French-American Heritage Foundation of Minnesota

About

How We Formed

Established in early 2013, the French-American Heritage Foundation's (FAHF) mission is to foster a greater understanding of the rich history and heritage of French-speaking people who helped form what is now Minnesota. We fulfill our mission by sponsoring educational events, seminars and classes about French heritage in Minnesota and by providing information to our members and the public about other events that involve French-language cultures or heritage. Our vision is to preserve, advance, and celebrate French-American heritage and culture.

For almost two hundred years before Minnesota became a state, French was the primary European language spoken here. After Minnesota became a state, and during the early years of European settlement, many French Canadians migrated here and approximately 79 French-speaking towns and communities were formed in Minnesota. Many of our place and street names remind us of the early French influence. French-speaking ancestors in Minnesota and surrounding states numbered in the hundreds of thousands and were important in all sectors of the society which built our state and region into what it is today.

However, much of this history is lost, or suppressed in our history books, and consequently, little is taught in school history courses about the French in Minnesota. French Canadians were a major settlement group in Minnesota, but have been given minimal coverage in historical narratives, or labeled simply by description as voyageurs.

Many people with names that do not sound French do not even realize their ancestors were French. The desire to become American and to leave their French heritage behind resulted in many changing their surname so they could blend in with the English-speaking society; for example, Boisvert became Greenwood, LeBlanc became White, Butolier became Butler, and Fallu became Foley. There are many more examples.

FAHF was founded to bring more attention to the diverse heritage and culture of historically French-language groups; including Haitian, Cajun, Belgium, North and West African, French, French Huguenots, Vietnamese, and any of the other French-speaking countries in the world, particularly the French Canadians who were a major settlement group in Minnesota. This is the niche we seek to help fill, and in the process to complement rather than compete with others with related interests but different focus.

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Artists depiction of Marquette and Joliet in 1673. Jacques Marquette was a French Jesuit priest and Louis Jolliet was a cartographer and fur trader from Quebec.

Who We Are

The French-American Heritage Foundation is a Minnesota 501(c)(3) nonprofit that relies on charitable donations to meet its mission statement. The French-American Heritage Foundation was incorporated under the laws of the state of Minnesota on March 21, 2013, as a Minnesota non-profit corporation. The IRS acknowledged our application for federal tax-exempt status on June 28, 2013. All contributions made to FAHF are 100% tax deductible. We have an active board of directors who organize and plan educational events that embrace and help educate the public about French heritage in Minnesota and the Midwest.

Our GOALS Include:

  • Raising awareness and remembering the heritage of French-speaking people in Minnesota and the Midwest through education and public programming.
  • Helping to restore a dignity and pride in these French-speaking cultures.
  • Someday creating a Franco-Fête (festival) embracing these various French-speaking ethnic groups, similar to the festivals of the Irish, Polish, Czech, Scandinavian, Ukrainian, and other ethnic groups.

What We Do

The French-American Heritage Foundation sponsors education and public programming classes and events. This includes teaching adult education courses and speaking to school groups.

