St-Croix: 1604-2004
Il faut se souvenir de ces 400 ans!
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History
 The
first significant settlement in North America is on Ste-Croix
Island, at the mouth of the St.Croix river which is the international
boundary between the United States and Canada.. In the summer of 1604,
80 French colonists led by Pierre
Dugua, Sieur de Mons and Samuel
de Champlain, established the first colony and attempted to spend
their first winter in Nouvelle France. This is three years before Jamestown,
Virginia (1607) and 16 years before the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth,
Massachusetts (1620), but not before the Spanish established St. Augustine in Florida in 1565, 39 years earlier. Upon his return, Champlain wrote this letter
to his King.
The year 2004 will mark the 400th anniversary of their arrival and
festivities are being planned in Quebec, Nova Scotia, Maine, Louisiana
and France. Il faut se souvenir de ces 400 ans! (We have to remenber
those 400 years!)
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Maine's Role
-
Most of today's Maine was initially part of Acadia and the original
settlement on the island of Ste-Croix is now in Maine. Dr. Jerome
Collins, a retired psychiatrist living in Kennebunkport for the
past 25 years, is enthusiastic about the anniversaries of the three
French colonies because his family comes from Nova Scotia where
the colonists landed in the early 17th century. He is the one tht
came up with the slogan: Il faut se souvenir de ces 400 ans!
-
National Park Service - The National Park Service preserves
Saint-Croix Island International
Historic site as a monument to the beginning of the United States
and Canada. In cooperation with Parks Canada, the National Park
Service educates the public about that heroic effort, its context,
and its consequences.
More recently, the National Park Service has asked help in planning
and constructing a regional heritage center in Calais, Maine, in
order to support visitor and interpretive services for Saint-Croix
Island International Historic Site (ISH), in preparation for the
400th anniversary of Saint-Croix in 2004. Read the statement
made by Denis Galvin, Deputy Director, National Park Service
on May 2000.
-
Ste-Croix 2004 - The French settlement at St. Croix Island
is near Calais, ME, a town who has joined the international effort
of the Ste-Croix 2004 Coordinating Committee (now defunct)
with members from both sides of the Canada-U.S. border and representatives
from key government agencies. The recently opened Downeast
Heritage Center in Calais prominently feature Ste-Croix. See
additional details in the New Brunswick section below.
- Writing for the Portland Press Herald, Juliana L'Heureux
writes about these efforts
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Canada's Role
- Québec and Ontario
-
 New
Brunswick and Nova Scotia
- Ste-Croix 2004 - Spearheaded by the St. Croix International
Waterway Commission, a 1995 community workshop in Calais, Maine
resulted in hundreds of ideas to mark the 400th anniversary of the
French settlement at St. Croix Island in 2004. In 1996 a formal,
cross-border committee was struck to oversee and develop plans for
2004. With 21 members, the Ste-Croix 2004 Coordinating Committee
had members from both sides of the Canada-U.S. border and representatives
from key government agencies. St. Croix Island is near Calais,
Maine and St. Stephen,
New Brunswick
The commemoration will not be a one-time event for the people of
the St. Croix Valley region. major events and activities are being
scheduled for the entire year of 2004, and into 2005.
On the Canadian side of the Saint-Croix River, Parks Canada has
completed an extensive interpretive trail, exhibits, brochures and
web pages with links to other French sites throughout eastern Canada.
The Province of New Brunswick is developing a reconstructed settlement
on the river shore directly opposite the island
- The third Congrès
Mondial Acadien (CMA) from July 31 to August 15, 2004 will
be held in Nova Scotia and will coincide with the 400th anniversary
of the arrival of the French colonists in Ste-Croix. And 2005 will
mark the 400th anniversary of the establishment of Port Royal.
These significant historical events are sure to play some role in
the upcoming festivities.
- Canada and France
- In May of 2003, the then Prime Minister of Canada, Jean Chrétien,
said that “We are proud to join France in commemorating the
400th Anniversary of the first French settlement in North America.”
[more]
France's Role
- France hosted several festivals in 2004 commemorating the anniversary.
One was announced in Langres in September 2003 by Mr Terrence Lonergan,
Minister Counsellor at the Canadian Embassy in France. His address
was titled Le Canada, 400 ans de dialogue et de découvertes
: esquisse du Programme Canada-France 2004. The address was given
at the France-Amériques
Association, avenue Franklin Roosevelt, 75008 Paris.
- In May of 2003, the then Prime Minister of Canada, Jean Chrétien,
said that “We are proud to join France in commemorating the 400th
Anniversary of the first French settlement in North America.”
[more]
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Last updated:
June 24, 2013
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