The Basques: Retracing History

The regional county municipality of the Basques is located in Mi’kma’ki and Wolastokuk territory, in the heart of the Wabanaki confederation.

Co-produced by Julien Gagnon-Rouillard & Robert Majewski

 — Posted December 8, 2021
Read the transcript

The regional county municipality of the Basques is located in Mi’kma’ki and Wolastokuk territory, in the heart of the Wabanaki confederation. Four kilometres off Trois-Pistoles, you can see Île aux Basques, formerly an important motorway junction for both Indigenous peoples and for Basque merchants. Before the colonization of America, they used to come here to hunt whales for their oil. Mikael Rioux, keeper of the Island, and Nicolas Falcimaigne, history professor and co-owner of the Le Caveau des Trois-Pistoles microbrewery, talk to us about the historical importance of Île aux Basques.

To learn more, listen to this podcast (French language only) dealing with Indigenous issues in the region: En jasant près du fleuve.

Watch the whole series

The Basques: Rurality, Resistance, Resilience

Documentarians Julien Gagnon-Rouillard and Robert Majewski explore different facets of rural life by documenting alternative projects taking root in the Basques of the Bas-Saint-Laurent region.

The Basques: Embracing Rurality

In this introduction to the documentary “The Basques : Rurality, Resistance, Resilience,” several members of the community — including Soraïda Caron, Wina Forget, and Nicolas Falicimaigne — offer their reasons for moving into a rural area.

The Basques: Returning to the Land

In this interview with Maurice Vaney, back-to-the-lander, city councillor and important actor in the local cultural scene, we compare how things were in Trois-Pistoles back in 1974 with how they play out today.

The Basques: Taking Part in Culture

In the past 60 years, the Quebec region of Les Basques has had a strong relationship with the arts.

The Basques: Protecting the Land

The Basques community is known for its activism around social and environmental issues.

The Basques : Telling the Tale

Gabrielle Ayotte Garneau tells us the legend that has thrilled residents for decades, thus perpetuating the tale and underlining the important place occupied by the tradition storytelling in the region.

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