When Mike Lamothe first walked the grounds of L’Île-du-Grand-Calumet’s Sainte-Anne cemetery many years ago, he knew nothing of the names on the tombstones flanking him, names that to him were long lost to history. 

But as he and other volunteers from the Groupe l’Île-du-Grand-Calumet began to research those who were buried there, many without tombstones, they found more than just names. Several years of research yielded stories of mine workers, shopkeepers, and housewives – the stories of the forefathers and foremothers of many who still live on the island today. 

Since 2018, Groupe L’Île-du-Grand-Calumet has been working to revitalize this cemetery and piece together the stories of the ancestors buried there. They called this project Honorons Nos Racines (Honor Our Roots).

After hundreds of hours group members have spent poring over parish records and talking with community members since they first began trying to collect the lost names, they have identified a list of more than 1,500 people that have been buried at the cemetery, only a small number of whom currently have a monument. 

On Monday, Sept. 29, members announced via press conference the third and final phase of this project – the construction of panels in the cemetery’s recently built pavilion on which will be printed the 1,500 names of yesterday’s Islanders buried at that site.

A key part of this final phase will be crowdsourcing every last piece of biographical information that can be gathered from anybody who might know some of those names.

This could mean adding a name, a date of birth, or any piece of information that could help piece together someone’s story. 

“We want to spread the word around, and to say, ‘This is the list, we have these names, could you tell us [what you know about them],” said Lamothe, who has taken on much of the work of putting the list together.

“Right now, I feel it’s like a race, and we see the finish line, and it’s like the last sprint,” said Guylaine La Salle, president of Groupe L’Île-du-Grand-Calumet.

La Salle said there has already been lots of community support for the project via fundraisers and information given about those buried, but they are looking to reach even more people.

“People are calling us, so it’s pretty cool to see the word going around, but we would like the word to go more,” she said. 

Lamothe said the goal is to identify as many individuals as possible and be able to tell some of their stories via the panels and the group’s website, which will have even more information.

“The first thing that’s important is getting something physical that people can look at with the name and the date, and the second thing is having a QR code that will then refer them to our website with information that we’re given,” he said. 

The project’s estimated cost is around $25,000, over a third of which the group has already collected through various fundraisers, but volunteers are looking for help raising money to complete the project.

Part of this fundraising includes selling stainless steel plaques of different shapes that people can get engraved with a personalized message. 

“People will choose a plaque and choose what they want to write on it,” La Salle said, adding that the plaques will be suspended from wire cables from the pavilion’s roof. 

“My great-grandfather really loved the bush, and I love the bush, and I’m thinking maybe I’ll get one for him with a cross-cut saw,” offered Lamothe as an example. 

La Salle said the group is happy to be getting the next generation involved in the project as well. Sixteen-year-old Island resident Xavier Lagarde used a 3-D printer to make one of the eight different plaque shapes people can choose from, including a dove, a deer, a fish, an angel, a tree, a farm scene, a saw and a mining cart. 

La Salle said it’s more than just a volunteer project, it’s the group’s way of making sure their ancestors are not lost to time. “These are our roots,” she said.  

Lamothe said for him the project is a way to ensure that people have the information they need to learn about their ancestors – ancestors that live on in their descendents be it through a particular eye colour, facial shape, or that little dimple in the cheek. 

“There is a thread from the people buried here to those who live on [ . . . ] we have a part of them in us,” he said. 

Lamothe said while it’s very unlikely the group will ever have a comprehensive list of everyone buried at the cemetery, the call to action encourages people to take interest in knowing what – and who – came before. 

For now, Lamothe and the group will be preparing for the flow of information that is sure to come their way from the community. 

“There never will be a final list, because the information just keeps coming in,” he said. 

You can find the Groupe L’Île-du-Grand-Calumet on Facebook or on their website.