Donald Teuma-Castelletti
CALUMET ISLAND
Sept. 30, 2018
One group on Grand Calumet Island are seeking to put their home’s history on the forefront of everyone’s minds, starting with one of Canada’s best-known fur traders.
Groupe L’Île du Grand Calumet unveiled their first project Sunday morning at Parc Cadieux, revealing a sign detailing the life of Jean Cadieux, a traditional song dedicated to him, and general facts about the island itself.
“It’s a story from the island and a lot of people came to see the monument, and if it looks like hell, it’s not nice,” said Philippe La Salle, of honouring the island’s history.
La Salle, his daughter Guylaine La Salle, and Mike Lamothe have been working as the Groupe L’Île du Grand Calumet because they want to make sure the island’s history is not forgotten. Philippe said his hopes are that their work will continue to attract tourists, but that he also wants the locals to enjoy it, and learn from it.

Philippe’s interest in Cadieux began as a grade 9 student, when he read about the man in one of his Canadian history textbooks. Now, he says, children aren’t taught as much about Cadieux’s legacy and so he hopes to see local schools utilize the sign’s information as a resource for students to visit and learn from.
However, it’s not just the story of Cadieux’s life that was interesting, but how his death has been honoured by visitors over the centuries.
“They used to have a wood cross, it was on Cadieux Road at the mountain and people, every five, 10 years, they used to change the cross because everybody [that went there] took a chunk out of it for a souvenir,” said Philippe. “So in 1905, in Bryson they were building the palais justice, and they asked the contractors if they could make a monument for Cadieux.”
When first built, this new monument had a Greek urn atop it, and after some time, it was decided to move it across the road from the original location. This was done so that it could be seen by passersby on the river.
“But they started to have a party and they started to break the monument, so they broke the Greek [symbol] and they threw that in the river,” continued Philippe.
In 1972, the monument was moved once again, to it’s current location at 92 chemin des Outaouais, and that’s when it became Parc Cadieux.
“We’re trying to put him back on the map and I think it’s working,” said Philippe.
The launch of the sign, plus other renovations to the park, like new picnic tables and a fence, was marked with an opening ceremony featuring the group members, descendants of Cadieux, historians, and local politicians.
One such historian was Carolyn Podruchay, a professor from York University, who has been researching Cadieux and the fur trade for many years now. She plans to write a book on the man, focusing more on how his story has survived in the time since his death.
“I want to write about how the story has survived in this location for hundreds of years, passed down through generations and neighbours,” she explained.
Podruchay has visited the island for her research four times now, and credits Philippe and Lamothe for their helpfulness while working here.
Also speaking at the unveiling was MRC Warden Jane Toller, as well as Roger Duchesne and his wife, Lorraine Cadieux. The couple took turns reading a poem in both languages that Duchesne wrote, honouring the trader’s legacy.
Up next for the group, they plan to continue investigating historical sites around the island, including one cemetery where many of the grave markers have been lost or destroyed.
“If we’ve got nothing to show off, [tourists] won’t stop,” said Philippe.