Examples of Past Educational Events 

  • November 02, 2024. Coming Soon: Presentation by MaryEllen Weller, at the Sibley Historic Site, about the life story of Dr. Hippolyte Joseph Seigneuret, a physician and inventor who was an exiled French Revolutionary leader in the European People's Spring of 1848, who then came to Minnesota and and was involved in the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 as an assistant surgeon to Hatch's Independent Minnesota Cavalry Battalion. He ultimately signed the death certificates for the 38 condemned Dakota men who were hanged in Mankato in 1862. For a time, he was a resident of Henderson, Minnesota.
  • September 21, 2024. Coming Soon: Church of Saint Anne, Somerset, WI, Acadia presentation, by Mark Labine. Acadia existed from 1604-1755. Mark will discuss its demise during the French and Indian War, the Acadian deportation of 1755, and he will trace his Labine family migration from Acadia in 1755 to Minnesota in 1878.
  • July 23, 2024. Board member and MaryEllen Weller-Smith gave a presentation about Frances Anne Hopkins, (born February 2, 1838, died March 5, 1919), who was a British and Canadian painter. In 1858, Hopkins married a Hudson's Bay Company official, Edward Hopkins, whose work took him to North America. Hopkins traveled along with him and, while sailing, she was able to sketch extensively, thereby capturing a now lost way of living–the last days of the fur trade–and the lives of the voyageurs in the mid-nineteenth century. MaryEllen is the author of the book Frances Anne Hopkins: Hudson's Bay Company Wife, Voyageurs' Artist.
  • July 14, 2024. Coming Soon: Alliance Française's Bastille Day Celebration. “La Fête Nationale is a national holiday in France that celebrates French independence and the storming of the Bastille prison by citizens. This event would help spark the French Revolution and the resulting Age of Revolution across Europe.
  • June 23, 2024. Fête de la Saint-Jean-Baptiste, Sibley Historic Site. Faribault House presentations: Mark Labine discussed the early history of Mendota, including the early French explorers and fur traders, the establishment of Fort Snelling, and migration of Selkirk colonists from the Red River Settlement to Mendota; Greg Cash discussed the French fur trade in Minnesota, from the arrival of his ancestor, Médard Chouart des Groseilliers, and Pierre-Esprit Radisson in Minnesota in the mid-1600s, to the beginning of the Minnesota Territory. Also, FAHF's Les Canadiens Errants singers performed.
  • June 22, 2024. Saint Genevieve Cemetery Tour, Centerville, MN, facilitated by board member Don Marier's Family History Group.
  • June 6-7-8-9, 2024. Pea Soup Days, Somerset, WI. This is an annual festival and community celebration that commemorates the town's history and heritage. We staffed a table that included our books available for purchase and information about FAHF.
  • June 5, 2024. Somerset Public Library, Mini Rendezvous, Fur Trade Era, presentation by Mark Labine at French-Canadian Heritage Day in Somerset, WI.
  • May 24, 2024. Fur trade presentation at Sibley Historic Site, by Greg Cash.
  • May 7, 2024. Huguenots — From Geneva to Hancock, a presentation by Neil Simonson at the Washington County Heritage Center, sponsored by FAHF.
  • April 19, 2024. Greg Cash gave a presentation about the Fur Trade, held at the Nokomis Library.
  • March 15, 2024. Greg Cash attended the Central States American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) Minnesota Chapter. This is a three-day event that brings educators of all languages together to empower them through high quality professional development and to promote and advocate language and cultural learning.
  • January 27, 2024. Mark Labine, Michele Pierce, and Marie Trépanier volunteered to work at the Little Canada Historical Society's Annual Open House. This organization specializes in French-Canadian genealogy.
  • January 20, 2024. FAHF board members, Michele Pierce, Mark Dillon, and Michael Rainville, helped replenish the tourtière (meat pie) inventory at Our Lady of Lourdes, in northeast Minneapolis, where 214 tourtières were baked. 
  • October 28, 2023. At Our Lady of Lourdes, in northeast Minneapolis, board members Marie Trépanier, Michele Pierce, Mark Dillon, and Michael Rainville were among 49 volunteers who participated in the church's annual meat pie baking event, which successfully produced 489 tourtières. Especially popular during holidays, tourtières are available for purchase, at the church, throughout the year.
  • October 27, 2023. Minnesota with a French Accent presentation by Pierre Girard, at Nokomis Library, in Minneapolis, about French history and heritage in Minnesota.
  • October 7, 2023. French-American Heritage Foundation's 10-Year Anniversary Celebration included catering by Valerie's French Kitchen, French-Canadian music by Dan Chouinard, and a silent auction featuring watercolor paintings of 23 French heritage sites in Minnesota.
  • September 6, 2023. Presentation by Mark Labine at Our Lady of Lourdes Church about the Métis and the oxcart trails in early Minneapolis.
  • July 22, 2023. French Cultural Arts Day, Portage, WI. MaryEllen Weller presented information about artist Frances Anne Hopkins, whose work included paintings of voyageurs during the fur-trading era. Greg Cash discussed the fur trade, and Mark Labine and John Ward staffed the FAHF booth.
  • June 24, 2023. 2023's Fête de la Saint-Jean-Baptiste took place at the Sibley Historic Site in Mendota, MN. This is an event created by the Dakota County Historical Society in partnership with the Québec Government office in Chicago / Délégation du Québec à Chicago,  Alliance Française Mpls / St Paul, and the French-American Heritage Foundation. Activities included site tours, performances by dancer/fiddler Danielle Enblom, dancing by Jane Skinner Peck, and singing  by FAHF's Les Canadiens Errant.
  • April 2, 2023. Bottineau Jig: Untold Tales of Early Minnesota. This heritage event, co-sponsored by Alliance Française Mpls / St Paul and the French-American Heritage Foundation featured a video showing of a unique performance from 2011, filled with the history, important characters, dance, and live music from the 1840s Minnesota.
  • November 11, 2022. Partners in Peace–Armistice Day Commemoration at Brit's Pub, Minneapolis, MN.  In partnership with Brit's Pub, Alliance Française, Consulate General of Canada in Minneapolis, Vets For Peace, and Minnesota Vikings. The event featured a color guard and words honoring global veterans on the Anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War 1. Mark Labine gave a speech about his grandfather Phillip Labine's experience during World War I in France.
