Patrimoines metisses: contextes coloniaux et postcoloniaux (review)

This book is a detailed and insightful analysis of cultural métissage in Quebec. Quebec has a mixed cultural heritage, which evolved from various ethnocultural groups that have occupied its territory. Cultural mixing, which is present in all colonial and post-colonial societies, is complex and continual, marked by tension and contradiction. The author begins by acknowledging his own mixed French, Western Canadian francophone, and recently uncovered Mohawk heritage and how resulting personal tensions motivated his inquiry.

Chapter 1 deals with the inherent bias of the written historical account, using the example of the eighteenth-century judicial declaration of Guillaume Pottier. Turgeon uses the testimony to illustrate how the archival document is not a spontaneous or neutral account but was created by the witness with a specific objective in mind or to impress or even manipulate his audience. This is an important fact to acknowledge in Western society, which has traditionally held that the written word is more reliable or truthful than oral testimony.

In the second chapter, the author looks at the appropriation and transformation of Aboriginal objects by Euro-Canadians. The cauldron, for example, has a utilitarian and symbolic meaning for Aboriginal peoples, but is considered simply an 'Indian' artifact in Euro-Canadian society. It is important to trace the total history of an object to fully understand its evolution and meanings. This point also applies to cultural landscapes, which are often reconstructed from tangible remains that have been interpreted and transformed in the process.

The ground or the land as a lieu de métissage and related cultural landscape are discussed in chapters 3 and 4. L'Île aux Basques, the reported first point of contact along the shores of the St Lawrence, is an example of a re-invented heritage landscape. Although the Basque origins of the Municipalité régionale de comté des Basques, centred at Trois-Pistoles, are hypothetical, the community's cultural heritage has been reconstructed through folklore, artifacts, and genealogies based on Aboriginal maternal ancestry. Ironically, Trois-Pistoles' pride in and promotion of its Basque origins is a recent phenomenon, largely inspired by heritage tourism. This case illustrates the fact that although heritage or historic sites often claim to present the real or true history of a place, they actually represent another or imagined place.

The last chapter of the book deals with the emergence of multi-ethnic cuisine in Quebec - a twentieth-century development. According to the author, the popularity of foreign cuisine is a response to the so-called mundane traditional Quebec cuisine. However, the emergence of an ethnic cuisine does not reflect the integration of new arrivals and is perhaps a new expression of colonialism and appropriation. This tendency is also present in literature and the arts. All in all, cross-cultural mixing is more in vogue today, but métissage has maintained its pejorative character.

The book is an important contribution to the field of métissage in material culture and heritage, but it does not address the current issue of a distinct Metis society in Quebec. Although the term indigenous Metis is usually reserved for the 'New Nation of the Northwest' or descendants of Euro-Canadians and First Nations peoples of les pays dans haut or homelands of the Great Lakes region and beyond, its definition is evolving. La Nation Métisse du Québec, which claims that there are at least ten thousand people of indigenous Metis heritage in the province or territoire, submitted a brief to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples in 1997. There is some evidence of a hidden or forgotten Metis history in Quebec that would warrant some discussion in Patrimoines métissés. Perhaps this identity and culture is another reconstruction or myth. It would be interesting to explore that theme and hear the voices of these people.

This study is firmly located in a wide range...