Taking a break from our sightseeing walk in Vieux Port, Montreal, last summer, we watched the fountain, music and the people as they flowed by. Then a remarkable group marched through the summer streets. They wore black tri-peaked hats, royal blue jackets down to the knees, and long white boots. Ancient-looking riffles were hoisted high on their shoulders.
They were reenactors, dressed up as soldiers from a few centuries ago. They must be sweating in the wool coats on this hot summer day! We were trying to cool down by trailing our feet in the fountain. Tourists rushed to snap their photos. Myself included. One reenactor grabbed my eyes. He was Black.
He is the first Black person that I have seen playing dress up as a reenactor.
The real colonial French troops arrived in New France, as Canada was then called, in the 1680s. They were either dedicated to protecting the young colony, or they were the sharp point of the European invasion of the Indigenous land. Sailing on a Half Moon
Reenactors bring history to life. It’s a fun way of learning about the past, the people, places and events that made our country. But whose stories are the reenactors telling? One Black. No Indigenous.
Some argue that the reenactors are simply recreating the past, the way that it was. A quick internet search of Canadian reenactors shows lots of white people. It leaves the overwhelming impression that there were no Black people in colonial Canada.
That’s a snow job.
Mathieu da Costa is the first Black person that is recorded in the modern history of Canada. He was here in 1604. Da Costa was a free man, and a translator and businessman in the fur trade. He travelled up the St. Lawrence River to Quebec to negotiate deals with Indigenous traders. The next Black person was Olivier Le Jeune. He was sold on the auction block in Montreal in 1629. And there was Marie-Joseph Angélique who was tried for burning down Montreal in 1734 in a bid to escape slavery.
The most popular reenactor events are battles. Pick one – the War of 1812, World War I or World War II. These war games are a cozy way for men to dress up and play soldiers for the day. They spend tons of money and time to get their costumes, weapons and other props right.
It seems to be much harder to reenact social relations of the past. That could mean talking about race – the Indigenous, Black and White relations and how these formed the country. And that might prompt other conversations on why some groups are not among the reenactors. Maybe they are not keen. Or maybe they are not wanted.
The reenactors dress up in clothes from the past, but their marching takes place in the present. So in watching them, it’s watching the past and present bleed into each other.
Most reenactors are middle-aged men. The real soldiers would have been decades younger. I guess today’s younger men might be busy doing their own reenactments indoors, on video war games.
I watched the Montreal troop march down the hill, heads high, eyes gleaming from the tons of people cheering them on. The scene was unexpected and a nice touch to a day of sightseeing. Heartbeats in Africa: A Memoir of Travel and Love
What would it be like to see the War of 1812 reenacted from another perspective? I am thinking of a group of Indigenous reenactors dressed up Shawnee chief Tecumseh and his soldiers. Or as Mohawk chief John Norton who held off the more numerous US troops. Or Richard Pierpoint and the other Black warriors of the Coloured Corp. who played crucial roles in the war.
The presence of these Black and Indigenous reenactors would challenge the conventional stories that we tell about the war. And the stories that the reenactors tell about our country.
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