Michigan’s Habitant Heritage – FCHSM’s Journal
Michigan's Habitant Heritage (MHH) has been published since the founding of the Society in 1980. The officers and members of the French-Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan are justifiably proud of the quality journal we publish under the auspices of our editor or editors since 1991: John DuLong and Cyndy Odren in 1991. Sharon Kelley was editor from 1992 to 1995. Gail Moreau-DesHarnais served as editor from 1996 to 2010. Suzanne Boivin Sommerville was editor in 2011. Gail Moreau-DesHarnais and Diane Wolford Sheppard were co-editors in 2012. Mike Burke served as editor from 2013 to his untimely death in a car accident in 2016. Elizabeth Bourne served as editor-in-training for the January, April, and July of 2017 issues of MHH under the guidance of Gail Moreau-DesHarnais and Diane Wolford Sheppard and then resigned unexpectedly because of other obligations. Gail Moreau-DesHarnais and Diane Wolford Sheppard were co-editors from October 2017 to October 2019. Loraine DiCerbo and Gail Moreau-DesHarnais are the current co-editors.
Articles appearing in Michigan’s Habitant Heritage cover all areas of New France, including articles about French Canadians who lived in, explored, or travelled to all areas of Michigan, the Detroit River Region (which means both sides of the Detroit River), Michilimackinac, Fort St. Joseph, Southwest Ontario, the Great Lakes, the Mississippi Valley (Kaskaskia, Vincennes, New Orleans, Mobile), La Salle’s colony in Texas, Hudson Bay, and Acadia, as well as articles about our ancestors’ origins in France.
Although MHH's authors have written articles about French-Canadian individuals or families living throughout North America in all time periods from the 17th century to the present, most of the historical articles, such as timelines have focused on the History of New France (the 17th century through 1760).
A word on the title of Michigan’s Habitant Heritage: A habitant (feminine form: habitante) in New France was simply an inhabitant, one who had decided to make Canada his or her place of residence, his or her home. He may have mustered out of his required term as a soldier in his majesty’s service; or he or she was no longer bound by a contract that brought him or her to the New World. As an inhabitant, he or she could pursue any occupations open to him or her. See Marcel Trudel, La Population du Canada en 1666 (Sillery, Québec: Les Éditions du Septentrion, 1995), for the meaning of the word within the context of New France.
Contents of Michigan’s Habitant Heritage since 1980: Click on the link to access the list.
Indices: Click on the links below to access the indices for MHH from 2005 through 2023.
2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022. 2023
FCHSM Members log in to access all articles in MHH from 1980 to the present
