Saint-Pierre et Miquelon are an island group at the southern end of Newfoundland. They are a remnant of a French North American empire that included much of Newfoundland, Quebec, the Canadian Maritimes (then called Acadia), The Great Lakes (what is now Ontario, Michigan, (Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit, Detroit) Wisconsin and Northeastern Minnesota (du Luth), some of the Gulf Coast (Mobile) and the Mississippi watershed, all of it, (Fort Duquesne, [Pittsburgh], and St. Louis, as well as New Orleans.)
The French lost their North American empire in a series of wars (The War of Spanish Succession, The War of Austrian Succession and the 7 Years [French and Indian] War), and the treaties that ended them, (Utrecht, Aux la Chapelle, and Paris.) After the 1763 Treaty of Paris all that was left for France in North America (not counting the Caribbean) were Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. They were granted to France (although the English occupied them at the time of the treaty) to give the French a foothold in the Grand Banks Cod Fisheries.
Since then, they have been occupied by the British several times; during the American Revolution, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, but have always returned to France. In 1941 Charles de Gaulle and the Free French seized the islands from the Vichy government to preempt Britain from occupying them. (The British occupied Iceland to keep them out of Nazi hands. This was considered a “friendly occupation”.) The islands held a referendum confirming their desire to be governed by de Gaulle. They remain an overseas “Territorial Collectivity of France.”
The Portuguese were the first Europeans who recorded seeing the islands in the sixteenth century but there is evidence that Basque and Portuguese fisherman and whalers had temporary fishing outposts in the region as early as the 14th Century, well before Columbus. Historians suspect that Columbus knew of reports from these fishermen before his first voyage.
The islands were settled by Basque, Breton and Norman fishermen. St. Pierre (St. Peter) is the Patron Saint of Fishermen and Miquelon is a Basque form of Michael, “big Michael.” The coat of Arms and flag of the territory include the flags of the Basque region, Britany and Normandy as well as a ship, the Grand Hermine, that brought Jaques Cartier to the region.
Flag and Coat of Arms.
The island of Miquelon was a resettlement point for Acadian refugees from the Maritimes after the British “expulsion” (Ethnic Cleansing) of the residents Acadians 1755 and 1763. They currently have a population of about 5,800 residents. They have traditionally lived off fishing and smuggling, they made a killing during Prohibition as a staging point for the smuggling of French Wine and Brandy into New England). Currently they are developing a tourism industry. They should be successful. They are French and friendly. There are 33 scheduled cruise calls at St. Pierre this year.
I have been interested in visiting these islands since my 5th Grade teacher, Mrs. Sorth, taught us about them in the unit on the French and Indian War. This is the first chance I have had to visit.
Before we even got off the ship I had some interesting photographs. There is a small island “Sailors’ Island” just off St. Pierre. I could see it from our cabin and at breakfast the island reflected in a marbled mirror in the Lido cafeteria. I snapped a picture and then went up after breakfast to catch a few without heads in the way.
After Breakfast we wandered the town and stopped in a café to enjoy a French Pastry and a coffee. We visited Square Joffee with its Mariner’s memorial and the Cathedral.
The church was built at the beginning of the 20th century and has stained glass from the early part of that century and several windows presented to the islands by President Charles de Gaulle on a visit in 1967. That was the same visit where he created a diplomatic incident while attending the opening of Expo ’67, the world’s fair in Montreal. He ended his speech with “Vive Montreal, Vive le Quebec, Vive la Quebec Libre!” With the emphasis on “Libre.” This was the rallying call for Quebec separatists, and he got a chilly response from Canadian Prime Minister Lester Pearson who said: “Canadians do not need to be liberated.”
His reception in St. Pierre, as liberator of St. Pierre and Miquelon was enthusiastic. It was before the incident and the Canadian government considered it a slight to the Canadians. Diplomatic protocol suggested he stop in Ottawa to meet with the Canadian government but instead he went to St. Pierre, delivered the windows, and sailed on a French Warship directly to Quebec City and then went on to Montreal without the diplomatic protocol stop. So the stage was set. There was diplomatic speculation (scuttlebutt) that he did this as payback to wartime Canadian Prime Minister McKenzie King for being slow to recognize the Free French during World War II. At any rate the abstract stained glass, designed by Jean-Paul Le Chevallier presented by the President to these small islands is stunning.
One set of Windows honors Pope John XXIII and the Vatican Council, another has some maritime themes appropriate for a fishing island.