  • October 16, 2022. French genealogy presentation at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Dayton, MN.
  • September 24, 2022. Salon du Livre, at Alliance Française; participants included Mark Labine, who provided an overview of his book They Spoke French.
  • August 14, 2022. The Pond Dakota Heritage Society sponsored a history presentation, by Mark Labine, at Gideon Pond House, in Bloomington. Mark spoke about his research into the Little Rapids Fur Post, on the Mississippi River, near the Dakota village named Inyan Ceyaka. 
  • August 7, 2022. In the Beginning There was a Chapel, presentation by Mark Labine, at Washington County Heritage Center, in Stillwater, about the humble, small log chapel, that was dedicated on November 1, 1841; this little Saint Paul Chapel would later become the Cathedral of Saint Paul.
  • June 22, 2022. At the Washington County Historical Center in Stillwater, MN, Greg Cash discussed the French Fur Trade in Minnesota, from the arrival of Médard Chouart des Groseilliers and Pierre Esprit Radisson in Minnesota in the mid-1600s to the establishment of la Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson (Hudson’s Bay Company) in 1670 and la Compagnie Nord-Ouest (Northwest Company) in 1789 to the building of Fort Snelling and creation of the Indian agency to control the region’s fur trade in the early 1800s and the establishment of the American Fur Company which controlled regional trading in furs by 1823.
  • April 29, 2022. Sibley Historic Site, Fur Trade Presentation and Tour, for Minnesota New Country School, from Henderson, Minnesota; presentation by Greg Cash.
  • March 5, 2022. Charles Napoleon Morin (1849-1922). Presentation at the Little Canada Historical Society, by Jim Morin, a retired marketing executive who has recently edited and published an English translation of his great-grandfather’s memoir, Charles Napoleon Morin – Memories of My Travels and Adventures. Jim used Charles’s remarkable first person story to recall what life was like in the late 1800s, and how what began as a sixteen-year-old’s widespread search, eventually gained Charles fulfillment in work, adventure, faith and life. This event's musical guest was Danielle Enblom, a Minneapolis-based step dancer, fiddler, and ethnochoreologist (dance anthropologist).
  • January 23, 2022. Joseph Courselle’s French-Dakota Connections, Sibley Historic Site. Independent researcher Jane Hayden-Hart shared her findings about the 1855-56 “Sioux Affidavits” which were taken by commissioners H.H. Johnson and William Ashley Jones from persons attempting to establish mixed-blood status in order to receive benefits from the treaty signed at Prairie du Chien in 1830. Jane has been researching her maternal Coursolle family history for over 15 years, with her great-great-grandfather Joseph Coursolle being a principal subject. Our musical guest was guitarist Phillippe Gallandat who played and sang French-Canadian and French songs.
  • October 12, 2021. At the White Bear Center for the Arts Grand Reopening, Mark Labine shared his research into the 18th and 19th Century Little Rapids Fur Trade Post on the Minnesota River near the Dakota Village named Inyan Ceyaka. The musical group Bundle and Go played French-Canadian and Métis music at this event.
  • August 15, 2021. An American Gothic: The Life and Legacy of William  Gates LeDuc. Presentation by author Steve Werle, at the LeDuc Historic Estate, in Hastings, Minnesota. LeDuc was a grandson of a French military officer who served with George Washington, at the Battle of Yorktown. Pioneer William Gates LeDuc played a significant role in Minnesota’s transition from territory to statehood.
  • February 29, 2020. Presentation by Dick Bernard about the history of the publication Chez Nous, in conjunction with the Oxbow Conversation Series at the Little Canada Historical Society.
  • October 25, 2019. Co-sponsor with Alliance Française of the film Dure Bataille, by Dusan Hudec.
  • August 23, 2019. “The Fur Trade,” presentation by voyageur Greg Cash, at Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts, in Fridley.
  • April 7, 2019. “Finding the Real Bottineau,” a presentation about the life and identifying influences on Pierre Bottineau, held at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church, in Maple Grove.
  • February 22, 2019. “French Heritage in Minnesota,” presentation by Mark Labine, at Macalester College, St. Paul.
  • August 15, 2018. “Acadian Deportation of 1755,” presentation by Marty Guidry, at Vieux Carre, in downtown St. Paul.
  • September 15, 2017. Heritage storytelling event at Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts, in Fridley. Dick Bernard, Jerry Foley, Pierre Girard, Mark Labine and Mary Ellen Weller told short stories addressing French and French-Canadian heritage in Minnesota. Peggy Larson, sang French-Canadian songs for event accompanied by Rocky Mjos. Noel Labine was the emcee for the event.
  • February 24, 2017. Paths and Road to Becoming French, and a Book-Loving Métis. Friday at 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Grande Salle at Alliance Française. Joe Amato, author, traced his own three paths to becoming French.
  • November 1, 2016. Sponsored a French-heritage event at the Minnesota History Center to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the building of the Chapel of St. Paul, by French-Canadians. Professor Mary Lethert Wingerd was the guest speaker.
  • October 2, 2015. A dinner presentation by John Schade, a librarian at the Minnesota Genealogical Library, titled “Beginning Canadian-French Genealogical Research” held at Dehn’s Country Manor in Maple Grove. Special displays about the nearby French-heritage communities of Dayton, Rogers, and Otsego enriched the evening.
  • October 3, 2014. The French-American Heritage Foundation and the Alliance Française co-sponsored an event held at the Grande Salle of the Alliance Française, located then at 113 N First Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota. There were three presenters at this event.  Mark Labine discussed the early French-Canadian settlement in downtown St. Paul and the battle of Kaposia (pronounced Kapoja).  Christine Loÿs, documentary film-maker and author talked about her film regarding the French heritage in Minnesota.  Martine Sauret, Associate Professor at Macalester College, talked about Nicollet's journal and its disappearance (the original of Nicollet's journal has disappeared but it was read by Jesuit fathers Paul Le Jeune and Vimont. Portions of it appear in the Jesuit Relations.).
  • June 28, 2014. Greg Brick, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Minnesota discussed the discovery of saltpeter caves along the Minnesota shore of Lake Pepin by Pierre-Charles Le Sueur in 1700.

