{"id":2313,"date":"2023-10-21T11:52:19","date_gmt":"2023-10-21T15:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/honfleurburlington.org\/?p=2313"},"modified":"2025-05-21T12:06:18","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T16:06:18","slug":"samuel-de-champlain-a-humanist-ahead-of-his-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/honfleurburlington.org\/fr\/samuel-de-champlain-a-humanist-ahead-of-his-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Samuel de Champlain\u2014A Humanist Ahead of His Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Samuel de Champlain, un humaniste avant l\u2019heure<\/p>\n

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Samuel de Champlain: A Humanist Ahead of His Time<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Pierre Jan<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Orillia (Ontario) 2019, Trent University (Ontario) 2022<\/em><\/p>

\u00c0 l\u2019heure des regards nouveaux sur l\u2019histoire du monde, la commune ontarienne, tout comme l\u2019universit\u00e9 Trent, souhaite retirer le monument Champlain \u2026 au nom de la participation de Samuel de Champlain a l\u2019entreprise de colonisation des peuples autochtones de l\u2019Am\u00e9rique du Nord. II n\u2019en sera rien \u2026 et pour cause ses d\u00e9tracteurs ne se souviennent pas !<\/p>

Champlain est un homme moderne, aux antipodes des colons britanniques ou des conquistadors espagnols. II ne veut ni exclure ni asservir, ni parquer ni tenir \u00e0 distance, ii veut, au contraire, inclure, faire vivre ensemble et en paix Europ\u00e9ens et Nord-Am\u00e9ricains. Jeff Monague, chef de la premi\u00e8re Nation Beausoleil (Ontario), se souvient :<\/p>

\u00ab Champlain fut un homme de paix et les Anishnaabeg commer\u00e7aient avec lui. Champlain a repris leur protocole, il a reconnu leur terre et a demand\u00e9 la permission de la traverser. \u00bb<\/p>

II ajoute : \u00ab La statue de Champlain avec, \u00e0 ses pieds, les peuples autochtones plac\u00e9s tels des subalternes \u00bb est une vision colonialiste du d\u00e9but du 20e<\/sup> si\u00e8cle, qui aurait scandalise Champlain lui-m\u00eame. Plus que ces voyages, c\u2019est la philosophie de cet entrepreneur dont nous devrions tous nous souvenir. Ce brillant navigateur qui fit 27 voyages \u00e0 travers l\u2019Atlantique, sans perdre un navire, fut un grand explorateur qui parcourut six provinces canadiennes actuelles et cinq \u00e9tats des USA ; un grand g\u00e9ographe cartographe et m\u00eame un botaniste.<\/p>

\u00ab\u00a0Cet homme avait un r\u00eave : rendre le monde meilleur. Lui qui, dans son enfance, dans sa jeunesse, avait grandi dans un pays d\u00e9chir\u00e9 par les guerres de religion est devenu religieusement tol\u00e9rant a une \u00e9poque de sectarisme meurtrier. II r\u00eava d\u2019humanit\u00e9 et de paix dans un monde de cruaut\u00e9 et de violence. Cet homme affable, aimant la bonne ch\u00e8re, la boisson, la bonne compagnie et les conversations joyeuses se r\u00e9jouissait sinc\u00e8rement et honn\u00eatement de la compagnie des autres, autochtones ou fran\u00e7ais, et ceux-ci se r\u00e9jouissaient d\u2019\u00eatre en sa compagnie.<\/p>

\u00ab Nos fils \u00e9pouseront vos filles \u00bb, d\u00e9clara-t-il aux \u00ab Natifs \u00bb tels qu\u2019on les nomme aujourd\u2019hui. \u00ab Nous formerons ensemble une m\u00eame Nation. \u00bb Champlain est le seul, \u00e0 cette \u00e9poque, \u00e0 vouloir cr\u00e9er v\u00e9ritablement un nouveau monde en Am\u00e9rique, un monde de mixit\u00e9 des ethnies, de m\u00e9lange des cultures, un monde d\u2019espoir et d\u2019id\u00e9es.<\/p>

\u00c0 Honfleur, sa red\u00e9couverte remonte au 19e<\/sup> si\u00e8cle sous l\u2019impulsion de Charles Br\u00e9ard, historien de Honfleur. Depuis cette date, la cit\u00e9 a toujours rendu hommage au fondateur de la ville de Qu\u00e9bec, au d\u00e9couvreur du Lac Champlain, au g\u00e9n\u00e9ral de la flotte, au directeur de la compagnie des 100 Associ\u00e9s, au legislateur et au juge supr\u00eame en ces installations en Nouvelle France\u00a0; pose de plaque le long de la Lieutenance (1899 et 2008), d\u00e9nomination d\u2019une route (1964), pose d\u2019un buste (1983), et d\u00e9nomination d\u2019un parc (2012) sont tout autant de traces de l\u2019estime que porte Honfleur \u00e0 celui qui quitta 8 fois notre port vers la Nouvelle France et aux marins Honfleurais qui l\u2019accompagn\u00e8rent dans ces longs et dangereux p\u00e9riples. Dans le m\u00eame esprit, les habitants de Honfleur et de Burlington (Vermont \u2013 USA) se sont associ\u00e9s dans un partenariat bas\u00e9 sur le respect et la connaissance.<\/p>

