Good stuff, Emilie. I had the wonderful opportunity to spend most of last July in Quebec City, and the language, culture, history, (and music, too ) blew me away. I’ve heard about the distinct nature of Quebec all of my life, but didn’t have a real understanding of what this meant until I experienced a taste. Can’t wait to go back for another helping!
For anyone looking for a decent compilation CD featuring Quebecois artists, a special CD loaded with music of peace/hope/human kindness was released on the 2002 holiday. It’s a treat. “Un pays qui se chante” is available at Quebec’s version of Borders/Chapters/Amazon www.archambault.ca
Our Creator’s son
paid for us.
Now to heaven He went
after paying for us.
I know a fiddler who sings this to the tune of “House of the Rising Sun.”
Cherokee National Holiday will be the weekend of 2 September. Everybody welcome! It commemorates the signing of the 1839 Cherokee Constitution, by my great-great-great-great-great grandfather, 2nd Chief Mjr. George Lowery, and others.
" «Vive le Québec Libre!» c’était avant tout pour moi la manière d’exprimer le principe, à mon sens inaliénable, du droit des peuples à disposer d’eux-mêmes. En l’espèce, j’avais souhaité rappeler la nécessité pour vous, les Québécois, de faire respecter votre spécificité francophone dans l’ensemble anglo-saxon et vous apporter mon concours, au nom de la France, dans cette entreprise.
Pour autant, il ne s’agissait en aucun cas, comme votre Premier Ministre Lester Pearson a semblé le penser un moment, d’une tentative de ma part de nier la souveraineté du gouvernement canadien sur l’ensemble de son territoire.
36 years ago Mr. De Gaulle was standing on the balcony of the Montreal Hôtel de Ville and proclaimed ‘Vive le Québec libre!’ He truly, pardon my French , stirred up some sh*t that day. A LOT of Québécois who were there understood it just like Prime Minister Pearson did. The separatist movement got a huge boost right there! (AND a slogan!)
Now in retrospective De Gaulle’s explanation makes a lot of sense. For just a couple of months ago there were some elections in Quebec. The Liberal Party won. (They’re against separation.) It seems like today, slogans like ‘A strong Quebec in a united Canada’ appeal more to people than ‘Long live free Quebec!’.
Jeferson:
That compilation seems really good, I think I’ll buy it myself for my nostalgic nights when I’m back in Norway. Glad you liked Quebec City!
Anyway, as Paul said: ‘let’s escape from the pitfalls of discussing politics’! I really just wanted to show you a nice tune to play on the whistle!
It was written by written M.-A. Gérin-Lajoie, a student who escaped to the U.S. after the Mackenzie-Papineau rebellion of 1837. The Candien government put down the rebellion and several rebels were hanged, exiled, or fled to the U.S.
Long as we’re thinking of French America, I will mention that this year is the bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase. The United States bought this territory from France, that year. When the Cherokee Nation was driven here, my ancestors settled in Grand Saline, or Salina, which is the oldest French settlement (oldest town, period) in present-day Oklahoma (est. 1796).
Well, I’m not surprised they make it a big deal. My grandparents were originally from Quebec, (came to the U.S. to stay many many many years ago). Anyway, my grandfather’s middle name was, (he passed away a long time ago), St-Jean-Baptiste- can’t get much more Quebecois than that.
, stirred up some sh*t that day. A LOT of Québécois who were there understood it just like Prime Minister Pearson did. The separatist movement got a huge boost right there! (AND a slogan!)
Glad you liked Quebec City!