Educational Publications

They Spoke French. A book about French heritage in Minnesota, including information on early explorers and settlers, early French-speaking settlements, Métis, Haitian and French speaking African immigrants, Huguenots, French Heritage Sites, French place names and other information about Minnesota’s French accent. The cost of book is $25.00 U.S., plus shipping and handling if ordered online. This book can be purchased at amazon.com, or at our heritage events. All sales proceeds from this book go to support the mission of the Foundation.

In the Beginning, There was a Chapel. A book about the small log chapel built by French Canadians that became the nucleus of the city of St. Paul. Cost of book is $15.00 U.S., plus shipping and handling if ordered online. This book can be purchased at amazon.com, or at our heritage events. All sales proceeds from this book go to support the mission of the Foundation.

Chez Nous, a three-volume set. The French-American Heritage Foundation is proud to announce the publication of three books called Chez Nous. These three books contain 928 pages of Nouvelles Villes Jumelles and Chez Nous newsletters published during the years 1979 to 2001. Each page has been numbered and there is a detailed index at the back of each book. These newsletters were published by La Société Canadienne Française du Minnesota (LSCF), which had an official life span of 22 years, from 1979 to 2001. Cost of each book is $17.00 U.S., plus shipping and handling if ordered online. These books can be purchased at amazon.com, or at our heritage events. All sales proceeds from these books go to support the mission of the Foundation.

