The shocking way Indigenous people were depicted in these 1950s Quebec textbooks
'They're filled with elements which allow us to better grasp why we grew apart'
Many Quebecers were taught history using Guy Laviolette's Histoire du Canada textbooks. Published in the 1950s, the series covered grades 1 through 9.
Guy Laviolette was the pseudonym for Brother Henri Gingras, a member of the Brothers of Christian Instruction.
"We often hear that history is written by the victors," says Alexandre Bacon, who is an Innu from Mashteuiatsh, about 200 kilometres north of Quebec City, and a strategic advisor for several organizations, including the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador.
"However, looking at how history books were written, especially those meant for grade school and high school, they're filled with elements which allow us to better grasp why we grew apart — why, at some point, Quebecers and Canadians became prejudiced [against Indigenous people]."
In the video above, from the "Rebuilding" episode of Telling Our Story, Bacon reads from a textbook for third-graders.
"And now, the Iroquois," he reads. "Some Indian tribes welcomed the French and traded with them. They listened to the black robes [priests] and often became devout Christians.
"But some Indians were enemies, hunting down the French and killing them off, one by one, or keeping them prisoner.
"They derived great pleasure from capturing little children, such as yourselves, bringing them to their village and devouring them, after having abused them for as long as possible."
