Legacies

 Samuel de Champlain explored extensively over several voyages through a good part of eastern North America before becoming effectively the first governor of Canada. His greatest legacy for the history of the country is how he treated First Nations peoples- in building relationships and working nation-to-nation. A sensible technique, and one that should have been followed by those who came later.

His name is all across the country and beyond, another legacy for the explorer.

Part of the French presence in North America was about trade. That involved their established alliances with their First Nations allies. But this had an unforeseen consequence- those allies had long standing conflicts with other First Nations peoples.

In becoming allies with one group of First Nations peoples, the French would be drawn into conflict with the enemies of those peoples. The result was a long period of war called the Post Contact Wars. Some of the weapons of that time are displayed here, both period and recreation.

The Great Peace of Montreal brought an end to the Post Contact Wars. A wampum belt displayed here is a symbol of that. What came out of that was the beginning of New France.

It would be a time of slow settlement for a new colony, with a distant home government that at first didn't show a lot of interest in the endeavour.

A coat of arms of the era is displayed.

What became key to the survival and then thriving of the colony is the legacy of the filles du roi- the Daughters of the King. Some eight hundred young women immigrated into New France to start families. The population began to grow.

Another legacy of New France- the seigneurial system, a system of landholders and habitants characterized by long tracts of land going back from the rivers.