On October 30, 1995, the people of the province of Quebec, Canada, voted in a province-wide referendum. Its purpose was to determine the political destiny of Quebec vis-à-vis the rest of Canada. A "yes" vote would have meant that Quebec would become an independent sovereign state. As it happened, 50.6% of those voting chose to remain with Canada, only 1.2% more than those voting for independence — a difference of less than 50,000 votes out of an eligible 4.8 million . Yet the sovereignty referendum, the second in Quebec's history, was only one example of the political tensions that have existed between Quebec and the rest of Canada for decades. Another vote in the "neverendum" process is likely.

Who are these passionate people, the Québécois (Quebecers) whose leaders clamour for a sovereign state—who demand to be maîtres chez nous ("masters in our own house") free of Canadian control? What is their ethnic or racial origin and their place in world history? To answer that their ancestors "came from France" is not sufficient. This work will reveal the origins of the francophone (native French-speaking) people known as the Québécois. Evidence will be adduced from secular and Biblical history that points to a surprising ancestry for these people. Speculation will also be offered as to their future, in light of their origins and history. First, however, a brief review is necessary, especially for non-Canadians reading this work, of their more accessible past.

Quebec is Canada's largest province. With an area of 523,860 sq.mi. (1,362,036 sq. km.) it is over twice the size of the mother country, France, and nearly twice the size of the U.S. state of Texas. Covered largely by the Canadian Shield, a vast mineral-rich outcropping of rock, the province abounds in the natural wealth of its forests, minerals, hydro-electric power, and rich farmlands near the St. Lawrence river, which bisects Quebec north to south. Its scenic beauty has earned it the French nickname, "la belle province," (the beautiful province).

Quebec was inhabited in pre-Columbian times by Canada's "First Nations," the Indians and Inuit (formerly known as Eskimos). From time to time, as the works of Barry Fell and other researchers show, the land that is now Canada's largest province, was visited by Old World voyagers and explorers, latterly the Vikings. For a fuller explanation of Canada's pre-Columbian past, the reader may consult Fell's America B.C., or Saga America, or any number of similar works by other authors.

The modern European history of Quebec, however, begins in 1534 with its discovery by French explorer Jacques Cartier. The following year, he sailed up the St. Lawrence river, visiting the Iroquois settlements of Stadacona (present site of Quebec City) and Hochelaga (now Montreal). It was on this voyage that Cartier, misunderstanding the Iroquois word for "village" (kanata) assumed that it referred to the entire country, thus giving Canada its name.¹ In 1541-42, a short-lived settlement was established above what is now Quebec City, capital of the province.

It was not until 1608, however, that a permanent settlement was established by another French explorer, Samuel de Champlain, at the present-day location of Quebec City. Champlain, known in the history books as the "Father of New France," encouraged trade in furs with the continent's aboriginal inhabitants and formed an alliance between the French and the Huron Indians, resulting in an enmity that has existed between the French and the Iroquois, rivals of the Huron, that is still with us to this day.² Over the next 55 years the fur trade and French influence, especially in the form of Jesuit missionary work, expanded; the settlement of Montreal was founded in 1642.

Still, there were only about 3,000 settlers in France's Quebec territory. Then in 1663, in an effort to further consolidate the fur trade, increase settlement, defeat the hostile Iroquois, and fend off the British, (allies of the Iroquois), the French king Louis XIV made New France, as it was now called, a royal province. For the next two hundred years, until the British conquest in 1759-1763, the colony's population was boosted by immigration from the mother country. It is the ethnic origins of these immigrants that will answer the question posed as the title of this work, "Who are the Québécois?". We

shall uncover the riddle by asking the complementary witnesses of history and the Bible.

Before we can discover the racial origins of the Québécois, we must clear up a common misconception: that racial or ethnic origin follows language. It does not. This is especially important for non-Canadians to realise as they may have heard or read that French-speaking Canadians "come from France" and therefore must be racially French. Even scholars are sometimes misled by this false equation of language with ethnic or racial identity.

France in the seventeenth century, however, was not a racially or ethnically homogeneous society, nor is it today. In the north, in Normandy, lived descendants of Norsemen who settled that region under their king, Hrolf, or Rollo, in 911 A.D.; in the northwest an ancient and mysterious people, the Bretons; in the southwest in Gascony, the Basques; in Alsace, Germans,³ or Hebrew Issacharites;⁴ and in the south, various Mediterranoid peoples. In the central part of the country, according to the research of Australian historian Craig White, dwell the descendants of a non-Hebrew people, the Dodanim (Genesis 10:4). This leaves only the Ile-de-France region and perhaps certain northern districts as areas of "true French" settlement, that is, areas inhabited by descendants of the Ripuarian Franks, identified by Israeli scholar Yair Davidy as the Israelite tribe of Reuben, ancestors of the modern French.⁵ This conclusion, however, is contradicted by Dibar Apartian who attributes to the Ripuarian Franks a Germanic origin.⁶

To use a Biblical example, the twelve tribes of Israel spoke a common language, Hebrew. Yet each tribe was distinct. That this distinction was based on something more concrete than mere cultural differences seems evident from the Scriptural insistence that Israelites marry only fellow Israelites, and preferrably within their own respective tribes (Deuteronomy 7:1-4; 25:5; Numbers 36:5-12). Marriage, perforce, includes sexual union and implies giving life to a new generation and a continuation of the genetic stream from the previous generation.

Even though "strangers" dwelling with the Israelites spoke the same language as their fellow citizens the sons of Isaac, nevertheless intermarriage between the two groups was discouraged by the legal code. This implies that there were strengths, genetically inherited, that God wished the Israelites to preserve, each tribe having particular talents by virtue of these inherited strengths, talents that gave rise to distinct cultural identities after the Ten Tribes' exile, independent of the language spoken. (Lest anyone should think that this is a racialist view, let me make it clear, in the astute words of S. Gusten Olson, that "fundamentally, it is not the race to which one belongs—it is racial purity that counts."⁷ No race or nation has any moral superiority over another. All have sinned and come far short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

The point of the above paragraphs was to show that race and language are independent issues. One's racial identity, genetically passed on from generation to generation, in the eyes of God, is independent of the language one speaks. A Scotsman may speak English, but this does not make him an Englishman in genetically inherited tribal terms. Likewise, the many ethnic groups who have inhabited France for centuries have learned to speak French, yet they remain Normans, Bretons, Basques, etc.

