"In the beginning, it lay sleeping." "In the beginning, there was ice." "A gigantic mantle of pure ice, awaiting the coming of the Earth's spring." "Then cataracts of water, gushing forth from the glaciers, rolling towards the ocean, gouging in the northerly soil of the Americas the bed of a colossal river and the greatest estuary on the planet." "Freshwater whirlpools collide with the vast salt waters flowing from the Arctic." "Overwhelming." "And then, the miracle." "Life explodes, microscopic and luxuriant." "Hosts of fish, mammals and birds." "Season after season, tide after tide, the harvest is renewed." "Drawn by the inexhaustible wealth of these waters," "Creation's bravest and best gather to feed... and to bond." "Hump-backed, bowhead and blue swim alongside dolphins and giant turtles," "salmon, smelt, halibut, infinite schools of herring and cod... the enormous cod." "The River is a torrent of life." "The abundance of these aquatic pastures spawns a multitude of new species." "The gigantic waterway shelters the invisible and the colossal." "From the mysterious continent rise forests of kelp, where endless mackerel roam." "Rays of light glimmer on the sumptuous gardens of anemones and coral." "Plunging to the fathomless depths, a bed of starfish, sunfish, millions of shells." "Life calls upon life." "Colonies of seals journey from the Arctic to give birth and feed their young in these generous waters." "Every winter, as if to recall its origins, the River turns to ice, and every spring it bursts open to celebrate its rebirth." "Born of five gigantic inland seas in the heart of an immense continent, the River then merges with the ocean, offering as it does, its majestic strength." "Without beginning, without end, infinity, god-like..." "A benevolent god, who invites the winged creatures to feed and multiply in the sanctity of its cliffs." "Magtogoek, the Mighty River, so named by the First Peoples." "They dwell on its banks and live in harmony with the Mighty One." "For a thousand years and more, the River has been providing them with meat for food and skin for clothing." "They draw only what is needed to live." "And so the animals thrive in countless number." "Driven by dreams of conquests and great riches, the Kingdoms of Europe take to the exploration of seas and new continents." "In 1 534, Jacques Cartier, a captain from St-Malo, France, navigates his caravels through the shoals of the great estuary." "Others have come before him, in secrecy, fishermen and whalers from Brittany, Portugal and the Basque Country." "But Cartier ventures onward." "His quest is for the wealth of the Orient, the empire of silk, spices and gold." "But it is the astounding treasure of the River that dazzles him." "Flocks of bird in flight fill the skies, colonies of great auks and puffins blanket the islands." "The discoverer and his crew are enraptured." "Feeling both fear and wonder, the captain navigates the River swarming with the endless migration of seals and white whales." "Island, archipelago, mainland." "Immense, magnificently wild and vastly uninhabited." "Jacques Cartier solemnly takes possession of it all in the name of the King of France." "The powers of Europe, though disappointed at not finding the elusive passage to the Orient, grasp the importance of the endless resources of the River, seemingly inexhaustible." "People make fortunes hunting everything in sight." "Merchants crave the great auk's oil." "Seabirds become bait for fishing." "Crews plunder eggs by the millions." "Walrus are driven inland where exhausted, they collapse and suffocate in throngs." "The remains of many are used as fuel to melt the others' blubber." "Their ivory tusks are worth their weight in gold." "Whaling becomes an industry." "Lookouts scan the horizon." "Boats speed off at their signal." "Harpoons hit their target." "The whale succumbs in the desperate race." "Vanquished." "On shore, huge cauldrons await the whale carcasses to extract the valuable oil." "The ovens burn day and night." "There is no respite." "It is this vital oil that lights the homes and streets of Europe." "Millions of salted cod are put out to dry as far as the eye can see, along the shores of this River now known as the St. Lawrence." "In the fall, hundreds of ships carry off the dried fish to an insatiable Europe." "Such intensive hunting and fishing makes no sense to the First Peoples." "In the Great Spirit's Creation, they have no more rights than the animals, their brothers." "Thousand of rivers enrich the Mighty One with the multitude of species spawned in their waters." "But no tributary equals the powerful Saguenay as it surges into the River in a majestic fjord of unfathomed depth." "Heavily laden with pelts, birch-bark canoes converge on Tadoussac, the largest trading post in America, from where millions of furs are shipped to France every year." "Furs create fortunes for the companies that acquire them." "A veritable commercial empire exhausts the animal