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Montreal, Quebec.  The talk given by archeologist Robert Grenier at the Quebec Basque club on October 25, aroused great interest among the attendees, who paid great attention to the explanations by the Canadian researcher.

The evening’s theme was the tracks left by Basque whalers on the North American coast, which is a timely topic at the Quebec Basque club as they will participate in June in the Indianoak 2013 expedition. The expedition is being sponsored by the Basque association Ibaialdi in Lapurdi and will consist of a group of Basque rowers e tracing the St. Lawrence River emulating the old whalers. 

The club began the evening by showing the documentary Apaizac Obeto that was done in 2006, and which recounts the experience of a group of Basque rowers who sailed that year for the coast of Labrador, following the route of the 16th century whalers.  The expedition used replicas of the txalupas of the time and covered 2,000 kilometers in 41 days.  The spectacular images of the film excited Basque club members.

Archeological remains

After the documentary, Robert Gernier gave a talk on the mark of the Baque whalers on the coasts of Canada.  Grenier is a renowned expert in underwater archeology who discovered the remains of a 4000 year old Basque txalupa in 1978, in the Red Bay.  During his talk, Grenier gave abundant data on the history of the Basque fishermen in the area and their experiences that was followed very attentively by those in the audience according to club president Adelaide Daraspe.

[Ernest Behaxategui, Euskaldunak’s vice president (in black), greeting Robert Grenier (photo QuebecEE)]

The event was also attended by a representative of the Town Hall of Montreal.  After the talk, club members and guests enjoyed a dinner of typical Basque products.

-for more information on the Indianoak 2013 project, go to: www.indianoak.fr