History Articles

This sculpture, by Québec artist Yves Trudeau, was completed in 1984 and offered to the Town of Gaspé by the Government of Québec in honor of the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier’s arrival in Gaspé. “Hard edge” in its expression and with “minimalist” tendencies, the Discovery Place Monument explores the historic events of 1534, reminding us of Cartier’s caravel with its forecastle, deck and sails - a ship’s prow, waves, a beach and the Amerindian settlement that once existed where the monument now stands.

The Mi’kmaq occupied this land centuries before the first Europeans arrived and were probably the first Native Americans to have regular contact with Europeans.This may have occurred as early as theeleventh century with the early Viking settlements on the coast of North America.The Mi’kmaq were skilled hunter-gatherers, attuned to the shifting, seasonal resources of the area and were noted for their fishing skills and their distinctive birch bark canoes that were capable of crossing open water.

The earliest settlements in Acadia (1604) were among the first efforts to establish a French colony in the New World. Located in what has become Nova Scotia, originally named Arcadia by Verazzano in 1524, this historical Acadia was the result of sustained immigration from France, mainly after 1632.

One of the early settlers to whom the region, specifically the Cascapedia Bay area, is greatly indebted for its early development is William Cuthbert, a native of Scotland and descendant of that ancient Scottish family, of which theeighth century monk St. Cuthbert was a member.