As mentioned above, at the assumption of royal government by King Louis XIV, New France had only about 3,000 settlers, slightly more than a third of them Canadian-born.⁸ In 1665, the Carignan-Salières regiment was sent from France to subdue the Iroquois. Mission accomplished, they left in 1668, but about 400 soldiers remained and married in with the population.

Between the years 1663-1673, New France received a significant boost in population when the French government sent 800 filles du roi ("daughters of the king") to their Quebec colony as brides for the colony's surfeit of bachelors. These women of marriageable age came from Rouen in the province of Normandy, La Rochelle in Aunis, and included beggars and orphans from the streets of Paris.⁹ Thus the races and ethnic groups of these regions were transferred to Quebec. Lest anyone should think this unusual, it will be recalled that it was through Jewish filles du roi (daughters of King Zedekiah) that the Davidic line was transferred to, and preserved in, Ireland (Jeremiah 43:6; Ezekiel 21:27).

A review of census records for the year 1700 reveals that of New France's French-speaking colonists, 29% came from the provinces of Poitou, Aunis, Saintonge, and Angoumois in the mother country; 22% from Normandy and Perche; 15% from Paris and Ile-de-France; 13% from Anjou, Touraine, Beauce, and Maine; 9% from Brittany, Picardy, and Champagne; 5% from Limousin, Périgord, and Guyenne; 7% from other regions.¹⁰ Thus over 50% of immigrants to Quebec, and possibly much more, came from north of the Loire river in France, i.e., areas of Norman, Breton, and Frankish settlement. In addition, many of the Seigneurs (Lords) of Quebec, e.g., the families of de Lotbinière, Panet, Montizambert, etc., were Norman, who left Normandy in 1686.

Who are the Normans? There seems to be general agreement among scholars of Israelite history that the Norman people are the descendants of the Israelite tribe of Benjamin. Yair Davidy, for example, in his detailed work, The Tribes, says that although the tribes of Judah and Benjamin compose the main stock of modern Jewry, "[t]here exists some indication that also amongst the Normans were many descendants of Benjamin and possibly also of Judah. The basic Norman stock may have come from Benjamin in addition to which the area of Normandy in France settled by them had previously belonged to the NAMNETES who may have derived their name from Naaman, a son of Benjamin."¹²

These Benjaminite Norsemen, within a couple of generations of their settlement in Normandy intermarried with the Breton inhabitants and pledged allegiance to the French king, losing their Scandinavian language, religion, and culture in the process. In short, they lost their identity and became Norman "French". In 1066, the Normans under William the Conqueror (Guillaume le Conquérant) invaded Britain and seeded the English upper classes with a significant infusion of Norman blood. The Normans' neighbours in France, the Belgae, may also have been Benjaminites, according to Davidy.¹³

Nineteenth-century British-Israel scholars agree with the Norman-Benjamin identification. Though approaching the problem from a somewhat different perspective than Davidy, one such scholar, W. M. H. Milner, writing under a pseudonym, observed that "the discovery of Benjamin in the Normans . . . is one of the most wonderful points in the whole story of Israel in Britain."¹⁴ British-Israel pioneer, Edward Hine, also declared, "we believe the Normans to correspond with the tribe of Benjamin."¹⁵ More modern scholars agree, though it is often added that Benjamin is also to be found among the Jews.

Other Israelite-descended tribes contributed significantly to the ethnic make-up of the Québécois. These include, most importantly, Simeon, Reuben, and Dan. If Craig White's "Dodanim" thesis, previously referred to, is correct, there may be a non-Hebrew element in the Quebec population as well. The role of these groups in forming the Québécois identity will be discussed later. For the present, I will confine myself to a further elaboration, from a Biblical and extra-Biblical prespective, of the francophone Quebecers' Benjaminite racial and ethnic inheritance.

A remarkable fact is that a battle cry of Benjamin is also the motto of Quebec! Speaking of the end-times, the prophet Hosea declared, "Blow ye the trumpet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Beth-aven, after thee O Benjamin"(Hosea 5:8). Of this last phrase, respected Bible scholar E. W. Bullinger, in a note to this passage in his Companion Bible, says that it is "[a]pparently a war-cry = '[Look] behind thee, O Benjamin!'". The Hebrew word used for "after" is achar. According to Strong's Concordance, the word means "back" or "behind" and is translated variously in the Bible as: continue, stay (there), or tarry (longer). The motto of Quebec is Je me souviens ("I remember"). When one remembers , one "looks backward" or "behind" to that which one ought to keep continually in one's memory.

It is significant that this phrase is a battle cry and that it is found in a chapter of Hosea dealing with the punishment of Israel. One uses a battle cry in a time of war. The struggle for independence on the part of the Quebec separatists is truly a political war being fought with all the desperation that the word implies. It is a war being fought "among the tribes of Israel" and especially against Ephraim. What are the results of that struggle? The next verse warns, "Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be" (Hosea 5:9). Is one of the things that "shall surely be" the independence of Quebec?

In ancient Israel, the territory of Benjamin adjoined that of three other tribes: Ephraim, Judah, and Dan. These tribes, sometimes including non-contiguous Manasseh, are often mentioned together in Scripture (Joshua 18:11; Judges 5:14; Psalm 80:3; I Chronicles 9:3; Ezekiel 48:32). The territory of Simeon was also not contiguous with that of Benjamin, yet this tribe played an important role in Benjamin's history. As well, the territory of Reuben lay across the Jordan river from Benjamin. The prophetic significance of this will be explained later. For a discussion of Simeon, Reuben, and Dan in Quebec history, see the subhead below.

