In Defence of Bédard's Landing
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The grounds of the Canadian Museum of Civilization straddle a portion of
Bédard's Landing which is shared with a parking lot of the Scott
Paper plant in Gatineau (Hull sector), directly across from Parliament Hill
(Brousseau 1984:36). The embayment lying between the point on which the
former ferry landing was located and the Alexandra Bridge (i.e. where the Museum
buildings are currently situated) is known to have yielded archaeological remains
in the mid to late XIXth century. Such a reference is found in Sowter's
writings: |
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| The East Block of Parliament in
Ottawa. |
"One may
observe, on
approaching Hull by
the Alexandra bridge, an extensive cut bank of sand and gravel, between
the E.
B. Eddy Co.'s sulphide Mill and the end of the bridge, and between
Laurier
Ave., and the river. This is the place from which the late Edward
Haycock
procured sand for building purposes on the Eastern and Western Blocks
of the
Departmental buildings, at Ottawa. During the excavation of this
bank, a
great many Indian relics were discovered, such as womens' (sic)
knives, arrow-heads, tomahawks and pottery, but no description
of this pottery is, obtainable. Here, according to white and red
tradition, many bloody encounters took place between parties ascending
or
descending the river." (1909:94)
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Additionally, there is a series of bone implements
in the collections of the McCord Museum in Montréal which are reported
to have been recovered from “Redard's (sic) Landing, Hull” and
to have been in the “Van Cortlandt” collection (these and other
items attributed to the Van Cortlandt collection were accessioned in October
of 1937 into the collections of the Ethnological Museum of McGill University,
some 62 years after his passing) (Ghislaine Lemay, personnal communication August
2004).
Clearly, this was an area of sustained use by Native people for many centuries,
and all indications are that it was one end of a portage leading over the Chaudière
Falls as well as a temporary camping place. It would thus not be entirely
surprising to learn that a burial place had also been located nearby.
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| At the site now occupied by the
Canadian Museum of Civlization, on the shores of the Ottawa River, directly
across from Parliament Hill, ancient artefacts were found during the mid-XIXth
century that bear witness to the long use of the area by First Nations. |
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