Where the Waters Meet–A Story About Where Minnesota Was Born. This book is the story about “where the waters meet” or where the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers intersect. Discusses progression of events involving French explorers, to Selkirk colonists, at this location that led to the formation of the modern state of Minnesota.

DAYTON WITH A FRENCH ACCENT: Reflections of French-Canadian Roots in Dayton, Minnesota. This book provides many of Dayton's French-speaking pioneer families. (Note: The anticipated publication of this book is December 2023.)

French Heritage Tours

  • November 8, 2020.  On this Little Rapids hiking adventure, Mark Labine was directed to the exact, former architectural location of the Faribault Fur Trade Post thanks to Cary Coop. Subsequently, a suggestion was made to learn if a formal historical marker could be placed at this site; Mark Labine and Michael Rainville will reach out to the Little Rapids City Council about this possibility.   
  • August 24-26, 2020. Visit to Minnesota's Grand Portage National Monument. The Grand Portage Trail hikers were Marie Trepanier, Greg Cash, and Mark Labine. Went to the site of Fort Charlotte, a fur trading post, at the western end of the Grand Portage. Saw re-creations of three buildings that were part of the North West Company fur traders summer headquarters and supply depot.
  • May 17, 2020. Little Rapids Fur Trading Area. Jean-Baptiste Faribault was among the best known fur traders here. Mark Labine and Mark Petty hiked  this area in search of the Faribault Fur Trade Post site.
  • May 18, 2019. Joined historian Mary Antoine on a heritage tour of historic buildings and cemeteries in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin–the site of an early French-Canadian fur-trading post, and one of the earliest settlements of the region.
  • April 29, 2017. Tour of Twin Cities buildings designed by French architect Emmanuel Louis Masqueray, including the Church of Saint Louis, King of France, and the Cathedral of Saint Paul.
  • June 18, 2016. Sponsored tour to Henderson, Minnesota, to visit their Sibley County Museum that is located in the August F. Poehler House, which is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, and we learned about the French-Canadian history there.

Attendance at Festivals and Educational Events

  • August 4-5-6, 2023. Little Canada Days, Spooner Park, Little Canada.
  • August 5, 2023. Geneviève Gervais Memorial Dedication, St. John's Cemetery, Little Canada.
  • July 22, 2023. French Cultural Arts Day, Portage, WI.
  • November 19, 2022. FAHF members volunteered at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Minneapolis, for a French meat pies (tourtières) bake. The making of tourtières has been a tradition here for over 100 years and sales of the meat pies support this church.
  • September 9-10-11, 2022. Monetary contribution made to Mendota Mdewakanton’s 25th Annual Traditional Wacipi (Pow Wow)
  • July 31, 2022. Hosted a table at Little Canada's Canadian Days annual community festival.
  • July 23-24, 2022. Fur Trade Weekend, Sibley Historic Site.
  • July 14, 2022. Bastille Day, Alliance Française/Joly Family Center and Neighborhood, 
  • July 28-29, 2021. Fur Trade Weekend at the Sibley Historic Site.
  • July 14, 2021. Bastille Day celebration at Alliance Française, at the Joly Family Center for International Understanding.
  • July 14, 2020. Bastille Day observance held outdoors at Alliance Française, in the Joly Family Center for International Understanding parking lot.
  • October 26, 2019. Hosted a table at Family History Day, Hennepin County Library, Minneapolis.
  • October 11, 2019. George Bonga presentation by Mattie Harper, Ph.D., (Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe), at Alliance Française.
  • October 4-5, 2019. MGS (Minnesota Genealogical Society), 12th Annual North Star Genealogy Conference.
  • September 13-15, 2019. Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Pow Wow.
  • September 7, 2019. “The Lives of Benjamin Gervais and Geneviève Laurence to 1844,” presentation by historian John Vanek, at Little Canada Historical Society.
  • July 14, 2019. Bastille Day observance in downtown Saint Paul's Landmark Plaza.
  • June 23, 2019. Fête St. Jean Baptiste, Faribault House, Sibley Historic Site, in Mendota.
  • April 27, 2019. French-Canadian and Metis Heritage Series, at the Ramsey County Shoreview Library.
  • February 16, 2019. Oxbow Conversations Series, by Virgil Benoit, from the Oxbow/Louisville Foundation at Old Crossing, at the Shoreview Library.
  • January 14, 2019. Theo's Choice, presentation by filmmaker and history professor Thomas Cauvin about exploring the battle to keep the French language alive in Louisiana.
  • July 9, 2017, Bastille Day. Had an information booth at event.
  • October 29, 2016. Family History Fair at Minneapolis Public Library. Jerry, Mark, Dick, MaryEllen and Pierre attended.
  • September 29 to October 1, 2016. Minnesota Genealogical Society Fall Annual Conference, Colonial Church, Edina, MN.  Jerry and Dick participated.
  • July 30, 2016. Anita Proehl and Jerry Foley represented French-American Heritage Foundation at booth at Little Canada Days, in Little Canada.
  • July 19, 2016. Made a presentation of “They Spoke French” books to the Mayor of Tours, France, on July 19, 2016.
  • July 10, 2016. Participated in the “Bastille Day” celebration in St. Paul on July 10, 2016.April 20, 2016. Met with Mayor Coleman of St. Paul on April 20, 2016, with 97-year-old direct descendant of Pierre “Pig's Eye” Parrant in St. Paul.

