French Canadians Migrate South to Minneapolis

This past Christmas Eve we stopped by the "Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church" in Minneapolis to listen to Christmas carols. The choir sang in French, Latin and English depending on the carol. Carols sung in French were Bring a Torch, Noël Novelet, Il est né, and Minuit Chrétians.

This is the oldest church building in Minneapolis (originally built as a meeting hall  1857). It stands near the birthplace of Minneapolis very close to the Mississippi River and St. Anthony Falls. Voyageurs and explorers such as Nicollet found native encampments nearby. The building was originally built as a meeting place, but in 1877 a group of French Canadian immigrants bought the building. The parish taught in French until about 1917.

Perhaps you don't know that the French were the first to explore and set up trade with the local native Indians in Minnesota. Streets and sites are named for them (especially Nicollet and Marquette). Pierre Bottineau, son of a French Canadian and a local Indian woman, was one of our most important men in early Minnesota history. He was multi-lingual and helped translate to keep the peace between natives and Europeans. The Bottineau family has a website http://users.ap.net/~chenae/bottineau8.html if you are interested in reading about one of our most important Minnesotans.

I've been using my U.S. bank holiday today to do some web surfing. I just completed a 50 question Christmas vocabulary quiz on
http://french.about.com/library/vocab/blxmasvocabt.htm
and scored 90% correct. I am very proud. I did read a bit about Christmas on the site so it's nice to know some of the vocabulary stuck with me.