Carleton University’s Department of History is hosting the final day of Champlain in the Anishinabe Aki : History and Memory of an Encounter today. It features dynamic panelists, research and exhibits – the wrap-up event of Ottawa regional celebrations of the 400th anniversary of Champlain’s passage up the Ottawa River.
A collaboration between academics, First Nations and the community, the event provides different perspectives on the past and on the Champlain commemorations, including the legacies of his encounter with Algonquins and its meaning for today’s issues of land occupation.
“Since 2002 there have been lots of colloquium about Champlain’s coming, but this event is about our local area,” said organizer Dominique Marshall, chair of the History Department. “This gathering is very regional. It involves people from both sides of the river, including the two Algonquin communities and French and English people from both sides. Having all these groups involved was very important to us. One of the most important factors is the participation of Aboriginal people, as they have been here since the beginning. Aboriginal people are involved in every session and on the organizing committee. This was crucial to us.”
Experts from across the country and from France are attending, including scholars, artists, activists, cultural policy-makers, curators and organizers of Champlain events, to consider the place of Samuel de Champlain in collective memory. On the first day, experts included carleton’s Sébastien Côté and Chief Gilbert Whiteduck from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg.
“I think this conference is important for many reasons,” said Côté. “Champlain’s first voyages here are important because he was the first European to write about the region and his encounters with the native peoples who were living in this region around 1613. That is why we are all gathered here. I was just speaking with a colleague a few minutes ago and we were quite surprised that Champlain, 400 years later, attracts so many people. We are not used to this in our discipline.“
Aboriginal leaders and elders discussed how events started with Champlain are still unfolding and they provided a sombre reminder of the difficult history Aboriginal people in the area have survived and the challenging times that are still ahead.
“The unfortunate dilution of our worldview, which is somewhat different, has taken place due to the educational process we have been forced through, but it has not taken away the fundamental teachings that are still there today,” said Chief Whiteduck. “This is an encounter that has come to change our lives, but has not come to change our spirit. It came to change the land, but it did not take the land away. He did not take it from the Anishinabeg people and it is important to point that out because our view is this thread crosses time, and it is a thread of unbroken time where we have never ceded our territory.“
The exhibits at this event include the Seize the Space series by Jeff Thomas inspired by an Ottawa monument that once depicted the early explorer standing over a kneeling First Nations man. The bottom statue was moved after a protest from the Assembly of First Nations in 1999. Thomas has documented all sorts of people posing with Champlain.
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