In The Tribes, Yair Davidy discloses the historical fact that the tribes of the modern Israelite Diaspora settled in approximately the same geographical relationships to each other that they had occupied in the Holy Land millennia ago. Of the placement of the Ten Tribes vis-à-vis their neighbours, Davidy says that "not only in Scythia, but also in Northwest Europe the Israelite tribes maintained the same relative alignments towards each other as they had done originally in the Land of Israel."¹⁶ He could have added, in the New World as well, as we shall see.

We should expect therefore, if these alignments are valid for North America as well as Northwest Europe and Scythia, that Benjamin's neighbours in Canada should be Ephraim, Judah, Reuben, Dan, and Manasseh. Indeed, upon investigation, we find that this is precisely the case.

Quebec shares a land border with three Canadian provinces: Ontario to the west, New Brunswick to the east, and Newfoundland and Labrador to the north. It also borders the United States. It is in these regions that one will find settlements of the five tribes mentioned above, and thus further evidence of the Benjaminite ancestry of the Québécois.

Southern Ontario became the home of Ephraimite English loyalists fleeing the American Revolution. They had lost homes, farms, and businesses, often through theft and violence by the intolerant revolutionaries. Wishing to remain loyal to the British Crown, they, with their Indian allies and runaway black slaves, sought refuge in Canada, particularly southern Ontario and the Maritimes. So many United Empire Loyalists, as they came to be called, arrived in eastern Canada that a new province, New Brunswick, was created in 1784 to accommodate the influx. Many also settled in southern and eastern Quebec, becoming the ancestors, in part, of today's anglophone Quebecers.

That these immigrants or refugees were mainly Ephraimites, rather than Manassites, other Israelites, or even foreigners can be seen from the ethnic composition of the American Thirteen Colonies as well as from a deeper appreciation of the power of names and words in Hebrew thought and Biblical prophecy.

As for the racial or ethnic make-up of the Thirteen Colonies, Canadian British-Israel author George F. Jowett, writing of the relationship between Ephraim and Manasseh in North America, has this to say: "A point much overlooked," he states, after berating historians for their slipshod treatment of Canada's British heritage and America's English foundations, "is that from the beginning, settlement from 1584, to the Revolution, America was distinctly an English nation. No other people could settle in these colonies without a charter of permission granted by the Parliament of the King of England. Not until Scotland, and Ireland became part of the United Kingdom could its people freely migrate into the new world, like the English and Welsh, although special privilege was given to the Scottish and Irish reformists by reason of being Protestant."¹⁷

Furthermore, Jowett continues: "At the time of the Revolutionary war, the colonial records claim there were more than three million people in the Thirteen English Colonies, of whom 90% were English, 80% born in the Old Country. The great influx of real foreign emigrants did not pour into America, until about 1845, increasing heavily following the American Civil War."¹⁸

But if the population of the Thirteen Colonies was overwhelmingly of English stock, how can we know for certain that those who emigrated to Canada following the American War of Independence were Ephraimites and not Manassites? After all, both peoples were Anglo-Saxon, spoke the same language, and would to the casual observer, be identifiable as equally "English". The answer to this conundrum is found in the sure word of Scripture, and a careful consideration of the genius of the Hebrew language, especially as it relates to an understanding of individual and even national character in prophecy.

As the aged Jacob, also known as Israel, lay dying, he called his grandsons to his side and uttered a famous prophecy. Of Ephraim and Manasseh and their posterity he prophesied, after placing his right hand on Ephraim's head, "he [Manasseh] shall also become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother [Ephraim] shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations" (Genesis 48:19). This prophecy of a "great" people and a "multitude of nations" is almost universally understood by Ten Tribes scholars to refer to the United States of America and the British Commonwealth. Though the two peoples were to remain together for a time, they were later to separate. The words of Isaiah declare, "The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait [confining] for me: give place to me that I may dwell" (Isaiah 49:20). America was to be "lost" to Great Britain, a loss which indeed occurred during the period fom 1776 to 1783. But Canada was not to be lost. Therefore those Englishmen who fled to Canada during and immediately following the American Revolutionary War must have been Ephraimites; those who remained behind were Manassites, separated from the Mother Country, "lost" as it were for a purpose, in order to fulfill their peculiar destiny according to Scripture.

There is another manner in which, using the unique prophetic insight afforded by the Hebrew language, one may arrive at the same conclusion. In the Bible, God names things for what they are and people for the character they exhibit. Thus Israel's name means "prevailer with God" (Jacob's character) and Joseph means "increase" (Joseph's reward for obedience). These individual character traits of the patriarchs are passed on to their descendants as national traits.

Respected Israeli scholar Yair Davidy, after making a thorough study of the Hebrew meaning of the names Ephraim and Manasseh, concluded in a major work on the Ten Tribes identity as seen from a Jewish perspective, that prophetically speaking, Ephraim refers to a nation of nobility and aristocracy. Manasseh refers to a nation having a responsible or democratic form of government.¹⁹ These descriptions are particularly suited to Great Britain and the United States. It is therefore to be expected that at the outbreak of the American Revolution, those loyalist Englishmen who fled northward to Canada to live under the British Crown, would have been Ephraimites displaying the aristocratic sympathies of their ancient tribal heritage. Those remaining behind would have been the sons of Manasseh, loyal to tribal traits of their own.

Thus, we have seen from Scripture that, just as Benjamin in ancient Israel shared a border with Ephraim, so too does modern Benjamin in Canada border on Ephraim. Though not contiguous with Benjamin anciently, Manasseh was a close neighbour. Likewise, in these latter days, Manasseh—the United States of America—is a close neighbour of Benjamin in Quebec.

Anciently, Benjamin also shared a border with Judah in the Land of Israel. It is not unreasonable to expect a parallel to this circumstance in these modern times. Since there is no exclusively Jewish province or region in Canada however, where can we find Benjamin's Judahite neighbours in Quebec? The answer must be searched for within Quebec society itself.

