Farewell to the Vachibou - July 01, 2008
What do you get if you cross a cow and moose? A bit of an embarrassment it seems.
The French government has quietly killed off a rather unsuccessfully hybrid animal created in February, the half cow / half caribou Vachibou (vache being French for cow).
“The Vachibou is a hybrid animal with a very short lifespan,” a spokesman for the French consulate in Quebec says AFP. The paper refers to the short lived beast as a “chimeric hybrid”.
If this were a real animal it would have an even shorter lifespan that the incredibly short lived chameleon featured on the Great Beyond. Luckily it’s not a real animal, but an example of what happens when designers don’t check their biology facts...
It is, in fact, a logo produced by the French for their sponsored events celebrating Quebec City’s 400th anniversary. The Canadian National Post explains: “Named the Vachibou (Cowibou), the distinctive creature was intended as a hybrid of the dairy cattle of Normandy, homeland of Quebec's original settlers, and the wild caribou that roam the Quebec tundra.”
However when it was unveiled it was noted that the antlers on the design were of a moose, not a caribou. And it was a female cow with male antlers, which seemed odd to some people.
Initial plans to redraft a more “anatomically correct” version of the animal have been shelved and the animal has quietly been put out to pasture.
See a picture of the beast here.
Comments
Just had to write to let you know that the story of the vachibou is an
hilarious irony to indigenous Mi'gmaq of the Atlantic and Quebec.
In our language, Gepe'q is the original indigenous name for Quebec. It
means where the waters narrow. So "Quebec" is a newer version of an
indigenous word, as Canada is to Ganata.
But the funny part is our word for "cow". Obviously, cows are an import to
the new world, consequently called by the First Peoples to encounter them: "wen'jitia'm" which
translates to "frenchmen's moose". To break down our word for cow (source
Micmac lexicon, Deblois/Metallic) or visit www.migmaqonline.ca:
wenuj: frenchman
ti'am: moose
So for us, the logo is actually quite appropriate because it reflects our
reception of the "cow" to our territories. But it's also both sad and hilarious to see the modern irony of colonization, playing out as it is. The message is to both France and Quebec that colonization is not something to celebrate. When will
France, Gepeq and Ganata learn that colonization is not o.k.---the root of
residential schools and "great frauds and abuses". Why celebrate? A greater force is at work to mock this celebration, I think.
Please inform your readers of these historical facts.
Wela'lieg, (we thank you)
Donna Isaac of Listuguj QC.
Posted by: Donna Isaac | July 2, 2008 10:30 AM
Well written Donna, I could not have written it any better, thats exactly what we call the cow in our language and thats the historical translation behind the meaning.
lol at the picture haha, I think I'm going to use that for a satirical cartoon sometime. Anyways Ciao people. Any thank you Donna for representing well. Stay well sista.
Eva from Oonamaki - The Land of the mist and food now more well known and Cape Breton.
Posted by: Eva Nicholas | July 2, 2008 07:03 PM