Showing posts with label Quebec. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quebec. Show all posts

May 22 – Victoria Day in Canada

Posted on May 22, 2017


Note: This is not an annual holiday that falls on May 22 every year. Instead, it is held on the Monday preceding May 25.

It's the unofficial end of winter and start of spring / summer!

In Canada, Victoria Day is the signal that the warmer season has begun. People often open their summer homes; amusement parks start their summer hours; gardeners dig into the kinds of tasks that you can only do when there is little danger of frost.

This holiday sometimes goes by other names such as May Two-Four or May Long. The explanation is that Queen Victoria's birthday was May 24, and Canadians often have a long weekend (or 3-day weekend) in her honor. 


In Quebec, residents celebrate National Patriots' Day instead of Victoria Day (but also on the Monday preceding May 25). This day honors the 1837 rebellion against the political realities of the then-British colony - even though the rebellion neither started nor stopped in May. Quebec residents celebrate with marches, fireworks, speeches, concerts, and award ceremonies. i suppose it isn't a huge surprise that French Canada isn't making the day's holiday mostly about the former British queen.


But, I gotta tell you, I don't think the English-speaking portion of Canada does too much Queen Victoria-oriented stuff, either. They're too busy opening their summer homes and going to amusement parks!

Queen Victoria was, however, a force to be reckoned with. Here are some Queen V. numbers:

18 - age at which Victoria inherited the throne
9 - the number of children Victoria had
63 - the number of years Victoria reigned (!)
81 - age at which Victoria died

An entire age was named after Victoria, so we are always talking about Victorian morals and Victorian Art, Victorian Christmas and Victorian culture, Victorian fashion and Victorian literature... 

Of course thousands of places have been named Victoria, as well, including Africa's largest lake, the capital of British Columbia, Canada, one of Australia's states, and what is perhaps the most amazing waterfall in the world.






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December 31 – Happy Birthday, Jacques Cartier

Posted on December 31, 2014

Okay, he kidnapped some guys. Actually, he kidnapped the sons of the chief. But he did (eventually) return them!

French explorer Jacques Cartier, born on this date in 1491, had been sent to the New World in 1534, in search of a passage to “Cathay” (Asia). If he couldn't find a way to Cathay, he was supposed to look for....(Do you know what the French king wanted? What did EVERY king want, back then?)...gold!

Actually, Cartier discovered neither a passage to the Indies and China NOR gold. He discovered what he considered barren, uninviting land (Newfoundland) a bit of greener land (Prince Edward Island), some islands with lots of birds (which he named Iles aux Oiseaux—Islands of the Birds—and he and his crew proceeded to shoot more than a thousand of the birds, because, you know, it's what you do!), and a large bay (actually, the mouth of a river, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence).


He encountered a fleet of five canoes full of friendly Native Americans and traded small things with them as tokens of friendship. But later, when other canoes approached, he had canon shots fired to scare them away.

Then he saw some more Native Americans on shore, and Cartier and his men rowed ashore. Cartier met with Chief Donnacona of the St. Lawrence Iroquois, and he exchanged more gifts and used hand signs to create a friendly alliance.


But when Cartier erected a 30-foot wooden cross on the land—a cross marked “Vive le Roi de France” (Long live the King of France)—Chief Donnacona became concerned. He made some hand signs that seemed to indicate to the Frenchmen that the land that the cross stood on, and all the land around it, belonged to him and his people. Cartier agreed with him and assured the chief that the cross was a marker so he could find his way back. He invited the chief and his three sons aboard his ship.

But then Cartier took two of the sons hostage. He put the chief and the third son ashore, told them that he would be back, and he would bring the two kidnapped sons back, and off he sailed for France.

Oh, my! What a way to treat the “allies” you just made!

Chief Donnacona's sons learned some French and communicated with Cartier about their home. Their village was located where Quebec is now situated, and they indicated that their land was called “Kanata.” Cartier wrote Kanata on his charts and maps—and that is how the name Canada came to be.

Chief Donnacona
Cartier did return the chief's sons to Canada the following year. He also brought the chief some gifts from the French King. Apparently, Chief Donnacona didn't trust Cartier but didn't out-and-out attack him, either!

I don't know how wise the chief's restraint was! In 1535, Cartier again kidnapped the same two sons, Donnacona himself, three other adult Iroquois natives, and four children. All of those Iroquoian hostages had to stay in France for five years, between Cartier's second and third voyages—and all of them died except for one of the children!

So not how you should treat your allies!!


Also on this date:




















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June 24 – Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day in Quebec

Posted June 24, 2013

Today is another version of Midsummer celebration—this time bundled into the feast day of John the Baptist. In Quebec, the observation of Saint John-the-Baptist's Day took on a patriotic tone starting in the 1800s. Just as Saint Patrick's Day has come to be a time to celebrate all things Irish, the early promoters of Saint-Jean- Baptiste Day felt that the holiday would rally French Canadians to gather in Quebec and take pride in their language and culture.


Some of the traditions, such as lighting bonfires, came straight out of the Midsummer playbook. Other traditions include parades, fireworks, and musical concerts.



By the way, like Saint Patrick's Day, this Catholic feast day has been largely secularized. It is a national holiday in Quebec, so even English-speakers and non-Catholics have the day off work and attend various events. There have been a few protests and even a riot connected with the holiday; some people in Quebec want to pull out of Canada, and this patriotic holiday seems to some separatists to be the perfect time to make their arguments. There has also been some tension about the use of the English language during a French Canadian event. A few years ago, two Quebec bands were going perform in a Montreal event—but always sing their songs in English. Some complaints about this caused the organizers to ban the musicians from the concert. Outrage rained down upon the organizers, with both French-speaking and English-speaking Quebecers criticizing the ban. So the organizers put the two bands back on the program!

Learn more about Quebec and French Canada.

  • Here is a brief history of the settlement of Canada. Knowing the history helps you understand why there are French and English speakers in the country.
  • Here is a KidZone website with info about and maps of Quebec.
  • Here are some songs in French and English, including “O Canada.”

Also on this date:


















Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest pages on June holidays, historical anniversaries in June, and June birthdays.

And here are my Pinterest pages on July holidays, historical anniversaries in July, and July birthdays.


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