The Current Quebec Separatist Debate and Its Influence on the First Nations of Quebec ...

• Main Author: Etzel, Emily
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Carnegie Mellon University 2015
• Subjects: History; Canada; First Nations
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1184/r1/6686411; https://kilthub.cmu.edu/articles/The_Current_Quebec_Separatist_Debate_and_Its_Influence_on_the_First_Nations_of_Quebec/6686411

Quebec has a long history of political struggles for autonomy, stemming back to Britain’s conquest of New France in 1759. Since then, tensions have increased between Anglophone and Francophone Canada. These tensions are manifested in the current separatist movements, which first gained substantial ground in the 1960’s. The Parti Québécois, an influential political party in Quebec calling for sovereignty, has been the main driver for independence. The separatists want an independent Quebec, and often base their nationalism on a French-Québécois identity, including French as the primary language and a shared identity going back to the French settlers. However, as they define their own unique culture, and pit Quebec against the rest of Canada, separatists marginalize or ignore minority groups and the First Nations of the province. Despite this fact, the First Nations are crucial actors in the separatist debates, and their position sheds light on a seldom-seen dimension of Quebec separatism. The First Nations ...