resources of the entire realm." "The ancestral hunting grounds are disturbed." "Skirmishes increase as alliances are formed with rival European powers." "Wars break out for control of the River and the fur trade." "When chasing eels and smelt at high tide, the white whales swim into giant man-made enclosures." "Come low tide, they are trapped, and the harpooners rush in to finish them off." "Another seemingly infinite resource." "The highlands of the St. Lawrence are a bountiful haven for myriad species:" "the bobcat, the cougar, the caribou." "But for sheer spectacle, nothing equals the thousands of migratory snow geese feasting on the sand banks." "When they lift as one, the River itself seems to take flight." "New settlers plough the deep, fertile soil" "Iayered through the ages by the St. Lawrence." "The land is parcelled out, each narrow field beginning at the River, each ribbon of harvest, its right to the water." "The serene and prosperous life of New France is reflected in this vast waterway to which the newcomers have entrusted their destiny." "Twice a year, hordes of pigeons cloud the skies for days on end, masking the sun." "They fall as helpless prey to nets, poles and clubs." "In 1759, England decides to seize New France by taking the City of Quebec." "Never has America seen such a formidable fleet:" "173 ships, 9,000 soldiers, 30,000 sailors." "Farms and crops are torched." "Siege is laid." "6,000 inhabitants starve." "The artillery destroys the city." "History turns the page." "In English hands, Quebec becomes a world-class shipbuilding capital." "From these yards, 40 to 50 sailing ships set forth each year to plough the high seas." "The city of Quebec rises once again under the strategic heights of the Citadel." "Canada's only seaport becomes a hive of industry." "Each year, 1,400 ships moor in its harbour." "English and Scottish shipowners make colossal fortunes." "The virgin forests of the St. Lawrence are exploited without mercy." "Each year, more than a hundred ships carry the giant oaks and the tall white pines to England." "To reach the port of Quebec, the freshly hewn timbers are first lashed together, forming immense temporary rafts." "People learn to live in harmony with the River whose rhythm beats at the very heart of their existence." "Prosperous farms and villages multiply along its shores." "Strong stone houses proudly face the River, whose flow still echoes the tides of the distant ocean." "Spas attract people from all over North America to drink and to bathe in the healing waters of the River." "A celebration of life for all." "Strangers come to the forest-clad mountains of the River valley." "The lndustrial Revolution demands its due." "Insatiable paper mills are built, whose appetite devours the country's most beautiful woodlands." "Armies of lumberjacks feed the hungry mills." "Defying death, raftmen untangle jams." "The blustering surge of timber destroys delicate aquatic habitats." "Ravaged woodlands swell the profits of the new masters of the forest." "Above Three-Rivers, the St. Lawrence widens to become a vast lake crowned with a maze of islands, channels and bays that offer refuge to a great diversity of plant and animal life." "In this often misty and flooded landscape, boundaries between earth and water vanish as if the River seeks to recreate the chaos from which all life sprang." "In less than a century, 50 million people have built, in the St. Lawrence basin, the greatest industrial empire in the world." "In the heart of the continent, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, all dream of a gateway to the ocean." "At the limit of the navigable River, only Montreal enjoys this privilege." "And so Herculean efforts give rise to the monumental St. Lawrence Seaway." "Huge canals... to reach the Great Lakes." "Imposing locks that now lift ocean liners almost 600 feet above sea level." "Coursing through hundreds of turbines, the River lavishes its inexhaustible energy on the new metropolises." "Untamable, the River insists on proclaiming its splendour." "Five majestic lakes honour their eternal bond with the giant, offering as they do, a gift of the largest freshwater reserve on the planet." "But the giant is helpless against the human swarm that surrounds it with factories, clogs it with ships, stifles it with cities." "The bountiful River that quenched the thirst of many generations that bestowed so many riches is now rewarded with contempt." "Venom spews forth from factories and sewers." "Poisons attack its magnificent reserves." "Slowly the sickness spreads." "Hundreds of miles downstream, life is threatened." "In their frenzy to build and grow rich, men ignore that the River is vulnerable." "Steel, oil, wheat, pulp, chemicals, concrete." "The destiny of the Mighty River has come to this." "Its awesome vitality defiled, havoc reigns, harmony is lost." "Reconciliation must begin." "Magtogoek awaits us." "We must answer the call... completely... wholly... abundantly."