DISCOVERY GOES TO FRENCH CANADA

[Music] where in the world is this animal called an and this leg and this a leon no we're not in paris we're just a stone's throw away today as discovery goes to french canada [Music] do this is mr mrs aurie payette and their children spending their evening watching television there's nothing really unusual about a north american family enjoying their favorite tv program but here there's a big difference [Music] this family the payettes lives just a stone's throw away from the united states and yet they speak french read french and watch tv in french and so does almost everyone who lives here where discovery is visiting today in the province of quebec in french canada quebec is unique in other ways too and today discovery has come to french canada to find out what life is like for six million people with a history a heritage a present and a future unlike any other in north america the piets live in the city of granby quebec there are five children in the family the two oldest girls are away from home just now one studying nursing in montreal and the other at college in saint hyacin both mr mrs payet speak french and english although they have very little need for english and usually speak french mr pyet is the manager of the local kespo sort of credit union for the province and most of his business transactions are with french-speaking clients occasionally though he must use english so his knowledge of the language does come in handy the youngest children don't speak english they study english in school much as you study a foreign language their classes in english however are mostly english literature not conversation [Music] jean payette who is 15 knows a little more english than his brother jill and his sister louise because he has studied the language listened to his parents and because of the english language television that he sees from the canadian broadcasting corporation stations as well as the american tv that drifts across the border actually life for the payette family here in french canada is very much like yours in the united states when the children go off to school in the morning they see much the same things that you see with one big difference as you can see much of french canada is bilingual so practically everywhere you look instant translation [Music] these signs tell us a great deal about this part of canada they're symbolic of one of the problems facing the people of quebec which language to use french english or both mr payet knows that his children will need to understand more english than just how to say yield right of way they're going to move ahead in a predominantly english-speaking country and in order to help them move ahead mr payet like most canadians keeps well informed about the affairs of the world he even knows who the president of the united states is does that sound like a strange thing to say all right let me ask you this do you know who the prime minister of canada is although most canadians know a great deal about the united states we on the other hand know comparatively little about canada if you were to stand in northern maine new hampshire vermont or new york you could literally throw a stone and have it land in someone's backyard in a different nation with different customs and a different language how did quebec get that way why the french culture in an otherwise english-speaking nation well to understand what happened let's take a look at quebec before there were french or english here before the white man came to stay quebec like most of north america was inhabited by indians and eskimos fishermen and traders from central europe and scandinavia often visited the shores of canada to fish and trade for furs with the indians then in 1534 king francois the first of france sent this man jacques cottier a fisherman and explorer to the new world on july 25th 1534 on the land of the bay of gaspe katie planted a wooden cross with a french fleur-de-lis and a wooden board with a message saluting the king of france as far as europe was concerned canada had now been officially discovered by the french in the spring of 1603 on board one of the boats that came here for the annual fishing season was a young french geographer acting as the envoy of king henry iv he was samuel de champlain champlain made an alliance with the indians and then set out to explore and map what is now quebec on his first voyage up to st lawrence he ventured as far as the indian village of hashilaga now montreal in 1608 champlain built the first settlement in quebec at what is now quebec city he called it lobitacion the habitation here he spent the hard winter of 1608 and it was a hard winter too of the original 28 men who stayed only eight were alive when spring came and half of them were ill too with scurvy and dysentery champlain's contacts with the indians were useful champlain needed the canadian indians to help him survive and carry on his explorations and they needed the frenchman's guns to help defeat their enemies the iroquois indians to the south during the next years many explorers traders and administrators for the kings of france came to quebec which was then called new france among them were catholic missionaries like francois laval who exerted a great influence over the formation of the new territory and whose effect is still felt today also during these years the vague borders between english and french territories changed many times here high above the saint lawrence river in quebec city on what was then pasture land of a settler named abraham martin the decisive battle of the french and english struggle for canada took place during the night of september 12 1759 general wolf and his troops the british forces drifted quietly upriver with the time they landed here at what is now called wolf's cove and silently climbed the steep cliffs