The Basques community is known for its activism around social and environmental issues. Mikael Rioux and Sébastien Rioux, two Trois-Pistoles natives, have been raising awareness there for a long time. In 2002, Mikael Rioux suspended himself over the Trois-Pistoles River to prevent the construction of a hydroelectric reservoir of over 100,000 square meters. From 2003 to 2014, Trois-Pistoles also hosted ÉchoFête, the first environmental festival in Quebec. Today, more activist projects are emerging, and members of the growing community continue to defend social and environmental causes.
Watch the whole series
Documentarians Julien Gagnon-Rouillard and Robert Majewski explore different facets of rural life by documenting alternative projects taking root in the Basques of the Bas-Saint-Laurent region.
This video serves as an introduction to the documentary project “The Basques : Rurality, Resistance, Resilience.” Several members of the community — including Soraïda Caron, Wina Forget, and Nicolas Falicimaigne — question the reasons for moving into a rural area.
In this interview with Maurice Vaney, back-to-the-lander, city councillor and important actor in the local cultural scene, we compare how things were in Trois-Pistoles back in 1974 with how they play out today.
In the past 60 years, the Quebec region of Les Basques has had a strong relationship with the arts.
The regional county municipality of the Basques is located in Mi’kma’ki and Wolastokuk territory, in the heart of the Wabanaki confederation.
Gabrielle Ayotte Garneau tells us the legend that has thrilled residents for decades, thus perpetuating the tale and underlining the important place occupied by the tradition storytelling in the region.
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