PARDON MY FRENCH

“And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;” (Acts 17:26)

On Monday night as I was sitting in my living room “channel surfing” I stumbled across a documentary on New Hampshire Public Television. The narrator was Tom Bergeron of Funniest Home Videos, but this was a thoughtful and educational documentary. I don’t know what the title of the program was, but it was about the French Canadian immigrants to New England in general and New Hampshire in particular. I probably spent about a half hour watching, and it put me in quite a reflective mood.

Many of you know I’m of primarily French Canadian ancestry. “Baril” is a French last name. (Well, it can also be a Russian Jewish last name, but we’ll leave that alone for now.) My father’s parents were immigrants from rural communities in southern Quebec. My mother’s parents were immigrants from New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Her Dad was French, and her Mom was Scottish. Many Americans don’t realize that there are distinctions between the Quebec French and the New Brunswick French. They speak different dialects and have different traditions. (In fact, the New Brunswick French are much more closely related in dialect and culture to the French of the state of Louisiana than they are to the Quebec French.)

Anyway, back to the documentary, it was about the Quebec French in America, from whom Tom Bergeron, like me, is descended. There was much discussion of the French Catholicism. Centuries ago, France and Britain fought for control of North America. Of course, the British won out, but the French had the covert plan of having huge families, believing that would keep them from assimilation and extinction, and it did! My own father grew up in one of those large families. He was the youngest of eight children. Many children of Quebec immigrants were interviewed and spoke about the homes in which they were raised in New England. In some cases, the families kept VERY French, right down to language and customs. Others, like my father’s, strove to be very “Anglo” and American. Yet even the very Americanized French Canadian families kept many of the traditions, especially holiday traditions.

Food customs and traditions are very important to French Canadians. Probably nothing is “bigger” than the Canadian meat pies. The meat pie filling is also used for turkey stuffing at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Each family has its own variation on the Canadian stuffing/meat pie recipe. All are very similar, but no two family’s recipes are exactly alike. My father made the Canadian meat stuffing for holidays and today my (non-French Canadian) wife has carried on that tradition. As a kid, I liked the stuffing much better than the turkey, and I’d say that’s still true today. New Year’s Day is a huge holiday for French Canadians. The traditional New Year’s dinner is the Canadian meat pie, and in fact,we have that every New Year’s Day. Rich and fattening foods are also a big part of the Christmas season. Of course, our ancestors in Quebec were mostly very hard working farmers who burned off all the fat with hard work, and too many of us just pile on the pounds during the holidays!

One middle-aged woman who was interviewed said that when she visits and drives through Quebec’s Eastern Townships she feels a real connection- like she belongs there. I’ve had the same experience. As some of the program’s guests said, “Our ancestors spent hundreds of years farming that land and so there’s something about it that we just feel a connection to it.”

Many varied people were interviewed including Mr. Aubuchon who owns the Aubuchon Hardware chain in New England. He has an interesting accent, which is a combination of a Quebec French accent and a Boston accent. (The Quebec French cannot make the English “th” sound. They will say “dare” for “there” etc. He spoke like that, or “dat”, yet he also dropped the letter “r” at the end of his syllables in Boston fashion.) Mr. Aubuchon spoke of his mother who made such an impact on his life and yet never learned to speak English. The role of the MOTHER in the French Canadian home was particularly strong. My paternal grandmother died when I was only about 18 months old, but I’ve heard she fit the profile of the typical French Canadian matriarch.

You may not realize this, but the “diaspora” of the French Canadians across North America is somewhat akin to the Jewish diaspora. Over a period of several decades in the late 19th and early 20th centuries HALF of the population of Quebec left to spread elsewhere in North America! Thus at least half of the people of North America of Quebec French heritage do NOT live in Quebec. Some are scattered through the Canadian provinces such as Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. But most went to the United States, particularly the New England states, upstate New York, and Michigan. Today, the children,
grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of the Quebec immigrants are scattered throughout the 48 contiguous states. Yet, there are cultural elements such as the Canadian meat stuffing and other traditions which still bind us together as a people.

I will add that in addition to the traditional French Catholicism, the French Canadians are a deeply spiritual people. I’d say about half of those of Quebec French heritage in North America have abandoned the Catholic religion of their ancestors. Yet, we remain a people who are largely hungry for spiritual things and hungry for God. Interestingly enough, I’m not the only “Pastor Baril” in Massachusetts. There’s also Pastor Dennis Baril of Community Covenant Church in Rehoboth who is probably related to me WAY BACK. One of my “mentors” in ministry is the Rev. Dick Germaine. This deeply spiritual man who spent thirty years as pastor of First Congregational Church of Hopkinton is also of French Canadian heritage.

Something else we people of French Canadian heritage have in common with Jewish people is that there are elements of people who DON’T like us. In Canada, until not too many years ago, the French were considered second-class citizens, almost like the African-Americans in the southern U.S. The French were often stereotyped as stupid (“Canuck,” for instance, is a derogatory name) and yet as cheap, greedy, and dishonest. A hundred years ago, the French of New England were largely looked at the way the Brazilians in New England are viewed today...as intrusive, working-class people who don’t seem to belong. Yet, the French Canadians in America have made remarkable strides. Did you know, for instance, that the largest “white European” people group in New England is not the Irish, nor the Italians, and not the English? It’s the French.

So, pardon my French, but I just had to share how that New Hampshire Public Television program impacted me. And, Tom Bergeron- you did a great job!