Port au Choix is a
National Historic Site of Canada, and the community is regarded as one of the richest archeological finds in North America. Burial sites uncovered in the town in the 1960s & 70s provide evidence of its earliest settlers - from the Maritime Archaic Indians to the
Groswater and
Dorset Palaeo-Eskimos to the Recent Indians (ancestors of the
Beothuks). While prehistoric coastlines elsewhere have long since slipped beneath the encroaching ocean, the raised shoreline and alkaline soil conditions at Port au Choix have combined to preserve a time capsule of great historical importance. Because of the cultural significance of this burial site, and a successful local lobby, the site was officially designated a National Historic Site in 1970. In 2001,
Parks Canada constructed a new Visitor Centre and Museum dedicated to the rich history of the native peoples - the first ever to inhabit Newfoundland, dating back over 5000 years.
Basque chaloupe In 2004, through the effort of the 2004 Society, an association of Basque Maritime Heritage, Itsas Begia (
The eye of the sea) from
Ciboure (
Northern Basque Country), came to Newfoundland and shared its ancestral knowledge with Newfoundlanders. Three
chaloupes were built, here in Port au Choix, in
Conche and in
La Scie. The
chaloupe is located on Forest Road, in the old Port au Choix
cove. ==References==