when dawn broke the french troops defending quebec under the command of general montcalm saw the thin red line of some 5 000 british troops stretched across this huge plane now called the plains of abraham after abraham martin the british were there and the french were there the french advanced the british held their fire until the french were only 40 paces away and then they charged and broke the french line general wolf died in the battle and general montcalm died a few hours after the english lost 664 men the french lost some 1500 and france lost canada today the plains of abraham is a national park and this spot where the battle took place is a sports field the battle on the plains of abraham marked the major turning point in the history of canada because when that battle was over great britain ruled over all of canada quebec continued to grow in population as more and more settlers came here from various parts of europe the french influence remained the strongest however and quebec retained its french flavor even though canada was ruled from england the quebec act of 1774 guaranteed french canadians the right to speak french and retain their religion and customs partly to keep quebec loyal to the english crown during the stormy period of the american revolution and so over the years english rule and french customs have remained side by side here at the citadel in quebec city the summer residence of the governor general of canada the daily ceremony of the changing of the guard is very much like that at buckingham palace in london but if you listen closely you'll hear that all the orders are given in french [Music] this [Music] the blending of two different cultures is not a unique way of life for much of the world what makes quebec unique is that the less dominant culture 18th century rural french not only survived but actually flourished until it became the dominant culture although the french culture is still dominant here you have to look carefully to see what little remains of the historic houses antique kitchen utensils and old-fashioned farm tools of the early days they're almost all in museums now and in a place we're going to visit the village historique chamblee quebec we'll see how french-canadian farmers helped each other at harvest time how the farmer's wife baked bread in an outdoor oven and will participate in a typical french canadian farm supper in just a minute [Music] the first settlers who came to quebec from france were for the most part destitute farmers who were looking for a new chance and a new life what they found was hardly encouraging the winters were long and hard and the summer growing season was about half of what they'd known in france and yet somehow they survived they built their first homes using timber and logs that they cut by hand which they piled on top of each other to make log cabins this stable built in about 1780 is made of hand-hewn logs cut in such a way that they support one another there aren't any nails or wooden pegs later they built their homes of field stone stones they found lying in the fields and cemented them together with lime they used these materials because they were handy and because they afforded the greatest amount of protection from the indians and the severe winter weather this is the village historic in chamblee quebec right on a busy highway just east of montreal a restoration devoted to the preservation and appreciation of canada's cultural heritage particularly the french canadian way of life [Music] for several hundred years quebec was farmland and much of the farming land clearing and farmhouse building was done through communal or community effort called corvae in french canada at harvest time in the fall they had a harvest corvae all the farmers would travel from one farm to the next and help harvest the crops of wheat and hay then the wheat was taken to the flour mill owned by a man called a senior the majority of farmers in those days worked land which was granted to them by the senor for which they made a small token payment each year the senior originally received the land from the government recognition for services rendered to the colony during the harvest corvae while the men were busy in the fields all the women were hard at work preparing huge meals for the hungry workers among the many items on the menu of a typical french canadian farm meal was fresh baked bread baked in an outdoor oven like this one there weren't any bakeries in those days and because the farms were so far apart a stone oven was on every farm many loaves of bread and pies have been baked in this old stone oven which dates from the 17th century in order to heat the oven the fire was kindled within the oven itself it took anywhere from one to two hours for the stones of the oven to heat through to get white hot then the embers were swept out there were no thermostats to check the temperature and usually the owner of the oven could tell from experience when the oven was just right but to be sure she would place a piece of paper in the oven if it burst into flames the oven was too hot but if it just turned brown the oven was ready the dough was placed directly in the oven using these long flat paddles then in about 30 minutes the hot brown loaves of bread were taken out ready for the table farm life through the ages has been governed by the sun when the sun rises it's time for work at sunset it's time for supper and bed [Music] inside this farm kitchen is filled with the delicious odors of a french-canadian farm supper this old wood stove was used for cooking and for heat and made the kitchen the center of activity in most quebec homes have you ever heard of a harvest table today antique collectors searched them out for their dining and living rooms this is a harvest table made in about 1825 harvest tables are called that because they were used