Montreal is Quebec's largest city. It is also home to one of Canada's largest and most historically important Jewish communities. It is the Quebec headquarters of energetic Jewish businesses such as the giant Bronfmann empire. Jewish settlement in Quebec dates from 1760 when General Jeffery Amherst entered the city. An encyclopedic source reports that early Jewish settlers came from the United States, most settling in Montreal. In 1831, there were 107 Jewish inhabitants of Ontario and Quebec; twenty years later , the number had risen to 451.²⁰

Another source of Judahite ethnicity among the Québécois is found in the close relationship of Benjamin and Judah in post-Exilic times. Davidy, for instance, says that there is "some indication that also amongst the Normans [early settlers of Quebec] were many descendants of Benjamin and possibly also of Judah."²¹

In ancient times, Judah, along with the other tribes of Israel, fought Benjamin. A dispute had arisen over Benjamin's refusal to hand over to Israel, the murderers, dwellers in the land of Benjamin, of a Levite's concubine. A war ensued, resulting in the near annihilation of the Benjaminites. "There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day," moaned the Israelites, feeling pangs of regret for the brutality of their revenge (Judges 21:6). A breach in the unity of Israel had been made, for which the repentant Israelites held God responsible (v. 15).

In these latter days also, Judah, assisted by other peoples of Quebec, chiefly the English-speaking descendants of 18th- and 19th-century Ephraimite settlers, fought against the Quebec government's independence referendum, which was threatening to make a "breach" (separation) in the unity of the Israelite confederation of Canada. Losing the referendum by the smallest of margins, Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau complained bitterly that the loss was the result of the intervention of "money and the ethnic vote". By "money" it was understood he meant Jewish financial support of the anti-separatist side.

This war during the period of the judges of Israel, was the first of three revolts of the Benjaminites against Judah and Israel. The second occurred during the reign of David when Sheba, son of Bichri, a Benjaminite, led a rebellion against David in which "every man of Israel" followed Sheba (II Samuel 20:1-2). Though both rebellions were put down, the second was in part the result of David's foolishness in provoking Israel, especially Benjamin, to resentment and jealousy (II Samuel 19:41-43) and which culminated in a third revolt after the death of Solomon (I Kings 12:16). This revolt was successful and resulted in the political alienation of Israel and Judah.

There may be a prophetic parallel here. There have been two Quebec referendums, in 1980 and 1995. Both were defeated by anti-separatist forces, but the second only narrowly. The defeat of this latter referendum, in particular, resulted in feelings of resentment, bitterness, and jealousy, virtually guaranteeing a third referendum. If this prophetic parallel holds, this third "rebellion" against Israel and the second against the Davidic monarchy (as represented by King David's descendant, Queen Elizabeth II, the reigning monarch of Canada) may well succeed. Other prophecies such as Hosea 5:9 and Genesis 49:27 (explained below) also offer this possibility. Genesis 49:22, when linked to Genesis 49:7 is an additional prediction of Quebec independence, as explained below.

Though I have used words such as "revolt" and "rebellion" to describe Benjamin's confrontational attitude to Israel and Judah, the Benjaminites may not have seen things that way. In I Kings 11:36, according to Milner's interpretation, Benjamin is described as "a light alway" before the Lord in Jerusalem. Light implies truth, providing guidance for one who is in darkness; one may even infer from this that the light-bearer has the duty or right to exhort, rebuke, or correct those who err from the path provided by the light. Perhaps in their conflicts with their Israelite brethren the Benjaminites, consciously or not, thought of themselves as having the right to correct the other tribes. It may be that Shimei, the Benjaminite who cursed David thought it was only his right to correct David for his bloody ways. Likewise, to take an example from early Christian times, the apostle Paul, a half-Benjaminite who battled with the established religious leaders of his day, subconsciously perhaps, thought of himself as beng or providing a light to those same leaders, one which they refused to accept.

Benjamin shall "ravin as a wolf" says Scripture (Genesis 49:27). To ravin means to "pull to pieces" according to Strong's definition of the Hebrew word taraph, used in this passage, i.e., to separate one part of a body from the whole. Indeed, this is the clearly stated goal of the Quebec separatists, to separate Quebec from Canada, tearing off a piece (province) and creating a "breach" in Canadian unity. Not only would Quebec be torn from Canada, but Canada itself, according to deeply felt but rarely expressed fears of Canadians, would be "pulled to pieces" under relentless pressure from American expansionists, who covet Canadian land and resources.

Thus far we have seen evidence from secular history, Biblical parallels and prophecy that the Israelite tribe of Benjamin constitutes one of the major Hebrew tribes participating in the settlement of Quebec and is a dominating constituent of Québécois ethnicity. We have also seen that at least three sources in Scripture are parallels and/or prophecies of the Quebec referendum: 1) the modern parallels of Judges 19-21, II Samuel 20:1-2, and I Kings 12:16; 2) Hosea 5:9, and 3) Genesis 49:27. Another prophecy, Genesis 49:22 linked to Genesis 49:7, will be discussed later.

Evidence has also been brought forth from history, Biblical parallels and prophecy to indicate that Benjamin's neighbours in the Old World, Ephraim, Judah, and Manasseh are also Benjaminite Quebec's neighbours in the New World. We will now proceed to show that the Israelite tribes of Simeon, Reuben, and Dan also play an important role in the ethnic identity of the modern Québécois. Lastly, we will deal with the question of Dodanim settlement in Quebec, a view expressed by some scholars and researchers.

Of the several Israelite tribes which comprise the entire Québécois population, the tribe of Simeon is the most difficult to distinguish. This is because Simeon, along with Levi, was prophesied to be "divided in Jacob" and "scattered in Israel" (Genesis 49:7). A scattered people is more difficult to trace than a united people. An intertestamental source, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, in addition, says that Simeon shall not be a numerous people ("few in number"), shall be divided amongst Levi and Judah, and shall not be a sovereign people (Simeon 2:15). Nevertheless, we can begin our search for Simeon in Quebec, by noting the places of settlement of the Simeonites in their post-Exilic European home.

British-Israel scholars of the past century such as Edward Hine and modern investigators such as Harold Hemenway agree that the Welsh represent at least a part of the Simeonite settlement in Britain. Davidy traces the Welsh Silures to Shaul, son of Simeon.²²

In the time of the Greek geographer Ptolemy, c. 120 A.D., a people named the Samnites lived in Brittany; in the fifth and sixth centuries, Brittany was invaded by a kindred tribe, the Simeni, from Britain. Both are identified as Simeonites by Davidy.²³ Later, these Simeonites intermarried with Norsemen (the Normans) who settled northern France in the ninth and tenth centuries. Thus it is to be expected that of the Norman heritage of the Québécois, a certain portion is Simeonite.

