Houses

            In our small village, there are a couple of houses. There are 70 houses in Tête-à-la-Baleine. Most of them are built with a basement. There are many white houses, green houses, a couple blue and a couple orange and red. All the houses are heated up by wood stoves.Because of the temperature, the houses need to be well insulated. The houses on the island are well built, because even during storms, they do not fall. Also because, long time ago, during summer, they had to move the houses in the water between the village and the island. On average, there are two people in each house. A lot of houses are or are nearly centenary. A little more than 175 years ago, our ancestor began to built some houses everywhere. After they came here and they made the village. After, their houses started to improve. The oldest house doesn’t have the electricity upstairs. The rooms are very small and the wood stove are in the middle.

Food and recipes

The particularity of the Lower North Shore is that we don’t have bakeries, pastry shops or big restaurants. So, the population had no choice, but to learn to make all that stuff. The people need to know how to cook if they want good food. Each season, we have some principal recipes.

During summer, we eat a lot of seafood. Each person tries to have some lobster, crab, scallops and mussels. With these aliments, we can make seafood pizza, spaghetti, lasagna and the coquille Saint-Jacques. Also, one of our main summer meals is salt beef boiled with vegetables. We eat some fish too, like cod and salmon, and we have some recipes with fish.

In the winter, we eat more wild meat, like moose, partridges, rabbit and even small prey. We can make some pizza with steak or mince meat. We make a lot of meal in the oven with small and big prey. Sometimes, we eat seafood that we kept frozen or vacuum sealed.

But during the fall and spring, we don’t really have main meal, because the seasons are not very long. We eat mostly the meal closest to the next season.

Hélène

In Tête-à-la-Baleine, we have many dessert recipes. We make our desserts with many little berries that we found around the place. We can find these berries in the islands or in the plains. We use red berries, black berries, blueberries, pembina, chicoutai (bakeaples) and raspberries. The desserts we made are pies (with blueberries, blackberries, redberries and all the berries I named). We make cakes too, like chocolate cakes, angel cakes, black forest cakes, Strawberry and chocolate cakes, etc. And, of course, we have other desserts like chicoutai squares, blackberry squares and redberries pudding. We make sugar pies too, and a many of other desserts. And, of course, we have fudge and old fashion pancakes.  And now, let me introduce you to some recipes.

Philippe

Chocolate cake:

-1 chocolate cake preparation.

-3 eggs

- 540 ml Vashon strawberry pie filling

-Mix all
-Cook at slow fire to 250 degrees

Garnish :

-1 cup of sugar
-1/2 cup of 35% cream
-5 table spoon of butter
Boil all in 3 minutes

Get out of the fire and add on 1 Hershey chocolate chip spoon.

 Old fashion pancake:

-2 cup of flour

- 2 magic backing powder spoon

-3 sugar table spoon
-2 eggs
-Water until smooth.

Gilles Vigneault

A very well known artist in Québec was born on the North Shore on october 27, 1928. Gilles Vigneault is a very talented and unique artist from Natashquan. He is a signer, song-writer and poet. He received many prices and honnors during his long carrier, including the Canadian Songwriter Hall of Fame in 2006. He is 85 years old and still performing today. A lot of his songs and poem are about the tradition of his hometown village and the North Shore. For example, one of his song is called Joe Hébert. Jos Hébert was a mail carrier and was one of the most popular and best known men of the Shore. He lived here, in Tête-à-la-Baleine. It is Vigneault's way to present that part of the country to the other Canadians. Maybe some of you had the chance to see Gilles Vigneault perform.

Madison

 

Four wheels

                In my small village, a lot of people use four wheels as a way of transportation. Some do not have a car, they just have a four wheels. The people do not use it just for transportation. The use it to go where the truck can’t go, like in some little trails. Personally, I have one and I like to go for a ride on my four wheel because it’s fun and you feel free with the wind in your hair. Some time I race with my friends. I always win because my four wheel is more powerful. I like riding on four wheels because it goes faster than truck. Why I don’t like four wheels; It’s because when it’s raining, you are all wet, and you see unclear. And when you meet someone on the road, all the dust come in your face and in your hair. This is the two negative sides of four wheels. This type of transport is more economic than a vehicle and it is very adapted for my village. Some people use  four wheels to go hunting because it can go in the little trails and it’s better to transport hunting material.

Claudie

 

Mooses

Mooses are very large terrestrial mammals. They eat plants and wood. Men hunt this magnificent animal for its very tender meat. Men are not the main predators of moose. The main predator are wolves. Even if a lonely wolf attacks a moose, it will die. It will take weeks, but eventualy the wolf will eat its legs, the moose will fall and the wolf will kill it to eat. I can understand wolves to eat this very good animal. But if they keep attacking and killing mooses, they will become rare. On the roads of Newfoundland, there are several mooses to see. On this enormous island, mooses are abundant. We have a good moose population around Tête-à-la-Baleine, but not in the village.