Scholarships

Over past several years we have awarded scholarships to the Les Voyageurs program headed by François Fouquerel. of the Lac Du Bois camp. of the Concordia Language Villages. In each year from 2018 through 2023, the French-American Heritage Foundation provided a $500 scholarship for: Les Voyageurs One-Week Youth Exploration that is for ages 11-13. In 2024, the board increased the scholarship contribution to $625.

French-Heritage Classes: “Minnesota with a French Accent”

This is a four-day course and includes the following subjects. Week One: Early French Presence in Minnesota, Jerry Foley; Week Two: Minnesota’s Early Settlers, Mark Labine; Week Three: Ethnic Tensions Facing French in Minnesota, Pierre Girard; and, Week Four: The Richness of our Heritage, Dick Bernard.  These four-part classes were offered on the following dates and locations:

  • November 6 to 27, 2017. Osseo Middle School.
  • October 3 to 24, 2017. Eagan Blackhawk Middle School.
  • September 20 to October 11, 2017. Elk River at the Handke Center.
  • September 5 to December 5, 2017. St. Michael / Albertville Senior Center.
  • November 8 to 29, 2016. North St. Paul at Gladstone Senior Center.
  • October 3 to 24, 2016. Maplewood Community Center.
  • March 1 to 24, 2016. Nokomis Library in Minneapolis.
  • June 5 to 26, 2015. Washburn Library, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
  • April 13 to May 5, 2015. Lake Harriet School, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

French Heritage Classes on YouTube and Cable TV

Pat Ruffing and others on the board plan to do 5 to 7 French heritage educational speeches and also 45-minute to one-hour presentations on subjects dealing with French heritage in Minnesota and the Midwest. Stay tuned for more information on this project. There will be one, or possibly two, evenings of stories about French heritage in Minnesota.

Website

We maintain this website and also maintain an email list of members and those who have expressed interest in our heritage events and programming.  This website includes information on our events, publications, genealogy, and family history. Many other French-language cultural groups have also come to Minnesota. Tell us your family’s story. We welcome articles and books on your family history which we are willing to include in our library under books or articles. Please contact us if you have an article or information on your family history that you are willing to share. Also, if you would like to give a presentation regarding French heritage here in Minnesota.

We have sponsored tours of places of interest, and our plans to publish a Minnesota French Heritage Sites brochure were successful in 2019. Additionally, in 2020, we created an interactive Minnesota French Heritage Sites map located under the “Resources” tab, under the main menu section of our website.

More exciting news, in 2020, is our addition of a collection of French songs:  fahfminn.org/french-songs/

We plan to sponsor at some time in the future a festival of French-language cultures to be known as Franco-Fête.