Port-Royal National Historic Site of Canada

History

Commemorative Intent :

Port-Royal is a national historic site because of its legacy: French culture, commerce and colonization, and the experiences of Mi'kmaq and French colonists, covering the period from 1605 to 1613; and the replica of the Habitation as a milestone in the Canadian heritage movement.

Annapolis River Basin
© Parks Canada

History

In 1603, a French gentleman, Pierre Dugua de Mons, received a fur trade monopoly for a large area between the 40th and 45th parallel in northeastern North America on condition he establish a colony there. His first expedition arrived in 1604 and selected a site for settlement on St. Croix Island. That winter, nearly half the colonists succumbed to the cold and scurvy. The following summer, after exploring the nearby coasts, Samuel de Champlain, explorer and mapmaker, and François Pont-Gravé selected a new site, named Port-Royal, across the Bay of Fundy. The colony was moved before Sieur de Mons returned to France, leaving Pont-Gravé in charge of the new settlement.

Ironically, just as the colony seemed capable of sustaining itself, word arrived that Sieur de Mons' monopoly was revoked. By the fall of 1607, the colonists were en route to France and the Habitation was left in the care of Membertou, chief of the Mi'kmaq in the Port-Royal area. Although Sieurs de Mons' monopoly was temporarily reinstated and a member of the earlier expeditions, Champdoré, came to trade with the Mi'kmaq in 1608, French settlement was temporarily on hold.

In February 1606 Sieur de Poutrincourt, to whom Sieur de Mons had earlier granted land at Port-Royal, received confirmation of this grant from the king of France. He returned in 1610 with a small expedition to Port-Royal, where he received a warm welcome from Membertou. Hoping to regain royal favour and financial backing, Jean de Poutrincourt encouraged Membertou, his family and several of his people to convert to Catholicism. Despite these efforts, the colony's financial support remained on shaky grounds. Jesuit interest in establishing missions in Acadie and their influence at Court ensured their participation when they became financial partners of a wary and reluctant Jean de Poutrincourt. The arrival and subsequent involvement of Pères Massé and Biard in local affairs at Port-Royal made existing internal conflicts worse. Crises occurred regarding the affairs of Robert Pont Gravé and the burial of Membertou. The colony lost its financial support due to conflicts between the Pourtrincourts, father and son, and the Jesuits. In May 1613, a relief ship removed the Jesuits to Penobscot where they founded another settlement named Saint-Sauveur. They were attacked in July by Samuel Argall, of Virginia, who was commissioned to expel all Frenchmen from territory claimed by England.

In November 1613, while the inhabitants of the Port-Royal settlement were away up river, Samuel Argall's expedition sailed into Port-Royal and looted and burned the Habitation. De Poutrincourt, who was in France, returned in the spring of 1614 to find his Habitation in ruins, and his son and companions living with the Mi'kmaq. Discouraged, he returned to France and transferred his North American lands to his son, who remained loyal to his adopted homeland. He died around 1623 and bequeathed his possessions to Charles de La Tour.

The Canadian government rebuilt the Habitation at Port-Royal in 1939-40 after much lobbying and research by several dedicated preservationists. Summer resident Harriette Taber Richardson of Cambridge, Massachusetts; Loftus Morton Fortier, the first Honourary Superintendent of Fort Anne and President of the Historical Association of Annapolis Royal; and Colonel E.K. Eaton were the most prominent lobbyists. Today the Habitation not only commemorates historic events of the distant past but is itself a landmark in Canada's preservation movement.

The Order of Good Cheer

A Taste of History

Proposed by Samuel de Champlain in the winter of 1606-07, this social club provided good food and good times for the men at the French colony of Port-Royal, known today as the Habitation. They hoped to improve their health and morale during the long winter.

Although the Order of Good Cheer was a great success, it was active only one winter. Two first-hand accounts describe the activities: Champlain wrote briefly on the Order while Marc Lescarbot, a lawyer who spent that winter at Port-Royal, provides more detail.

What was it?

