The discovery of the Islands
Micmac Indians poetically named the archipelago "Menagoesenog", a word that means "islands brushed by the waves". Well before the arrival of the first Europeans, Indians were coming to the Islands to fish, and to hunt for seal and sea cows (walrus).
In June 1534, Jacques Cartier inscribed in his diary the first written report about the Islands, which he called "Les Araynes" (from Latin "arena", meaning "sand"). He named the first islands he came upon Île Margaulx (today Rocher aux Oiseaux) and
Île Brion. He wrote in his ship's log: "These islands have sandbanks and good passages around them, 6 or seven fathoms. This island is the best land we have seen, better even than Terre Neuve (Newfoundland). We found a land with great trees, fine meadow, fields of wild wheat and flowering peas, as many species as I ever saw in Brittany, and it seemed as if all had been planted by man's hand."
In 1629, Samuel de Champlain wrote on a map, "La Magdeleine", near the area of
Île du Havre Aubert. However, it is said that the archipelago's present name, Îles de la Madeleine, was given in honour of Madeleine Fontaine, wife of François Doublet de Honfleur, and concessionaire of the Islands in 1663. Under the French Regime, the Islands were passed from hand to hand without lasting colonisation or exploitation.
The land of the Acadians...
In 1755, the destiny of the Acadian people took a tragic turn. It was the "Grand Derangement" (the Exile) and the Acadian population was deported all across the continent. Some managed to escape the deportation and came to the Îles de la Madeleine, which was then ruled by the iron fist of a merchant named Richard Gridley The Acadians working for Gridley hunted walrus and ran the Island fisheries. In 1789, following the French Revolution, other families came from Saint-Pierre and Miquelon under the leadership of father Jean-Batiste Allain, who was responsible for creating the first written records of the settlement. This was the true beginning of the colonisation of the Islands.
Under British control in 1763, the Islands were annexed to Newfoundland, until 1774 when the Quebec Act annexed them to Quebec. Isaac Coffin was granted the Îles de la Madeleine in 1798, and he forced the Madelinots to pay rent on lands that they had cleared with their own hands and occupied for more than 25 years. This feudal domination along with the merchants' exploitation of the fishermen, created a climate of misery and injustice; which explains the Islanders' continued emigration to new lands. Emigrating Madelinots founded several villages on Quebec's Lower North Shore: Blanc-Sablon (1854), Havre Saint-Pierre, Natashquan (1855), and Sept-Îles (1872). Only in 1895 did a Quebec law allow the Madelinots to buy back their lands from the grant holder. Freed from colonial oppression, they began to overcome their difficulties and work towards self-sufficiency.
For more details about the history of Les Iles-de-la-Madeleine, we suggest you try the book "The Îles de la Madeleine - A brief History" by Jean-Charles Fortin and Paul Larocque, les editions de L'IQRC, available at the
tourist information office.
... and a country of the sea
Seafarers and fishermen all, the Madelinots are familiar with both the joys and the trials and tribulations of maritime life. Many tragic shipwrecks have been recorded (more than 400), and these were more often than not foreign ships swept ashore in storms while passing the islands. Survivors often decided to make the Islands their home. Legends and extraordinary true stories colour the Islanders' oral tradition, kept alive from a time when they lived in almost total isolation.
Although modern methods of communication have eased this isolation, the Madelinots still maintain their unique way of life and retain their distinctive accent. In 2002, the population totalled 13,172 inhabitants including five percent Anglophones, largely of Scottish descent.
