Paul Provencher
A Pioneer in Bringing Together Quebecers and Aboriginal People
Paul Provencher graduated as a forest engineer in 1925. After surveying the entire Saint-Maurice River basin, he was tasked, in 1929, with conducting forest inventories of several river basins on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River. During his expeditions, he met the Montagnais (Innu), with whom he made friends and for whom he would maintain deep respect. In an era of assimilation policies and marginalization of First Nations, Provencher was a pioneer in bringing together Quebecers and Indigenous people. Equipped with movie and still cameras, “Utshimau-Paul,” as the Innu called him, brought back touching pictures of the people he spent time with and the families that extended him their hospitality. His accounts are an important testimony to his love of Indigenous people and life in the bush. Provencher left behind remarkable photographs and archival films.