The Simeonites of Brittany's past are today's Bretons, generally acknowledged by historians as a "Celtic" people, closely related to the Cornish and Welsh, more remotely to the Scots and Irish. The popular culture of Quebec, especially that of music and dance, is also overwhelmingly Celtic, both Brythonic (Breton) and Gaelic (due to an Irish influence, explained below).

"Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations" says the prophecy of Genesis 49:5. Because they are mentioned together, we should expect to find the one where we find the other. Again, Davidy sees Levi paired with both Simeon and Judah in the Diaspora of the Ten Tribes. Since both Simeon and Judah are present in Quebec we should expect to find Levi with them. But what are "instruments of cruelty"?

It has been thought by some that if the Walloons of Belgium are Levites (a view proposed by Olson,²⁴ among others) then the phrase "instruments of cruelty" must refer to the war machines that have trod Belgian soil for centuries. But there is a Canadian connection overlooked by those who have concentrated so much attention on locating the Ten Tribes in Europe.

In 1963, a series of bombs, cruel instruments indeed, exploded in Montreal. They had been planted by the terrorist Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ). In 1970, the FLQ struck again by kidnapping British trade commissioner James Cross and Quebec labour minister Pierre Laporte. "Cursed be their [Simeon's and Levi's] anger," continues the prophecy, "for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel" (Genesis 49:7). Even the murder of Pierre Laporte finds a resonance in prophecy: "for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall" (v. 6). In ancient Israel, towns and cities were protected by fortified walls; to "dig down" a wall meant to expose a city's inhabitants to outside invasion—and terrorism. Is it possible that the perpetrators of these bombing crimes were Simeonites or Levites fulfilling the anger, cruelty, fierceness, and wrath (all words used in Genesis 49:5-7) of the prophecy?

But there is another way that this phrase may be understood, and which points equally, and perhaps more so, to Simeonite and Levite presence in Quebec. In Genesis 49:22, it is prophesied of Joseph that "his branches [descendants] run over the wall [national boundaries]." In other words, Joseph's descendants were to become so numerous that they were to overflow these national boundaries and become a colonising people.

Since Confederation in 1867, Quebecers have lived behind the "wall" (national boundaries) of Canada. In prophetic terms, Canada is Joseph (Ephraim). Simeon and Levi are prophesied to "dig down," meaning destroy, a wall, a national boundary. Whose boundary will they break down or destroy? It can only be Joseph's! It is Canada's boundary they will destroy, perhaps by helping Benjamin to set up one of his own (Quebec independence), and in the process leave the country open for invasion from abroad—troops from a hostile European power, for example. Furthermore, Simeon and Levi are "cursed" for their action, because the "wall" surrounding Canada is God-ordained and "cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark" (Deuteronomy 27:17). A landmark is, for all practical purposes, a boundary.

Reuben is also another very important constituent of the Québécois people, and not one to be overlooked. However, let us make it clear that Reuben is only a part of the Quebec people and not the whole. In a previous section, "A Common Misconception," it was shown that simply because a people may speak a certain language, does not mean that that people belongs to the same nationality or ethnic group that has given its name to that language. Thus most Quebecers speak French (even anglophones are often bilingual) but this does not necessarily make them French (i.e., Reubenite) in tribal terms. Nevertheless, Reubenites are certainly present in Quebec. Unlike Simeon and Levi who were prophesied to be divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel, no such prophecy is said of Reuben, making Reuben's influence in Quebec, theoretically, easier to trace. To do so, however, we will need to begin with Quebec geography, which in turn will lead us to another amazing Biblical parallel.

The mighty St. Lawrence river bisects Quebec into western and eastern regions, with most of the province lying west of the river. On the east bank of the river lies a region called the Eastern Townships, an area of mixed English and French settlement. It is in eastern Quebec that Beauce county is located, a county famous throughout the province for its individualistic, industrious, and independent-minded people, traits not unlike those of the tribe of Reuben. So much of these characteristics do the Beaucerons exhibit, that Quebecers have given the region the nickname, the "Republic of the Beauce".

In France, Beauce, after which the Quebec county is named, was a province adjoining the Ile-de-France, an area of Reubenite settlement. It is not too much to expect that Reubenites should have settled Beauce as well, though other tribes may have also inhabited the region. Here is where we must reach back to Israelite settlement patterns in the Holy Land, and, incidentally, find further confirmation of Yair Davidy's tribal placement theory.

In ancient Israel, Reuben occupied the east bank of the Jordan, across the river from the territory of Benjamin, adjoining Gad, with East Manasseh to the north. In Quebec, the Reubenites of the Eastern Townships and adjoining areas, occupy the east bank of the St. Lawrence, across the river from their Benjaminite brethren in western Quebec, with "East Manasseh" (America east of the Mississippi river) on their border. Thus it is that Reuben, Benjamin, and Manasseh are neighbours in the New World as they were in the Old World.

But there are more parallels. As the Israelites were invading Canaan and Gilead, the tribe of Reuben, being pleased with the fertile land east of the Jordan, requested Moses that they be allowed to settle there and not go over to the west of the river. For "the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and . . . they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle" (Numbers 32:1). Evidently, Gilead east of the Jordan was ideal cattle-grazing country, and productive of much of Israel's wealth in that particular husbandry.

Even so, in modern Quebec, east of the St. Lawrence, lies most of the province's fertile agricultural land, and its dairy industry. In the 1980's Quebec was responsible for 47% of Canada's fluid milk production; that figure has declined somewhat but still nearly 40% of the entire country's fluid milk comes from Quebec.²⁵ Eastern Quebec, settled by English Ephraimite refugees from the American Revolutionary War, Reubenites from France, and other Israelites, is indeed a "place for cattle". The region also adjoins Manasseh; in ancient Israel, Manasseh was a close neighbour of Reuben.