Audrey

Hunting

Hunting is a sport that you practice with arches, rifles, crossbows or shutguns. My favorite hunting is moose hunting. I like hunting for mooses because my family comes with me on the Mecatina River. We ride in a boat and it is very cool. On the Mecatina River, the landscape is very nice with all fall colors. We spot the moose and we wait for the moose to come. This is very long. Also, we hunt the rabbit with snares, for eating. I love eating the rabbit. Also, we hunt partridges to do soups, it is very good.

 

I really enjoy my moose hunting trip with my parents.

 

Charles

 

Providence

The Providence is an island. It is big. On the island, we have a cabin. In the summer, we go to Providence. When we are on the island, we can go fishing, we can go kayaking, we can pick berries, we can search for little crabs in the seaweeds, we can make fires and eat marshmallows, saussages and hot-dogs, we can swim, we can do a picnic, we can sleep in a tent, we can go for a ride in a boat and go to the lobster pot with my father. We can also go picking clams and mussels.

Joanie

Berries

One of my favorite activities when I go at my summer cabin is  to go on the island for berry picking. You can pick any kind of berries. For example, you can pick bake apples, red berries, blueberries, blackberries (camarine noire) and sometimes you can pick raspberries. You find berries on the island or in the mech.  If you go berry picking on islands you go on outboard ; if you go in the mech you go on four wheeler or you walk. I love bake apples, blueberries and raspberries. You can pick as you want. You can eat the berries and this is delicious. With any berries, you can make a pie, a desert, you can just eat them fresh or with milk and sugar. It’s very interesting to go on island because you can find alot of things when you pick berries.

C.M.

Seafood on the Lower North Shore

              Going to another country or to another city to eat and learn more about different food is always interesting, but what’s even better is when you get to eat it in your own town. Not having to travel a long way to get good sea food is absolutely wonderful. It’s the case on the Lower North Shore. The residents of the Lower North Shore are lucky to get such good food for such a low price. You can get lobster, crab, fish, shrimps, clams and anything else you want. There is so much of that stuff that people are making a job of it. There is a lot of fisher men on the Lower North Shore.

                People in the city have to go to the grocery to get seafood and it is not always fresh. We are lucky enough to have it here and the taste is always so fresh and so good. I think that people who haven’t been on the Lower North Shore yet should come and definitely try all the good food we have. This is certainly something I am going to miss when I leave to go to college. Lobster will always stay my favorite, what about you?

M-P. M.

Snowmobiles

In the Lower North Shore, we can’t use cars or trucks when there is too much of snow. So, we use snowmobiles all winter as much on the Main road than on the White road. Everyone who lives in the Lower North Shore hase a snowmobile. We use this snowmobile to make a variety of activities. We go ice fishing, or we go for an outdoor dinner. And with a snowmobile, we go in other villages. We use this vehicle to go to the hockey tournaments. So, the snowmobile is not just a vehicle, it’s a tradition that is in our culture.

Philippe Monger

Fishing Boats

To be a Fisherman is a seasonal work and it’s very hard. Each year, the fishermen go to Natashquan for a month and come back to fish the amount of crab they need to catch. Sometimes, they come back because they haven’t reached their quotas and continue in other areas. Most of the time, they have finished. All summer, in the night they go for work. Each boat has between two and five fishermen. In my village, there are six boats and six Captains. The men fish for cod, halibut and sometime they fish goldfish. My uncle has a fishing factory, so he can buy fish. At the dock, there is an industry for crab.

When the men work, it all depends on the temperature. If the temperature is good, they can go but otherwise, no. they must respect some area and when they have finished one, they change area.

H.M.

Mecatina River

In summer, we can go to the Mecatina River for just one day or we can go for camping. The water is hot, the landscape is very beautiful and relaxing. You can see a beautiful river when you go with your boat. With your family, you can swim, do many games like “the letter’s game”. You arrive when the sun rises and you go back home when the sun sets.

For diner and supper, we make a BBQ : you make a cheese burger or a steak. It’s very good.

I go to the Mecatina River with my family each summer. There are a wasps, but you make a little fire and you can relax. There is a beach and you don’t need your shoes to walk.

I have never seen a bear there but they can go there. It’s one of my favorite places.

H. M.

Outboards

Hi, today I speak to you about the outboards. An outboard is a little boat, with a motor. We go in outboards in summer, fall, springs but we can’t in the winter because there is too much ice. In outboards we go fishing and we go to the summer house. There are many types of outboards, including wood outboards and fibre outboards. In the outboards we can transport 6 people. This boat is not made to go far, just next to the sea. Some people make their own outboards. The outboards are very useful to go fishing. 

