 | This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia.(November 2017) |
The French language has been spoken in Minnesota since the 17th century, being the first European language to be brought to the area.
| This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia.(November 2017) |
The French language has been spoken in Minnesota since the 17th century, being the first European language to be brought to the area.
The history of the French language in Minnesota is closely linked with that of Canadian settlers, such as explorer Louis Hennepin and trapper Pierre Parrant, who contributed very early on to its use in the area.
As early as the mid-17th century, evidence shows the presence of French expeditions, settlements and villages in the region, in particular thanks to Frenchmen Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard des Groseilliers, who likely reached Minnesota in 1654 after exploring Wisconsin. [1]
A few years later, explorer Cavelier de la Salle charted the Mississippi, ending his voyage in the neighboring state of North Dakota. He gave this region the nickname of L'étoile du Nord (Star of the North), which eventually became the motto of the State of Minnesota. [2]
The exploration of the northern territories and areas surrounding the Great Lake, including Minnesota, was encouraged by Frontenac, the Governor of New France. [3]
In the early days of Minnesota's settlement, many of its early European inhabitants were of Canadian origin, including Pierre Parrant, a trapper and fur trader born in Sault Ste. Marie (Michigan) in 1777.
The Red River Métis community also played an important part in the use of French in Minnesota.
Since 1858, when the State of Minnesota was established, the Great Seal of the State of Minnesota bears Cavelier de la Salle's French motto "L'étoile du Nord".
A number of architectural, pictorial and musical works in Minnesota have been and still are made by French-speaking residents and visitors. For example, the St. Louis Parish was established in 1868 by French architect Emmanuel Louis Masqueray. [4]
Pierre Bonga, a former slave who became a prominent fur trader in Minnesota, 1802–1831. His father, Jean Bonga, had been born in the West Indies and was brought to Michilimackinac in the Great Lakes by Captain Daniel Robertson who was the post’s first British commander following the fall of the French in North America in 1763. [5]
George Bonga, Pierre Bonga's son, also a prominent fur trader 1820–1839, who from the 1840s onward served as a interpreter for treaties made between the United States and the Ojibwe, and for Indian agency at Leech Lake.
Pierre Bottineau, a surveyor who in the mid-1800s established several communities across Minnesota.
Irma LeVasseur, the first French-Canadian woman to become a doctor, was trained in French in Minnesota before she went on to practice in Québec and Europe. She studied medicine at the University of Saint Paul, Minnesota, as Québec universities did not allow women to attend. She practiced in the United States from 1900 to 1903 until she was authorized to do so in her home country. In 1907, with the help of Justine Lacoste-Beaubien and other doctors she recruited, including Séverin Lachapelle, LeVasseur founded the hôpital Sainte-Justine in Montréal.
French architect Emmanuel Louis Masqueray settled in Minnesota in 1905 and stayed until his death. He designed many mansions and houses throughout Minnesota and about two dozen parish churches for Catholic and Protestant congregations in the upper Midwest, including:
In 1906, Masqueray founded his atelier in St Paul, which continued his Beaux Arts method of architectural training. Among the students who trained there, the best known certainly is Edwin Lundie (1886–1972). [8] Other architects associated with Masqueray in St. Paul were Fred Slifer and Frank Abrahamson.
The use of French in Minnesota plummeted after American States launched campaigns to anglicize their population throughout the 20th century. During a certain period, teaching and speaking French in schools was forbidden. According to the 1980 United States Census, only 303 599 "persons of French origin", 10,026 "other French speakers" and 775 people "born in France" remained in Minnesota, which represents about 8.2% of the total state population. [9]
The town of Gentilly was of great importance for French-Canadian immigration in Minnesota. Its Catholic church, dedicated to St. Peter, is now listed as a historical building. Unlike most churches in the area, which are made of wood, this church was built with bricks. It was erected in 1914 as the "church of the French" for the region, most of which were immigrants from Joliette, Quebec, in the late 19th century. Inside the church, the stations of the Way of the Cross and the stained-glass pictures bear French-only inscriptions. [10]
The communities of Terrebonne, Huot, Roseau and St. Hilaire are also places of historical significance for French-Canadian immigration.