Curiously, it is in this region of Quebec that we find place-names evocative of the entrance into Canaan and Gilead over three thousand years ago of the tribes of Israel, in particular the first to be given their inheritance: Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh. For instance, in eastern Quebec we find St-Gédéon, St-Elzéar, St-Joseph-de-Beauce, and St-Ephrem-de-Tring.

Gideon (Gédéon) was one of the early judges of Israel; Eleazar (Elzéar) was consecrated priest after the death of Aaron shortly before the entrance of Israel into Canaan (Deuteronomy 10:6); Joseph was the birthright tribe and was given the largest share of the inheritance; Ephraim (Ephrem) is a place-name found, coincidentally (?), in the same area of Quebec inhabited by English-speaking Ephraimites.

Thus, those who say that the Québécois are descended from Reuben are at least partly correct. The mistake that some of these researchers have made is that because francophone Quebecers come from France, that they must therefore all be Reubenites. Such is simply not the case.

The tribe of Dan, chiefly the Irish, is also represented in Quebec society in significant numbers. However, a term used by Québécois nationalists must be explained here, and that is the concept of pure laine, (literally, "pure wool"). This term describes those francophone Quebecers who are descended from the early French colonists. Although many of the Irish in Quebec have been settled in the province nearly as long as the Québécois themselves, and over the generations have learned French and have become an accepted part of Quebec society, they are not, strictly speaking, pure laine. That is, the ancestors of the Quebec Irish were not born in France.

It is universally understood among Ten Tribes researchers that Dan is represented in the modern world largely by the Irish, though Danites are found in other ethnic groups as well, as Davidy has demonstrated. The story of Danite Irish immigration into Quebec begins in the earliest times with the formation of political and military links between southern Ireland and France. It is thought that 5% of the population of New France was Irish,²⁶ and certain Irish names were corrupted into French, for example, Reilly to Riel or Casey to Caissie. Later immigrants, those in the 19th century, kept their Irish names, settled in Quebec and prospered. Except for their names, they became more or less indistinguishable from the native Québécois. Two modern-day premiers of Quebec, both named Johnson, were of Irish descent as was a recent Quebec-born prime minister of Canada, Brian Mulroney.

Israelites, however, are not the only peoples to be found in Quebec. Besides aboriginal peoples and immigrants from all over the world, evidence has come to light that a European non-Hebrew people may also be present in the province. These are the Dodanim and are the subject of the following discussion.

Some scholars have expressed the view that the Québécois are at least partly descended from Dodanim, a Japhetic people said to inhabit central France. Two exponents of this view are Craig White and Harold Hemenway. The latter, for his part, in a book offering Biblical identities for the world's peoples, and after a brief review of areas of the world possibly settled by Dodanim, states bluntly that Quebec is "largely" Dodanim.²⁷ White, in giving a more extensive argument, concludes that "the Quebecans [Québécois] of Canada are over-whelmingly from Alpine Dodanim stock."²⁸

However, such conclusions need to be reinterpreted in the face of additional historical knowledge and prophetic revelation; if this is done, very different, if not almost opposite inferences can be drawn from such an evaluation. The Quebec-is-Dodanim hypothesis is wrong for two reasons: firstly, it does not agree with the Biblical parallels and prophecies pertaining to the Québécois, nor does it accord with any known prophecy of either the rise or fall of modern Israel, and, secondly, it does not agree with the historical settlement patterns of the "French" immigrants to Quebec based on census records. The reader may refresh his memory regarding the former by reading again the appropriate parts of this work. The second point, however, requires some explanation.

As mentioned previously in the section, "The Racial Origins of the Early Settlers of Quebec," over 50% of the immigrants to Quebec came from provinces north of the Loire river. Most of the rest came from the southwest. Only 7% came from other regions, including central and southern France. It is important here that we be accurate in defining which provinces belong to which geographical region.

Unfortunately, White, to use his argument as an example, is not very geopolitically precise in his definition of central France, in which Dodanim are said to dwell. He does say, however, that "the central/eastern French and also the majority of Bretons are Dodanim Alpines (55% of the population)"²⁹ and that a branch of Dodanim may have settled in Languedoc.³⁰ Brittany, however, is not in central France, but in the extreme northwest; the province of Languedoc is in the south and the waters of the Mediterranean lap its shores. Central and southern France may indeed have been areas of Dodanim settlement, but they are not, in overwhelming measure, the areas where the ancestors of the Québécois came from.

In the year 1700, at the height of French immigration to Quebec, only 7% of the immigrants, as previously noted, came from "other regions"—central and southern France and two or three other provinces in the northeast and southwest. From the comparative data available for that year, we can deduce that central and eastern France consists of the provinces of Orléanais, Berry, Marche, Nivernais, Bourbonnais, Auvergne, Bourgogne (Burgundy), Franche-Comté, Lorraine, Alsace, and possibly Touraine and Limousin. Southern France would be Languedoc, Dauphiné, Venaissin, Provence, Rousillion, and possibly Foix. Other areas included in this 7% would be Flandres (Flanders) and Artois in the extreme northeast and Béarn and Gascogne (Gascony) in the southwest.

In order for the Quebec-is-Dodanim hypothesis to have a convincing validity it would have to be shown that the areas of France north of the Loire, from which Quebec received the majority of its immigrants was overwhelmingly Dodanim in population; but we have already seen, and we believe history shows, that these were areas of predominantly Benjaminite, Simeonite, and Reubenite settlement. Alternatively, it would have to be shown that after 1700, Quebec received large numbers of immigrants from central and southern France. But there is no such record in the census books and emigration from France virtually ceased after 1760.

Thus it is obvious that if these areas of central and southern France were areas of Dodanim settlement, and if only 7% of Québécois came from these areas, then the percentage of Québécois that is Dodanim must be very low—a distinct minority and not the large or overwhelming majority as claimed by some.

