Jun 27, 2010

Quebec’s French speaking Native People (Metis)

Mark Rabideau / Quebec History / 2 Comments

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Alain Savage
Aug 23, 2010 @ 13:37:08

You state that:
“In French, the corresponding terms are: Sauvage…”

This is not so.
There has been alot written about the difference between the words savage(En)and sauvage(Fr); look it up please.

http://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/dmf/sauvage

And yes, Alain Savage is my real name.
Mark Rabideau
Aug 23, 2010 @ 16:17:35

Bonjour Alain,

The article is actually quoted here and was written and published originally on http://www.francogene.com/quebec/amerin.php. I know that from my readings of the writings by Quebec historians those terms do align as stated in the francogene article.

According to David Garneau (see:http://www.telusplanet.net/dgarneau/french.htm) :

Michel Robert and others have brought this to my attention concerning the word sauvage (savage). Michel says:

The meaning of “savage” in the Anglo-Saxon culture and “sauvage” in the French culture are totally different. While you are generally right in your definition of “savage”, it does not apply to “sauvage” which meaning is short and unambiguous : ” son of nature”; where nature means the sun, the earth, the water, the trees, etc. Later, during the XVII century, it also became synonymous with “virgin, purity, untainted by bad faith, etc. When one reads old documents and is aware of this major difference, one will realize how tremendously different were the various European cultures and ensuing actions at that time, particularly in the Americas. You will notice that at one point in Cartier’s journal, he laments the fact that the “sauvage” (one of the secondary leaders at Stadacone) is not that “sauvage” after all, and is capable of bad and covert intentions just like a European. Others suggest the most common definition of ‘Les Sauvages’ in early New France is ‘wild people of the forests’. The Jesuits considered the word sauvage to mean pagan and a minion of Satan or as they considered them the ‘Reign of Satan’ in 1639.

However you may be very correct to state that other terms or translations may be more grammatically correct from a Parisian French perspective. The articles I have quoted on ManyRoads almost always are written with the bias of being Quebecois. I am however no linguistic expert in this area and would love to see or have a much more accurate and detailed explanation. My interest is always to provide an accurate and fair picture within an appropriate context.

Merci beaucoup.
…mark

Rabideau – Henss Family Histories & Genealogy

Quebec’s French speaking Native People (Metis)

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