Low Down Articles
Local Historical
This article first appeared in the "Local Historical" column of the "The Low Down to Hull and Back News". Reprinted with permission. See list of Local Historical articles or search Low Down Articles.
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'51st edition (not state!) coming to a bookshelf near you
Settlements in the 1850s, horse photos and a story about an outhouse
By Kendall Knowlton Contributing writer
About a dozen years ago, a fishing trip in Kitigan Zibi wound up at the Supreme Court of Canada. It’s the lead story in ‘Up The Gatineau!’, which was first published 51 years ago. Gilbert Whiteduck, president of the Gatineau Valley Historical Society (GVHS), and Toby Sanger, another board member who has written for Up The Gatineau! in the past, collaborated on the story. It is about an important case in which the Indigenous community fought the Quebec government up to the Supreme Court of Canada. It took 12 years to fight a $75 fine for illegal fishing, and they spent $2.5 million in the process.
“It’s trying to summarize this case, this very important case.
It’s one of many Supreme Court of Canada cases in Canada that came to acknowledge Indigenous rights on, in this case, unceded territory,” explained Whiteduck about the story called ‘A Fishing Trip That Ended Up in the Supreme Court of Canada.’ Whiteduck was a band council member in Kitigan Zibi when it occurred.
He told the Low Down he remembers it happening, and that he remembers how long the case took.
Sanger said he wrote the first draft, and Whiteduck wrote the second.
“I ended up going through more of the legal documents, but Gilbert’s got a good history of it himself,” said Sanger.
Up The Gatineau! includes several other stories including Horses in the Gatineau Valley: A Photo Essay by Randy Kidder, which is a detailed description of horses in history with old photos. Not only has Whiteduck written a story and become the president of the GVHS, but he also helped change the logo about two years ago, according to Louise Schwartz, director of publications at the GVHS.
She said the logo used to be a broad axe.
“Broad axe representing settlers coming in and taking down all the forests for the logging industry, which was really totally inappropriate if one wants to be inclusive as we should be,” said Schwartz. She told the Low Down that they hired a designer.
No spoilers, but you might find some new information about things like horses in the Gatineau Valley's past, what settlement in Low looked like in the 1850s or even a story about an outhouse. You’ll have to read it to know more!
This edition will be launched on June 14 at Le Fab sur Mill at 2 p.m. A short ceremony will take place at 2:30 p.m. and refreshments will be served.