On the basis of the preceding secular and Biblical historical evidence, and what I believe to be a proper understanding of prophetic revelation, I conclude that the modern French-speaking Québécois people are descended from four Israelite tribes: Benjamin, Simeon, Reuben, and Judah. An argument could be made for substituting Levi for Judah, but this may not be necessary as Levi is found with Simeon and Judah in any case. There are also significant and important numbers of Ephraimites and Danites within Quebec society, and although these peoples, particularly the latter, have adapted well to, and become a part of Quebec's social structure, they are not to be equated with the pure laine Québécois whose ancestors came from France centuries ago. There may also be a small non-Israelite minority of Dodanim.

This conclusion is brought out in a colourful and dramatic way in one of Quebec's most cherished symbols: its flag. The flag of Quebec consists of a white cross on a blue field. Thus there are four blue corners on the flag. Each corner contains a white fleur-de-lis. This emblem has for centuries been an emblem of France, in particular its kings. As Davidy notes, the fleur-de-lis may find its antecedent in the mandrakes, said to have a blue or white flower, that Reuben found in the field and gave to his mother Leah; she in turn traded ("hired" in Biblical language) them to Rachel in exchange for a night with Jacob. It was this conjugal union that produced Issachar (Genesis 30:14-18).

The flag, with its fleur-de-lis device, is symbolic of Quebec's past political ties with France. One of these fleurs-de-lis clearly represents Reuben, ancestor of the French; the other three represent Reuben's fellows in Quebec: Benjamin, Simeon, and Judah.

What of the future? Why should there be a Quebec independence movement at all? The reason, ultimately, lies in the fact that Biblical prophecy is being fulfilled before our eyes. Most of these prophecies are concerned with the rise and fall of the tribes of Israel; other nations are mentioned only insofar as they come into contact with Israel. It is modern Israelites, (British, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Americans, and Northwest Europeans and Jews), wherever they have settled in the world, who must endure the time of "Jacob's trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7), a time of punishment from God for Israel's grievous national sins. These sins, if left unpunished and unrepented of, would evetually lead to the complete destruction of Israel. God will not allow that to happen. Therefore, He is sending, and will send upon us more severe yet, punishments of "natural" disasters, famines, disease epidemics, and ultimately military invasion by our traditional enemies, the Germans (Isaiah 10:5-6). He des this to encourage his people of Israel to repent, to return to Him, and be redeemed by the coming Messiah. Without this repentance, return, and redemption, the Millennium, the new world of peace under God's rule, cannot be born.

Prophecy declares that "Ephraim [Israel in general, the British countries in particular] shall be desolate in the day of rebuke"(Hosea 5:9). The independence of Quebec, which both Biblical prophecy and modern political events, seem to indicate will come to pass, will bring with it a certain instability. The Canadian dollar will suffer as will our political institutions. For instance, although the government of Canada says it has no plans to do so, it is likely that a weak-kneed government will dispose of the monarchy to appease hotheaded Quebec separatists and "keep the country united". The effect, however, will be precisely the opposite. Incidentally, indications are that the Royal Family will be led into captivity with the rest of Israel, though it seems likely that one or two members of the Royal Family will receive divine protection just as God protected Zedekiah's daughters after the fall of Jerusalem. Certainly the Coronation Stone, also known as the Stone of Scone, Stone of Destiny, or Jacob's pillow tone, upon which nearly all British sovereigns have been crowned, will be specially protected.

Exactly how Quebec independence will come about, perhaps God will leave to the political powers of this world to decide. There are two political powers, however, who are intensely interested in, and supportive of, Quebec independence. These are the emerging European Empire and certain factions within the United States government. This is a subject which requires a much greater elaboration, but so that Canadians and students of history and prophecy are not caught unawares, I will discuss this briefly.

Craig White, in a work devoted to exposing the true history, identity and future might of the Germans and the United States of Europe which they will undoubtedly lead, reveals part of the answer. A split has occurred, according to White, between the American-based internationalists and European-based internationalists.³¹ Both groups are competing for control of certain key areas of the world such as the Middle East, South Africa, and, Canada. Both groups envy and lust after Canada's vast storehouse of seemingly unlimited natural wealth. Like South African gold and stategic minerals, it is vitally important to their competing plans for world domination—a competition, which, given Biblical prophecy, the American expansionists can only lose.

As White astutely, perhaps presciently, observes, "Quebec is poised today like a dagger at the heart of North America. She may yet play a large part in the efforts of the soon-coming United States of Europe—a National European Socialist Empire—comprising overwhelmingly the Alpine and Mediterranoid elements of Europe but relatively few Nordics. Quebec may be their launching pad into North America!"³²

What sort of trouble could be expected from a European domination of Quebec? One example would be the St. Lawrence Seaway. A European-controlled Quebec could prohibit shipments of Canadian and American grain and other exports through this vital sea gate. Alternatively, the same St. Lawrence passage could be used to transport European troops to Canada, or carry Canadian and American prisoners to a German-dominated Europe (Hosea 9:3).

At the very least the separation of Quebec from the rest of Canada would create a major social disruption. English-speaking Quebecers (anglophones) and those whose mother tongue is neither English nor French (allophones) and native Indians would rebel; attitudes both on the part of the separatists and Canadians outside Quebec would harden. Violence would ensue and one of the world's important national economies, that of Canada's, would be thrown into a tailspin. Under such conditions, Canada could expect to have a "peace-keeping" force on its soil in short order. But would such a force be American or European?

Most likely such a military intervention would be made under United Nations auspices and European troops would probably be involved in such a force. This would certainly include German troops. It is a revived Holy Roman Empire of Europe and its military which is prophesied to "double cross" the nations of Israel, particularly the English-speaking nations of the British Commonwealth and the United States. "Peace-keeping" troops whether in Canada, the Middle East, or South Africa, are prophesied to be used traitorously and suddenly against modern Israel. Many prophecies attest to this. Read Isaiah, chapter 10; Hosea 5:13-15, 7:11, 8:9-10; Habakkuk 2:7; Ezekiel 16:28, 37, 23:22-24, 33; Joel, chapter two. The interval of time between the time such troops may be used in Canada and the beginning of "Jacob's trouble" (the Great Tribulation) is not known. But the fact that such an international force of troops could be used illustrates the growing power of Europe.

