Oldal 206 [206]
MARIE-CLAUDE GILL-LACROIX
the detriment of its Indigenous population. The Quiet Revolution thus bore a
cultural geography marked by the continuation of an inequality present since
French settlers first laid claim to North American soil.’
Although the arguments outlined in this paper may appear self-evident, no
research connecting Lévesque, the cultural geography of the Quiet Revolution,
and Indigenous territorial sovereignty in Québec has been published to date. As
such, this paper’s findings may serve as a steppingstone for further work on this
connection. It would be especially intriguing to examine if these themes are
applicable to other instances of territorial self-determination among Indigenous
communities located in Québec. The Oka Crisis, for instance, would make a
good subject of examination if this papers findings were to cover the context of
the 1990s. It is also worth investigating whether the cultural geography created
during the Quiet Revolution was employed by members of the PQ and the Bloc
Québécois in their bid to achieve sovereignty in 1995. Moreover, with regard to
the referenda, it is possible that the province’s cultural geography has morphed
into something new, mirrored by Québécois’ decreasing interest in separating
from Canada.’ Determining how, why, and the effects this change has had on
the idea of Indigenous territorial sovereignty would be worthwhile. Performing
this type of research is important because it deepens our understanding of the
relationship between colonized and colonizer.’” Indeed, cultural geography
can give us clues as to the manner in which groups subordinate and/or are
subordinated in ways both explicit and implicit..°? As the milieu in which
Québec’s Indigenous communities reside is especially convoluted (they are a
historically colonized minority living in a French-majority province ensconced
in an English-majority country), pursuing research based on the tenets of
cultural geography may prove to be especially informative.
Because Alanis Obomsawin’s Incident at Restigouche introduced the
research question which launched the preceding pages, giving this documentary
filmmaker the last word is only fittting. In a 2018 interview held as part of
100 Although this paper has been solely focused on Québec during the Quiet Revolution, it
would be a mistake to assume that this particular province harbors more intolerance
towards Indigenous populations than the rest of Canada. In the words of Salée: “Quebecers
are neither better nor worse than most other non-Aboriginal majorities across Canada”
(Salée, Identities in Conflict, 303-304). What is particularly interesting about Québec (and,
in fact, what has prompted this paper’s research) is the manner in which minority founding
peoples interact in their attempts to self-actualize within Canada.
Les Perreux of The Globe and Mail reported in 2018 that, for the first time in close to forty
years, sovereignty was “off the table” for Quebec’s politicians — including members of the PQ.
The province’s economy appeared to be at the top of the agenda, with “sovereignty on the back¬
burner” (Les Perreux, After 40 Years, Sovereignty is off the Table in Quebec Election, The Globe
and Mail (20 August 2018), https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-independence¬
not-a-major-defining-issue-in-quebec-election-campaign/ [accessed 8 April 2020]).
Cosgrove-Jackson, New Directions, 95-96; Jackson, Maps of Meaning, xi; Nash, Cultural
Geography, 219.
103 Ibid.
10
102
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