Philippe

Winter Cabin

I love to go to my winter cabin because there is a beautiful landscape. At my cabin, we can go fishing, sliding, hunting, etc. To get there, it takes 1 hour by ski-doo. Sometime it’s possible to see a rabbit, a wolf, a porcupine, a partridge etc. I love my cabin because you can relax all day, you can go for a ski-doo ride or snowshoeing. When the sun sets, you can build a fire, make the supper outdoor and build a picnic. I go to my winter cabin with my family. You can sleep in the winter cabin because it is isolated and it is made in wood. When it’s fall, we go to the cabin by helicopter to hunt moose. The helicopter lands on the beach. Sometimes, when you are in the helicopter you can see a moose in the forest.

C.M.M.

Bella Desgagnés

              Recently, all the people who live on the Lower North Shore got the chance to visit the new boat, the Bella Desgagnés. The Bella will be replacing the Nordik Express. After the visit of the new ship, everybody was very pleased with what they saw. So many things changed for the best. The rooms are now a lot bigger and there is also a bathroom in every room with a shower in it. The chairs, the restaurant, the play ground, the kitchen and everything else is so much better than in the Nordik. Also, the boat is much bigger! The Bella is 97 meters long and there is 8 floors. The people who travel on the ship will find it so much more comfortable than what it used to be on the Nordik Express.

 Also, the prices aren’t much different than they used to be, it is only a couple dollars more expensive which is very good. There is even an elevator on the ship and some special areas for people who smoke. What is very nice too, is that people in wheel chairs don’t have to worry because they can get in the boat easily because of a new system and there is some rooms especially made for them. In summary, people from the coast are very happy with the new boat and a lot of good comments were said. Coasters can’t wait to travel on the new ship, the Bella Desgagnés!

The White Trail

Hi, I live on the Lower North Shore, I am a student of Gabriel Dionne school in Tête-à-la-Baleine. I figured I would write an article about where I live so you can understand better what it is to be a Coaster. I thought it would be interesting to write about the White Trail. On the Lower North Shore, there is about 10 different villages that aren’t connected together by a road. Therefore, the White Trail is the only way besides boat and plane that we can get to the other villages during winter.

Usually, the White Trail is open from the beginning of February to the end of March. They open it as soon as there is 10 inches of ice or more. In the winter time, there is either a hockey tournament, carnival or a meeting in a different village every weekend, so people from every village go by snowmobile on Friday and come back on Sunday. If you would leave from the start of the trail which is in Natashaquan to the end of the trail in Old Fort, it would take approximately 11-12 hours by snowmobile.

In summary, we are very lucky to have something such as the White Trail on the Lower North Shore because it gives us the opportunity to see friends and family to have a good time.  
                                                                                                                                    (M.M.)

                                                   



Kayak

I will talk to you about kayaking. I like to go for a ride in my Kayak around the islands. On a Kayak you can see different things in the water, for example you can see fish, dolphins, star fish and sometimes you can see whales. I love kayaking because it’s relaxing and you can go anywhere. It’s a good exercise too. When I’m at my summer cabin, I always go for a ride with my friends because they have a kayak too. Sometimes I go for a ride with my cousin and we go for a round trip to visit an island. I always put my floater on for security. That’s important because if I fall I can drown. I love to go on my kayak when there is no wind and there is a big sun in the sky. I think my summer cabin is the best place for kayaking, because the landscape is beautiful.

(C. M. M.)

Hockey Tournaments

Every year, hockey tournaments are organized in each village of the lower North Shore. Teams are formed by village and everybody will compete for the first time. We are traveling on snowmobiles to go to each tournament. The hockey tournaments start on Friday afternoon. In the night time, there is a dance with a singer. The kids can come for dancing only Friday in the evening and Saturday, you must be sixteen years old. Some villages organize a community dinner and there is always open kitchen for fast-food.

The tournament lasts one week-end. We arrive on Friday and we go back on Sunday.

From January to March, everybody travels for an unforgettable week-end.

The hockey, the dance and food are fun, but the best thing is to meet people from the Lower North Shore area.

Locations and dates of 2013 tournaments :

24-25 January: Chevery

8-10 February: Saint-Augustin

15-17 February: Tabatière

22-24 February: Harrington Harbour

1-3 March: Tête-à-la-Baleine

(H. M.)

Providence

Hi, my name is Philippe, today I will talk to you about an interesting subject :the Providence. The providence is an island. On this island, the people of Tête-à-la-Baleine have summer houses and we go to those summer houses in the summer, in the fall and in the spring. Why not in the winter? Because is too cold. In Providence, we make a number of activities, like fishing, kayaking, swimming in a lake. Or just relax. And in the summer there are tourists who visit the old church made in 19th century’s. This beautiful island is aproximatimatively 15 minutes of Tête-à-la-Baleine in a little boat.

(P. M.)