Monday January 16 afternoon, two members of the Gourin Association Bretagne TransAmerica (BTA), Jean-François Baudet and Pierre-Marie Quesseveur, went to the Colbert High School in Lorient to hold two conferences on emigration in South America. They were welcomed by first, graduate and BTS students who were particularly interested in the topic.

“Some of them had the idea of ​​trying the migration experience in Canada and they were very interested in the experiences of their elders and the advice of the Gourinois, the Franco-Canadian Jean-François Baudet, who lived in Quebec for ten years, “says Pierre Marie Quesseveur.

A unique phenomenon

After a general presentation on the country of Gourin and its unique phenomenon of migration of part of its population to North America, the conference was punctuated by images from the film by Philippe Orreindy and in particular by testimonies of Gourinois Christiane Jamet, Josette Jouas and Joël Sévénéant, on their adventure in the land of Uncle Sam.

Roudouallec, zero point

“The zero point of this immigration is in Roudouallec,” continues Pierre-Marie Quesseveur. “This is the house left in 1881 by Nicolas Le Grand, a pioneer of emigration to North America. A plaque was placed on this home on September 25, 2022 to mark the beginning of this adventure across the Atlantic. According to him, an estimated 115,000 Bretons attempted the experience up until the 1970s. There were checkered fortunes, but above all much courage for those who made the transition from a rudimentary life to high, medium technology, who left their homeland for the fate of an émigré, lost in a foreign culture whose language he did not know.