Every few days, supper became a feast. On a rotating basis, everyone at the table was designated "Chief Steward." Marc Lescarbot reports:

Annapolis River and Goat Island
© Parks Canada

This person had the duty of taking care that all around the table were well and honourably provided for. This was so well carried out that, though the epicures of Paris often tell us that we had no Rue aux Ours (this street, still in existence in Paris, was the street of the rotisseurs, or sellers of cooked meat). Over there, as a rule we made as good cheer as we could have in this same Rue aux Ours and at less cost. For there was no one who, two days before his turn came, failed to go hunting or fishing, and to bring back some delicacy in addition to our ordinary fare. So well was this carried out that never at breakfast did we lack some savoury meat of flesh or fish, and still less at our midday or evening meals; for that was our chief banquet, at which the ruler of the feast or chief butler, whom the savages called Atoctegic, having had everything prepared by the cook, marched in, napkin on shoulder, badge of office in hand, and around his neck the collar of the Order, ... after him all the members of the Order, carrying each a dish. The same was repeated at dessert, though not always with so much pomp. And at night, before giving thanks to God, he handed over to his successor in the charge the collar of the Order, with a cup of wine, and they drank to each other.

The men of the Order were those who dined together at Poutrincourt's table. They would have been key figures and/or at least congenial types with whom Sieur de Poutrincourt would care to dine. Thus the members of the Order of Good Cheer were likely prominent men in the colony. Membertou and Messamoet, Mi'kmaq chiefs in the area, were frequent guests.

Adding to the atmosphere and the air of festivity, Lescarbot writes, "we always had twenty or thirty savages, men, women, girls, and children, who looked on at our manner of service. Bread was given them gratis (free) as one would do to the poor."

Fare for the table

The gentlemen were able to procure a wide variety of meats including: fowl (mallards, geese, partridges and other birds), moose, caribou, beaver, otter, bear, rabbit, wildcat, and raccoon.

Custom and preferences change over time. In the new world, beaver was a delicate meat like that of mutton. Today, few would consider mutton, beaver, moose or wild rabbit appealing because of their delicate taste. Other evidence too shows us that tastes change. Spices in the early 17th century were very popular. Some of the more commonly used spices then were pepper, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Herbs such as thyme, chervil, bay leaves and marjoram were familiar flavourings. A dish that the Habitation settlers might consider bland could well be strong or wild to our modern tastes.

Some good examples of modern dishes that might provide the flavour of a Good Cheer dinner follow: potage à la citrouille (pumpkin soup), anguille à létuvée (steamed eel), esturgeon à la Sainte-Menehould (sturgeon), fricassée d'épinard (fricassee of spinach), topinambours en beignets (Jerusalem artichoke fritters), tarte à la chaire de pommes et de poires (apples and pear pie), and tarte de massepain (marzipan tarts).

Today, the province of Nova Scotia continues the tradition, sponsoring the Order of the Good Time. This order is unique in many ways: it collects no initiation fee, charges no dues, and never meets formally. Any visitor who has spent at least three days in Nova Scotia can apply to become a member. Certificates of membership are available through any Tourism Nova Scotia Visitor Information Centre or by contacting the Nova Scotia Marketing Agency at (902) 424-4191.

Mathieu Da Costa and Early Canada: Possibilities and Probabilities

Mathieu Da Costa was an interpreter of African descent who likely travelled throughout the "Atlantic world" in the late 1500s and early 1600s. As an interpreter, he was sought after by both the French and the Dutch to help in their trading with Aboriginal peoples. Da Costa likely spoke French, Dutch, Portuguese, as well as "pidgin Basque." The last-named language was the most common trade language used in dealing with Aboriginal peoples in the era of early contact. The tradition of Europeans relying on Black interpreters was more than a century old by Da Costa's time. It began with voyages off the African coast and continued as Europeans and Africans came across to the Americas. Mathieu Da Costa probably sailed on many different voyages, travelling up the St. Lawrence River and all along the coast of what is now Atlantic Canada.

The above abstract summarizes information in a more detailed article on Mathieu Da Costa. The entire article, by A. J. B. Johnston (Parks Canada, Halifax) is available as a pdf document: Mathieu Da Costa and Early Canada: Possibilities and Probabilities ( PDF version, 448KB - about PDF documents)

To learn more about African Nova Scotian culture, experiences and information you may wish to visit these Web sites belonging to other organizations: The Black Cultural Centre of Nova Scotia

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