Throughout Minnesota and the surrounding states, numerous place names still bear names of French origins, including: Mille Lacs County, French River, French Lake, Roseau County, St. Louis County, Lac qui Parle County, Hennepin County, Le Sueur County, Lyon County, Voyageurs National Park, Lake Vermilion, Grand Portage, Lake Marquette, Fond du Lac River, Bois Blanc Lake, Lac Vieux Desert lake, Lac Plè (or Pelé) lake, Belle Plaine, Belle Taine, Belle Rose Island, La Croix Lake, La Salle Lake, La Salle River, LaBelle Lake, Le Homme Dieu Lake, Nord lake, La Grand, La Crosse, Audubon, Bain, Beauford, Beaulieu, Bejou, Bellaire, Belgian Township, Belle Prairie Township, Bellevue Township, Duluth, Dumont, Duquette, Frenchy Corner, Frontenac, Grand Marais, Lafayette, La Fontaine, La Cressent, Lagarde, Le Roy, Le Center, Marcoux, St. Hilaire, Chapeau Lake, Faribault, Lake of the Woods (lac des Bois), Nicollet County, Gervais Lake, etc. [1]
Native American reservations in Minnesota have or had French names, reminiscent of earlier fur trade days with Montréal-based Northwest Company. They include Bois Forte, Fond du Lac, Grand Portage, Lac Rouge (now Red Lake), Lac Sangsue (now Leech Lake), and Mille Lacs.
In present-day Minnesota, French is maintained alive through bilingual education options and French-language classes in universities and schools. It is also promoted by local associations and groups such as AFRAN (Association des Français du Nord), who support events such as the Chautauqua Festival in Huot, an event celebrating the French heritage of local communities. [10]
In 2012, a Franco-fête Festival was held in Minneapolis. Similar events take place every year throughout the state of Minnesota. [11]
Since Minnesota shares a border with French-speaking areas of Canada, French exchanges remain common. In 2004, an estimated 35% of Minnesota's production was being exported to Francophone countries (Canada, France, Belgium and Switzerland). [1]
Two French-language consulates are active in Minnesota: the Belgian Consulate in Saint Paul (also Dutch Speaking) and the Canadian Consulate in Minneapolis.
An Alliance Française and an annex of the Association américaine des professeurs de français (AATF) are also present in Minneapolis. [1]
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, was a 17th-century French explorer and fur trader in North America. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, and the Mississippi River. He is best known for an early 1682 expedition in which he canoed the lower Mississippi River from the mouth of the Illinois River to the Gulf of Mexico; there, on 9 April 1682, he claimed the Mississippi River basin for France after giving it the name La Louisiane. One source states that "he acquired for France the most fertile half of the North American continent". A later ill-fated expedition to the Gulf coast of Mexico gave the United States a claim to Texas in the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803. La Salle was assassinated in 1687 during that expedition.
Louis Hennepin, OFM was a Belgian Catholic priest and missionary best known for his activities in North America. A member of the Recollects, a minor branch of the Franciscans, he travelled to New France and proselytised to several Native American tribes.
Saint-Tite is a Canadian city located at the foothills of the Laurentians, between Grandes-Piles and Saint-Adelphe, in the Mauricie RCM of Mékinac. A large body of water, Lake Pierre-Paul, bathes the northeastern part of the territory.'
The Cathedral of Saint Paul is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is the co-cathedral of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, along with the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis. One of the most distinctive cathedrals in the United States, it sits on Cathedral Hill overlooking downtown Saint Paul and features a distinctive copper-clad dome. It is dedicated to Paul the Apostle, who is also the namesake of the City of Saint Paul. The current building opened in 1915 as the fourth cathedral of the archdiocese to bear this name. On March 25, 2009, it was designated as the National Shrine of the Apostle Paul by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. It is the third-largest Catholic cathedral and sixth-largest church in the United States.
Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant was the first official resident of the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota. His exploits propelled him to local fame and infamy, with his name briefly adorning the village that became Minnesota's capital city.
Jacob Fahlström (c.1794–1859), also known as Father Jacob, was the very first Swede to settle in Minnesota. He was known as Ozaawindib or "Yellow Head" to the Ojibwe, and to other white settlers as the "Swede Indian." After working in the fur trade for the Hudson's Bay Company in Manitoba, he joined the American Fur Company at Fond du Lac as a boatman. In 1823, he married Margaret Bonga, the part-Ojibwe daughter of Pierre Bonga, a French African interpreter in the fur trade. Around 1825, he started working for the U.S. government as a woodsman, mail carrier, and blacksmith's striker at the St. Peter's Indian Agency next to Fort Snelling.
St. Norbert is a bilingual neighbourhood and the southernmost suburb of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. While outside the Perimeter Highway, it is still part of the city. As of the 2016 Census, the population of St. Norbert is 5,850.
