News Feature: Maison
Champlain in Brouage
Voice off:
Radio Canada reporter.
Nathalie Fiquet: Curator
of the Brouage site.
In italics: visual references.
Voice
off: [Shot of the
main sights in the town
of Brouage]
Once a port of trade and
war, present-day Brouage
is a peaceful little village.
This seventeenth century
fortified community, famous
for its ramparts and lookout
towers, was for many years
the salt capital of Europe
in the days when salt was
white gold.
Nathalie
Fiquet: [Shot of
Nathalie Fiquet, Curator
of the Brouage site, in
front of the archaeological
site]
It is said that at that
time, this place was like
Babel, where every language
was spoken. Picture a small
town to which people—traders
and merchants—flocked
from the time it was founded
in 1555, and which very
quickly grew to a large
city of 4,000—rather
hard to believe today.
Voice
off: [Shots of
the military and ancient
flavour of the town of Brouage]
A star of stone in the heart
of the Charente-Maritime
marshes, this sleepy little
community displays its history
through its military buildings,
its fortifications and a
man, Samuel de Champlain,
Father of New France and
a native of Brouage. [Champlain’s
presence in the urban landscape
of Brouage] Reminders of
the country’s most
famous son are everywhere.
NF:
We know that he did actually
live here and that he received
part of his training here,
during which time he must
also have developed his
spirit of adventure and
discovery.
Voice
off: [Shot of archaeologists
at work]
Over the last few weeks,
a team of archaeologists
from France and Canada have
been sifting through the
earth at Brouage, going
back in time and gaining
a better understanding of
the great explorer. On the
site of the soon-to-be-built
Maison Champlain, a museum
chronicling the navigator’s
adventures, they are attempting
to piece together fragments
of history.
Archaeologist:
What we find interesting
is that there are dwellings,
inside of which are various
floors that were remade,
and between these remade
floors are garbage and waste
areas that provide direct
evidence of what the inhabitants
were using at that time.
Student
1: [Student displays
the pipe from the dig]
I found this last week.
It’s three pieces
of the same artifact: they
were separated from each
other, but almost the entire
pipe was found and as you
can see, it’s quite
ornamented.
Voice
off: [Archaeologists
and students are busy scraping
at the archaeological layers
and gathering information]
Among these researchers
sifting through the earth
at Brouage are five Canadian
students, four of whom are
from the University of New
Brunswick in Fredericton.
For the past month, these
young people from the anthropology
department have been getting
an introduction to modern
archaeological techniques
and are marvelling at what
they are discovering about
seventeenth century life.
Student
1: [Shot of other
artifacts]
We’ve found a lot
of treasures—treasures
left by the occupants. For
example, there’s a
bone that still bears the
knife marks made by the
man. And this cow vertebra,
which speaks volumes about
their meals.
Voice
off: [Students,
true archaeological apprentices]
Marilyne and her classmates
are here under the exchange
program tied in with the
2004 celebrations that will
commemorate the 400th anniversary
of the arrival of Samuel
de Champlain and his companions
on St. Croix Island.
Student
2: This is really
special, because St. Croix
Island is very close, an
hour and a half from my
home in Fredericton. That
was the first proof, the
first settlement in New
France.
Student
3: It has given
me a lot of experience:
the chance to see another
culture, France’s
culture.
Voice
off: [Ties between
Canada and France: shot
of a road sign in Brouage
that reads “ Square
du Nouveau-Brunswick.”]
These are the first archaeological
digs ever in Brouage. The
French government hopes
to repeat the experience
over the next few years
and will very likely involve
other Canadian students,
because, at least in part,
it is also their history.
Bertin Leblanc, Radio Canada,
Brouage.
