1491–1557 The
Mi'kmaq were among the original occupants of
Atlantic Canada, inhabiting the coastal regions of the
Gaspé Peninsula and
The Maritimes east of the
Saint John River. This traditional territory is called
Mi'gma'gi (Mi'kma'ki). According to Mi'kmaq oral history and archaeological evidence collected to date, there has been a seasonal
First Nations presence on the
Magdalen Islands for 6,000 to 10,000 years. This occupation was mainly for summer fishing and hunting of
marine mammals or other game. Explorer
Jacques Cartier was the first known European to visit the islands in 1534. The first concerted settlement attempt was made by English
Brownist (a group of
English Dissenters or separatists)
Francis Johnson in 1597, which failed. François Doublet de Honfleur received the concession of the archipelago from the
Company of One Hundred Associates (
Compagnie des Cent-Associés), in 1663, he gave it its current name, in honour of his wife Madeleine Fontaine. The first settlers to permanently inhabit the islands came after the fall of
Louisbourg and the dispersal of the
Acadians from the
Grand-Pré region of
Acadia. In 1765, the islands were inhabited by 22 French-speaking Acadians and their families. They worked for a British trader, Richard Gridley, and hunted walruses. Many inhabitants of Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine still fly the
Acadian flag and identify as both Acadian and
Québécois. The islands were administered as part of the British
Colony of Newfoundland from 1763 to 1774, when they became part of the
Province of Quebec (1763–1791) by the
Quebec Act passed by the
Parliament of Great Britain. Some of the islanders are descendants of survivors of the more than 400
shipwrecks on the islands. Some of the historic houses were built using wood salvaged from the shipwrecks. To improve the safety of ships, the government constructed
lighthouses on the islands. They indicate navigable channels and have reduced the number of shipwrecks, but many old hulks are found on the beaches and under the waters. The islands have some of Quebec's oldest English-speaking settlements. Although most
anglophones have long either assimilated with the
francophone population or migrated elsewhere, English-speaking settlements can be found at Old Harry, a hamlet in
Grosse-Île, and
Entry Island. Until the 20th century, the islands were completely isolated during the winter since the
sea ice made the trip to the mainland impassable by boat. In August 1880, the Canadian Government's
telegraphy service installed the first
submarine cable that connected the islands with the mainland. On January 6, 1910, this cable connecting the village of Old Harry, Magdalen Islands, to
Sydney,
Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, broke. On February 2, 1910, Magdalen Islanders, cut off from the rest of the world, threw into the sea a ponchon, which is a barrel containing the
molasses. The wooden barrel was outfitted with a rudder and a sheet metal sail, on which the islanders had painted the inscription
"Winter Magdalen Mail". The islanders placed letters in sealed tin cans within the barrel. Most letters were addressed to families on the continent, except one written for the person who would find the makeshift boat and another addressed to
Rodolphe Lemieux, Member of Parliament for
Gaspé and
Postmaster General. The ponchon reached
Halifax around February 14, 1910. A year later, the
Government of Canada responded to the Magdalen Islanders' grievances and installed a
wireless telegraphy system in the Islands. == Geography ==