Clercs et historiens: le discours d'enracinement et la Société historique du Nouvel-Ontario.

The Catholic Church's contributions to French language minority groups throughout North America are numerous, but to what extent has the Church left its mark on these groups' historic accounts ? This paper investigates the clergy's pioneering role in the emergence of a French-Canadian historic discourse in northern Ontario, paying special attention to its involvement with the newly-founded Société historique du Nouvel Ontario in 1942. The publications of two of its prominent members, Lorenzo Cadieux and Stéphane Côté, will be examined in depth. By relating their historical accounts to the broader regional historiography, we hope to gain a better understanding of the emergence, in the society's early years, of an identity discourse firmly rooted in the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]