A juste titre, David Hackett Fischer, professeur \u00e0 l\u2019Universit\u00e9 Brandeis (Massachussetts), \u00e9crit : \u00ab La Nouvelle France n\u2019a pas \u00e9t\u00e9 un \u00e9chec bien au contraire, c\u2019est une formidable r\u00e9ussite, une le\u00e7on de vie unique dont on n\u2019a pas d\u2019autre exemple dans toute l\u2019histoire de l\u2019Am\u00e9rique. \u00bb<\/p>

Souvenons-nous de cette philosophie de la compr\u00e9hension, du respect et du partage que nous inspire encore au 21e<\/sup> si\u00e8cle Samuel de Champlain. C\u2019est encore cet humaniste que Honfleurais, Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois, Natifs (Hurons, Montagnais ou Algonquins), Ontariens ou Vermontais c\u00e9l\u00e8brent lors de leur visite et tous, en ce monde troubl\u00e9 et agit\u00e9, n\u2019ont-ils pas le m\u00eame r\u00eave que Champlain ?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Orillia (Ontario) 2019, and <\/em>Trent University (Ontario) 2022<\/em><\/p>

At a time of new views on world history, the Ontario municipality, as well as Trent University, wish to remove the Champlain monument\u2014in the name of Samuel de Champlain\u2019s participation in the colonization of the Indigenous peoples of North America. It will not be removed, and for good reasons that its detractors do not remember!<\/p>

Champlain was a modern man, the very opposite of the British colonizers and the Spanish conquistadors. His wish was neither to exclude [the Indigenous] nor to enslave them. He had no wish to confine them, or even to keep them at a distance. On the contrary, he wanted to include them, so that Europeans and North Americans would live together in peace.<\/p>

\u201cChamplain was a man of peace,\u201d Jeff Monague, chief of the Beausoleil First Nation (in Ontario), observes, \u201cand the Anishinaabeg traded with him. Champlain adopted their procedures. He recognized their land and asked for permission to cross it.\u201d<\/p>

Moreover, he adds, \u201cthe statue of Champlain, in which Aboriginal peoples are placed as subordinates at his feet,\u201d is a colonialist vision dating to the early 20th century. It would have scandalized Champlain himself. Even more than the entrepreneur\u2019s voyages, it is his philosophy that we should all remember. This brilliant navigator who made 27 voyages across the Atlantic, without losing a single ship, was a great explorer who traveled through six present-day Canadian provinces and five U.S. states; a great geographer, a cartographer, and even a botanist.<\/p>

\u201cThis man had a dream: to make the world better. As a child, he grew up in a country torn by religious warsl. In an era of murderous sectarianism, he became religiously tolerant. In a world of cruelty and violence, he dreamed of humanity and peace. This affable man, who loved good food, drink, good company, and cheerful conversation, sincerely and honestly enjoyed the company of others, native or French, and they enjoyed being in his company.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOur sons will marry your daughters,\u201d he declared to the \u201cNatives,\u201d as they are called today. \u201cWe will form one nation together.\u201d Champlain was alone, at that time, in wanting to create a truly new world in America, a world of mixed ethnicities, of blended cultures, a world of hope and ideas.<\/p>

In Honfleur, his rediscovery dates back to the 19th-century historian of the city Charles Br\u00e9ard. Since then, the city has always paid tribute to the founder of Quebec City, the discoverer of Lake Champlain, the general of the fleet, the director of the Company of 100 Associates, the legislator and the supreme judge in these installations in New France. It placed plaques on the Lieutenancy (in 1899 and 2008), named a road after him (1964), erected his bust (1983), and gave his name to a park (2012). All are traces of the esteem that Honfleur bears for the man who departed from our port eight times for New France and for the Honfleur sailors who accompanied him on those long and dangerous voyages. In the same spirit, residents of Honfleur and Burlington (Vermont) have joined together in a partnership based on respect and knowledge.<\/p>

Quite rightly, David Hackett Fischer, professor at Brandeis University, has written: \u201cNew France was not a failure. On the contrary, it was a tremendous success, a unique lesson in life, of which there is no other example in all of American history.\u201d<\/p>

Let us remember this philosophy of understanding, respect, and sharing that Samuel de Champlain still inspires us in the 21st century. He is the humanist that Honfleurais, Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois, Natives (Hurons, Montagnais, and Algonquins), Ontarians, and Vermonters still celebrate during their visits, and in this troubled and agitated world, do they not have the same dream as Champlain?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Bulletin d\u2019informations municipales de Honfleur,<\/em> no. 45, spring 2023<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Samuel de Champlain, un humaniste avant l\u2019heure Samuel de Champlain: A Humanist Ahead of His Time Pierre Jan Orillia (Ontario) 2019, Trent University (Ontario) 2022 \u00c0 l\u2019heure des regards nouveaux sur l\u2019histoire du monde, la commune ontarienne, tout comme l\u2019universit\u00e9 Trent, souhaite retirer le monument Champlain \u2026 au nom de la participation de Samuel de […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2314,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/honfleurburlington.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Champlain.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/honfleurburlington.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/honfleurburlington.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/honfleurburlington.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honfleurburlington.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honfleurburlington.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2313"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/honfleurburlington.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2318,"href":"https:\/\/honfleurburlington.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2313\/revisions\/2318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honfleurburlington.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/honfleurburlington.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honfleurburlington.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honfleurburlington.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}