The independence of Quebec is a portent of great distress for the people of Canada and its largest province. But it is only the storm before the calm. After the chaos of the next few years, the Québécois, all Canadians, and all other Israelites who survive the Tribulation, will find a world of joy, prosperity, and peace awaiting them. Repentant Israelites in their millions will return not only to the land of their ancestors in the Middle East, but to their God. Christ Himself will set His hand to saving them spiritually; David will be resurrected through the mighty power of the Father, and will be their king. "They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them;" says the Lord God, "I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn" (Jeremiah 31:9).

The French-speaking people of Quebec, who presently desire to be maîtres chez nous ("masters in our own house") will serve a new Master—the glorified Christ. New lords and saviours will appear (Obadiah 1:21) to teach all Israelites—British, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Americans, Northwest Europeans, and Jews and all others wherever they may live—the ways of the Lord God of Israel. Isaiah says of that day, "And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem"(Isaiah 2:3).

In that day, and only then, will the words of a visiting French politician to Quebec ring true. In 1967, Charles de Gaulle, president of the Fifth Republic, uttered words that created a controversy at the time. Speaking from a balcony to a large, enthusiastic crowd below him, he was reminded of similar jubilant crowds that thronged him after France was delivered from Nazi tyranny at the close of World War II. Overwhelmed by the emotion of the moment, he proclaimed, "Vive le Québec! Vive le Québec libre!" ("Long live Quebec! Long live free Quebec!")

The words could have been prophetic. For it is only after being delivered from a future Nazi-type tyranny by the mighty hand of God, that the Québécois people will be liberated from the scourges that currently beset them—political infighting and corruption, burdensome taxes, crime, poverty, and sickness—by learning to obey the laws of God which will prevent these problems from arising in the first place. In that day, and not before, the Québécois will be truly free.

1. The possibility of a Hebrew origin for the name Canada should not be overlooked. It is known that the Iroquois had contact with Europeans prior to Columbus; a loan word from perhaps Scandinavian or Celtic may have sounded like "kanata" and meant something like "village". Or perhaps the Iroquois picked up the word from earlier Israelite or Phoenician voyagers or traders.

It is interesting to note that there was a Mahaneh-Dan in ancient Israel (from the verb "chaneh," to make camp). In southern Arabia there was a kingdom of Kinda, a Samarkand ("camp of Samaria") in Central Asia, a Sea of Candia in the Mediterranean, and of course, Canada. Mahaneh-Dan, Kinda, and Canada were all areas of Danite settlement. For a further discussion of Kinda, see Yair Davidy, Ephraim, pp. 23-26.

2. In 1990, a confrontation erupted near Oka, Quebec, between the Iroquois and the provincial government over a piece of land the Iroquois claimed as theirs (a burial ground) but which a neighbouring municipality wanted to use as a golf course! The Indians may have had help, however, and provocation from outside Canada's borders has been alleged. See Floyd W. Rudmin, "Is the Sky Falling or What?" (unpublished paper), and Rudmin, Bordering on Aggression, (Voyageur Publishing, Prescott, Ontario, Canada).

3. White, Craig M., Who are the Germans?. Sydney, Australia: History Research Projects, 1994, p. 47.

4. Davidy, Yair, The Tribes. Hebron, Israel: Russell-Davis Publishers, p. 440.

5. Davidy, ibid., p. 166.

6. "Les Francs RIPUAIRES, ainsi que la plupart des tribus franques étaient des peuples de race germanique. Mais il n'en est pas de même en ce qui concerne tous les FRANCS SALIENS. Dans leur ensemble les Francs Saliens n'étaient pas germaniques: C'ETAIENT DES ISRAELITES! Et pour des raisons que nous allons voir, ils comprenaient notamment des descendants de la tribu de JUDA. (Dibar Apartian, Les Pays de la Langue Française selon la Prophétie. Pasadena, California: Worldwide Church of God, 1982, p. 66).

7. Olson, S. Gusten, The Incredible Nordic Origins. Sevenoaks, Kent, England: Nordica S.F. Ltd., 1981, p. 185.

8. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: Hurtig Publishers, 1989, Vol. II, p. 1239.

9. The Canadian Encyclopedia, I:629.

10. The Canadian Encyclopedia, II:696.

11. An anonymously written pamphlet published by a Canadian British-Israel organisation cites "reliable secular sources" which indicate that 88% of French-speaking Quebecers are of Norman and Breton descent. The sources are not named. (Anonymous, "The Separatist Movement in Quebec or Who are the French-Canadians?". Burnaby, B.C. , Canada: The Association of the Covenant People, p. 1).

12. Davidy, op. cit., p. 235.

13. Davidy, op. cit., p. 236.

14. "Oxonian." [W. M. H. Milner], Israel's Wanderings. London: R. Folkhard & Son, 1900. Fourth edition, p. 125.

15. Hine, Edward, Identity of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel with the Anglo-Saxons. Burnaby, B.C.: The Association of the Covenant People. Abridged version, p. 49.

16. Davidy, op.cit., p. 427.

17. Jowett, George F., Dominion. Burnaby, B.C.: The Association of the Covenant People, p. 44.

18. Jowett, ibid., p. 54.

19. Davidy, Yair, Ephraim. Jerusalem: Russell-Davis Publishers, 1995, pp. 61-76.

20. The Canadian Encyclopedia, II:918.

21. Davidy, The Tribes, p. 235.

22. Davidy, ibid., p. 337.

23. Davidy, ibid., p. 337.

24. Olson, op. cit., pp. 126-132.

25. Canada Year Book, 1994, p. 481.

26. The Canadian Encyclopedia, II:901.

27. Hemenway, Harold, Is the Bible Racist?. Seattle, Wash.: Harold Hemenway, 1995, p. 35.

28. White, Craig M., The Central French, Northern Italians, Spanish and Japanese . . . the modern day descendants of Dodanim and Tarshish!. Sydney, Australia: History Research Projects, 1994, p. 6.

29. White, ibid., p. 6.

30. White, ibid., p. 4.

31. White, Craig M., Who are the Germans?, p. 65.

32. White, The Central French, p. 6.