during the harvest corvae to make room for the added guests who came to help with the harvest for the remainder of the year the harvest table was stored in the barn now c the first course was usually soup this is a hearty and filling soup called super pua pea soup buckwheat pancakes called crap were cooked right on top of the hot stove they were usually drowned in molasses or maple syrup the main course of the meal was usually pork and beans called fevilav and the meat-filled pie called tootsie this is teflomage head cheese which isn't really cheese but meat the last course stayed warm in the oven apple pie taco pulp [Music] after supper the children usually went off to bed this is where they slept no not on this hard bench in it this is a bald league b-a-n-c-l-i-t bal lee a bench bed this is how it works french canadians lived and worked like this for several hundred years with little thought or opportunity for changing their way of life predominantly roman catholic the center of their life was the parish church and the parish priest who was to them the source of spiritual enlightenment as well as the only teacher they ever knew because the settlers were primarily farm people there was little need or desire to learn much beyond the rudiments of reading and writing since they rarely ventured beyond their own parish they learned little of what was happening elsewhere in addition large families were common anywhere from 12 to 18 children was typical thus because of the high birth rate the french canadians grew in number and because they had little contact outside their own parish they retained their language and their customs meanwhile the rest of canada was making rapid technological and economic advances and quebec was not we'll see what life is like for today's french canadians what they're doing to as they put it catch up with the rest of canada and we'll visit a zoo where an elephant walks among the people we'll do that in just a minute this is the jardin the zoo in granby quebec it's quite a remarkable zoo for a city of only 35 000 people this zoo is unique in many ways for one thing several animals are on display in the open not in cages here for instance in this small grassy area is a cheetah the fastest animal in the world and here's a family of raccoons a mother and two little babies this baby elephant's name is gilda she's very friendly the children love to play with her she follows her keeper all around the zoo that's some sugar this is a canadian lynx a member of the cat family even in the zoo the signs are bilingual you might not think of polar bears as being native to quebec but they are the province of quebec stretches all the way north to the arctic [Music] this enclosure for the polar bears is a geodesic dome designed by the mayor of granby monsieur paul trevonye was also an architect did you also build this dome no it was built about four years ago by the students of our tree school of architecture here in quebec i thought at the time that it will be a good exercise for them to feel and touch the components of the structure you travel all over canada in your work machines you speak french wherever you go no when i travel outside of quebec i must speak english but when they come here they do not speak french french is my own language and the second language of this country canada is bilingual on paper but not in reality many people feel as mushy penier does that french and english should exist side by side and that all canadians should be bilingual a small minority of french canadians however believe in absolute separation of french canada from english canada in fact they feel that quebec should become a new nation completely withdrawn from the rest of canada the shields what do you think of the possibilities of separatism it could come about but the majority of french canadians like me are against separatism french canada wants to take its place in the industrial world of today if this desire is frustrated by english canada quebec will separate i want to move ahead in my own country speaking my own language the language i have learned at my mother's knee thank you very much mission paneer we'll be back in just a minute today we have visited quebec a province with an exciting history and a proud culture that has endured for hundreds of years no one can predict with certainty what lies ahead for this fascinating province and its unusual way of life in the coming years we might see this unique french culture disappear as it becomes absorbed into the rest of canada or we could conceivably see an event unlike any other in our lifetime the creation of a brand new nation just a stone's throw away nevertheless quebec has been and is an important part of the whole of canada and its leading city montreal is the site of expo 67 a world's fair commemorating the 100th anniversary of canadian federation bringing together people and exhibits from all of canada and the rest of the world as well we hope you've enjoyed today's program if you'd like to know more about canada and the province of quebec then ask your librarian for any of these books the pageant of canadian history by anne merriman peck the battle for quebec by f van wyck mason and the land and people of canada by francis aileen ross next week discovery goes to florida for a firsthand look at the everglades america's jungle wilderness we'll travel in a high-powered airboat across a river of grass we'll see alligators and crocodiles pelicans and giant cranes and we'll watch a king cobra one of the deadliest of snakes giving venom in the interest of science see you next week the discovery production units domestic transportation arrangements and production consideration provided by united airlines [Music] hey [Music] thank you [Music] this has been a jewels power production in association with abc news and public [Music] affairs