French consul visits Old Town, meets Penobscots

OLD TOWN – French Consul General Francois Gauthier received a taste of French Maine-style during a visit Friday.

Gauthier was treated to traditional Franco-American fare and was given presents honoring French immigrants who settled the region centuries ago and the native cultures they met then and who still live here today.

“There is a great deal of French pride [in Maine], and we have very much to be looking forward [to],” he said. “I think there is a new perception of the importance of getting to know our cultures.”

Gauthier lives in Boston and is the French consul for five New England states, including Maine. His Friday visit to the Bangor, Old Town, Orono and Veazie area offered him a chance to learn about the area’s history and to begin conversations about the 400th anniversary of Quebec to be celebrated in 2008.

After a tour of the Old Town Museum and a short video presentation about the history of French Island, Gauthier and his wife, Francoise, were given the book “Nos Histoires de l’Ille” or “Our Stories of the Island” and a traditional Acadian cookbook.

Local historians Amy Morin and Harold Lacadie answered questions about the video. To the question why the presence of French-speaking people in Old Town has faded over the decades, the historians said local employers looked down on employees who didn’t speak English and Ku Klux Klan members harassed anyone different.

“They burned a cross every night in Milford,” Lacadie said. “The parents were terrified. The KKK had to have somebody to be against.

“One of the ways to assimilate was to learn English,” he said.

After leaving Old Town, the Gauthier group traveled to the Franco-American Centre at the University of Maine, where he and his wife were treated to Franco-American style chicken stew and ployes, a buckwheat pancake. There Chief James Sappier of the Penobscot Indian Nation, state Rep. Mike Sockalexis and others from Indian Island greeted them.

Sappier presented Gauthier with a brightly colored walking stick carved by island elder Frank Lorning that had an America Indian face whittled into the top and included a compass, pipe, turtle and other items designed into the length of the stick.

Gauthier’s wife was given a necklace that represented a corncob and husk. Made by Kim Bryant, a craftswoman who lives on Indian Island, each kernel of corn was a blue bead that shimmered with a hint of silver while the husk and corncob were made of soft white leather.

“We have been here forever, then the French came,” Sappier said, after presenting the hand-made items to Gauthier and his wife. “We always got together very well … even going to war against England. We’ve always maintained a relationship with France.”

The visiting couple was given a green beaded dream-catcher made by Pam Cunningham of Hampden, who is a Penobscot.

After eating, the couple listened to a presentation about Hermon.net, an inexpensive computer networking system that provides Internet access to more than 2,000 Hermon and Glenburn residents. They were given the opportunity to use the three computers that were set up to demonstrate the ease of the system.

Gauthier said the regional visit was just part of his job, but added that the more he learns about the area’s French history, the better relations between the two countries will be. Gov. John Baldacci echoed his remarks in a statement that was read at the Franco-American Centre.

“Links between Maine and France are vital to Maine’s role in the global community, not least because Maine is a place where France lives and breathes,” Baldacci states. “From Sanford and Biddeford to Lewiston and Auburn, to Greenville and Old Town, to the St. John Valley, Franco-American communities are a vital part of both our rich history and our future.”

Gauthier will be in Greenville over the weekend.