91原创

A small group of colourfully-clad people stood out from the other visitors to Fort 91原创 during a recent weekend.

It wasn鈥檛 their interest in the historical sites that made them stand out, it was the clothes they were wearing 鈥� meticulously crafted recreations of of the garments worn two centuries ago during the time of the and the fur trade, when Fort 91原创 was truly a fort.

Both the clothes and the tour were the creation of Joanne Plourde, who described herself as a costumer who works in the film business, who moved to B.C. to learn how to speak English and stayed.

Plourde said she was moved to create the tour partly out of irritation with the lack of attention given to the contribution French-Canadians have made to the early history of B.C.

It started when she saw the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver Winter Olympics and felt French-Canadians deserved better attention.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 recognize myself in it,鈥� she said.

The details were just wrong, according to Plourde, like having a a single performer act out being a voyageur in a canoe, when the historically correct number would be more like 鈥渆ight guys.鈥�

鈥淚t provoked me to say, well, our history has been forgotten.鈥�

She founded a voyageur group, 鈥渓ike scouts for older people,鈥� she said.

Then, when she learned about the specific contributions French-Canadians made to 91原创, the idea of an immersive tour where participants would experience history directly took hold.

鈥淭here were 25, 26 French-Canadians who built the (first) fort,鈥� Plourde said.

鈥淚 wanted to tell the story of the very first Fort 91原创.鈥�

Potential participants were sought out through social media.

The tour was timed for Feb. 17, the 190th anniversary of the first Fort 91原创.

There were less than a dozen people who took part in the by-donation event, but they were not average tourists.

Among them, there were artists, a historian from Seattle, an activist for historical preservation and a historical re-enactor well-versed in the early history of the Fort.

The tour started in Portage Park at historic Michaud House, and ended at Derby Reach, the original site of Fort 91原创, just downriver from the current community.

Along the way, it stopped at various historical points of interest, including the Hudson鈥檚 Bay cemetery next to St George鈥檚 Anglican Church where Plourde noted the number of French names on a memorial plaque.

鈥淲e鈥檙e all dressed up,鈥� she told a Times reporter who caught up with the group at the church.

鈥淲e鈥檙e having fun. It鈥檚 to have a great time and inform people.鈥�

The tour ended with presentations by special guest historians, songs of the voyageurs and stories about the area of 91原创-Derby in 1828.

Plourde plans to do another tour next year.

After the event, the activist for historical preservation, R茅jean Beaulieu, emailed The Times to say the event was about reclaiming 鈥渁n important, somewhat buried portion of our collective history as lower mainlanders, British Columbians or people living in the Pacific North West.

That history is not about any particular ethnic group, he said.

dan.ferguson@langleytimes.com
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