to the Huron-Wendat Nation in a new trail installed at the Cartier-Brébeuf national historic site, offering a new perspective on the meeting with the explorer Jacques Cartier in 1535.

The project carried out in collaboration between Wendake and the federal government is part of the reconciliation process initiated by Canada with indigenous peoples.

Reconciliation means allowing First Nations to tell their story, allowing two versions, declared Grand Chef Rémy Vincent on Friday morning. Witnessing the meeting between two worldshe continues, the Cartier-Brébeuf national historic site will better echo the vision of the Iroquoians, who occupied the territory when the first settlers arrived.

Installed along the Saint-Charles River, the works are intended to be both fun and educational, allowing children to venture there. Grand Chief Vincent praised the collaborative work with Parks Canada on this specific issue.

More and more, we see this interest of the federal government in including the First Nations. We put our knowledge to good use, and we express it.

Representing the federal government, the MP for Louis-Hébert, Joël Lightbound, insisted on the importance of sharing the indigenous vision of our common history. It’s important to remember what happened here.

The nuanced story

Seemingly banal, the $207,000 project is of great importance to the Huron-Wendat Nation. Born from an initiative by Parks Canada, the creation and construction process could have been dictated by the federal government. But that’s not what happened.

The process is important, if not more importantsays Jean-Philippe Thivierge, historian at the Nionwentsïo Office of the Huron-Wendat Nation. The message of reconciliation comes through recognition and acceptance. […] It’s about giving the other person space to speak. We achieved that in this project.

The route returns more precisely to the second voyage of Jacques Cartier. It bears witness to the ups and downs of the first exchanges between Europeans and Iroquoians.

Ekionkiestha’, or Encounterdepicts the first contacts between Jacques Cartier, a great chief of the village of Stadaconé. His sons, Taignoagny and Domagaya, returned after being kidnapped by Cartier in 1534 in Gaspé.

Kwatate’ndiara’sennihk, or We Help Each Other, speaks of the first relatively cordial exchanges between Aboriginal people and Europeans. Good relationships which will fester in the fall of 1535 culminating in the kidnapping, by Cartier’s crew, of 10 Stadaconeans, including Donnacona. Died in exile, they will never see their village again.

Finally Tsonywa’ndiyonhrat, or We have only one mind, explains the relationship between the villagers of Stadaconé and nature. Maintaining good relations with nature and respecting it is therefore essential since the food, the materials used to build longhouses and even the skins to make clothes come from it.

The route, co-construction between the federal government and Wendake, has been completed and is already accessible to the public.