The Matapedia Valley was formed by the Chic-Choc Mountains of eastern Québec. Its name is derived from the river that traverses the valley, as well as the lake that lies in its center. It is situated in the southwest of the Gaspé Peninsula and stretches 375 km (233 mi).
Sainte-Thècle is a Canadian municipality located in the province of Quebec in the Mékinac Regional County Municipality, in the Batiscanie watershed, in the administrative region of Mauricie. This municipality of 216 square kilometres is known for its resorts and many small lakes. The forest and mountain scenery offers exceptional views for tourists and vacationers. Sainte-Thècle is also a destination for hunting, fishing, snowmobile/all-terrain vehicles and other outdoor sports. The church, rectory and cemetery are located on the main hill of the village and are also heritage sites of interest. The municipality's agricultural and forestry industries have marked its history.
Pierre Chimakadewiiash Bonga was a black trapper and interpreter for the North West Company, based in Canada near Mackinac Island. He later worked for John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company, primarily along the Red River of the North and near Lake Superior in present-day Wisconsin and Minnesota.
George Bonga was a fur trader, entrepreneur and interpreter for the U.S. government, who was of Ojibwe and African descent, fluent in French, Ojibwemowin and English. At the age of eighteen, he served as an interpreter for Governor Lewis Cass of Michigan Territory during a treaty council with the Ojibwe at Fond du Lac near present-day Duluth, Minnesota. Bonga worked for the American Fur Company from 1820 to 1839, progressing to the role of clerk or sub-trader working under the head trader William Alexander Aitken. In 1837, he was involved in the first criminal trial held in Minnesota when he tracked down and successfully apprehended Che-ga-wa-skung, an Ojibwe man who was wanted for murder, transporting him 250 miles (400 km) back to Fort Snelling.
Côte-Saint-Paul is a neighbourhood located in the Southwest Borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Lucien Galtier was the first Roman Catholic priest who served in Minnesota. He was born in southern France in the town of Saint-Affrique, department of Aveyron. The year of his birth is somewhat uncertain, some sources claiming 1811 but his tomb at Prairie du Chien, WI, bearing the date December 17, 1812. In the 1830s, people were settling across the Minnesota River from Fort Snelling in the area of Mendota, Minnesota. Mathias Loras, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dubuque, Iowa learned of these settlers and journeyed up the Mississippi River to visit the settlers in the area. He wrote to his sister that "the Catholics of St. Peters amounted to one hundred and eighty five." The bishop saw a need to send a missionary to the area the next year. Galtier spoke little English when he arrived in 1840.
The Pays d'en Haut was a territory of New France covering the regions of North America located west of Montreal. The vast territory included most of the Great Lakes region, expanding west and south over time into the North American continent as the French had explored. The Pays d'en Haut was established in 1610 and depended on the colony of Canada until 1763, when the Treaty of Paris ended New France, and both were ceded to the British as the Province of Quebec.
The territorial era of Minnesota lasted from the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 to Minnesota's achieving statehood in 1858. The Minnesota Territory itself was formed only in 1849 but the area had a rich history well before this. Though there was a long history of European presence in the area before 19th century, it was during the 19th century that the United States began to establish a firm presence in what would become Minnesota.
Lake Franquelin is a freshwater body of the watershed of Franquelin River, in the unorganized territory of Rivière-aux-Outardes, in the Manicouagan, in the administrative region of Côte-Nord, in the province of Quebec, in Canada.
Margaret Bonga Fahlstrom was a mixed-race woman of African and Ojibwe descent who came from a fur trading family in the Great Lakes region. In 1823, she married Jacob Fahlstrom, the first Swedish settler in Minnesota, and lived with him on a small farm at Coldwater Spring near Fort Snelling. Margaret was one of the few free Black women living in the area around the time that enslaved women such as Harriet Robinson Scott were struggling to find a path to freedom. In 1838, the Fahlstroms became the first converts to the Methodist faith in Minnesota, and moved to a farm in Washington County in 1840. Jacob became well known as the Methodist lay preacher "Father Jacob". His success as a traveling Christian missionary was often attributed to his fluency in the Ojibwe language, as well as his marriage. Margaret and her daughters were also known for their involvement in early church meetings in Minnesota, and their hospitality toward Methodist circuit riders.
The French Louisianians, also known as Louisiana French, are Latin French people native to the states that were established out of French Louisiana. They are commonly referred to as French Creoles. Today, the most famous Louisiana French groups are the Alabama Creoles, Louisiana Creoles, and the Missouri French.
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