#acadians

[twistingtreeancestry]

Acadian Day (LA)

While this day is to celebrate the resilience, contribution, and culture of Acadians, it's also Native American Heritage Day, so I'd also like to celebrate and thank the Wabanaki Confederacy, specifically the Mi'kmaq, Penobscot, and Wolastoqey Nations.

Without the Mi'kmaq Nation accepting the French colonizers onto their land and extending a hand of peace and teaching, the French would not have easily survived, if at all.

Thanks to the bravery and resistance of the Penobscot and Wolastoqey Nations, some of the Acadians were able to evade capture, deportation, and death. If not for them, there would have been nothing for the returning Acadians to come home to.

Thanks to all of them, the Acadians were able to settle deep roots that would resound through time.

Wela'lin, Mi'kmaq Nation.

Woliwoni, Penobscot Nation.

Woliwon, Wolastoqey Nation.

We owe more than we could ever repay to you.

⋘ ⋙

In honor of my ancestors who came to Nova Scotia from France and those who left Nova Scotia to France or Louisiana.

|| Paternal Grandfather's Father's Line

Charles Olivier Miquel Guillot (1746 Nova Scotia, CA - 1845 Louisiana, USA) and his wife Madeline Josephe [Boudreaux/Boudrot] Guillot (1744 Nova Scotia, CA - N/A).

Charles' father, Jean Baptiste Guillot (1720 Nova Scotia, CA - 1759 Atlantic Ocean).

Jean's mother, Marguerite [Doiron] Guillot (1669 Nova Scotia, CA - 1759 Nova Scotia, CA).

Marguerite's parents, Jean Doiron (1677 Nova Scotia, CA - 1735 Nova Scotia, CA) and Marie Anne [Trahan] Doiron (1671 Nova Scotia, CA - 1710 Nova Scotia, CA).

Mary Anne's parents, Guillaume Trahan (1611 France - 1682 Nova Scotia, CA) and Madeleine [Brun] Trahan (1645 France - 1700 Nova Scotia, CA).

Madeleine's parents, Vincent Brun (1611 France - 1693 Nova Scotia, CA) and Marie Renee [Breau] Brun (1616 France - 1686 Nova Scotia, CA).

|| Paternal Grandmother's Mother's Line

Silvain Sonnier, Sr. (1736 Nova Scotia, CA - 1801 Louisiana, USA) and his wife Marie Magdeleine [Bourg] Sonnier (1744 Nova Scotia, CA - 1814 Louisiana, USA).

Jean Baptiste Granger (c1741 Nova Scotia - 1842 Louisiana, USA) and his wife Susanne [Cormier] Granger (c1763 Nova Scotia, CA - 1800 Louisiana, USA).

Alexandre Aucoin (1725 Nova Scotia, CA - 1780 France) and his wife Isabelle [Duhon] Aucoin (c1750 Nova Scotia - 1817 Louisiana, USA).

[mostlythemarsh]

There is a monument here to recognize the engineering skills of the 17th century Acadians who drained the salt marshes to create arable fields. Dykes and aboiteaux constructed at the time are still in use today. There were lovely long pressure treated beams on these posts. They went missing in short order. What remains is perhaps now a monument to the engineering skills of the 21st century locals.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Wolastoqiyik, Mi'kmaq, Acadians call for Higgs' resignation as legislature reopens

Groups hold tintamarre in Fredericton calling for improved minority rights

The sound of noisemakers, horns and the chants from hundreds of people — some calling on Premier Blaine Higgs to resign — marked the opening of a new sitting of the New Brunswick Legislature on Tuesday.

"Ho ho, Higgs must go. Ho ho, Higgs must go," chanted some in the crowd on the lawn of the legislature

Groups representing Mi'kmaw, Wolastoqey and Acadian communities organized the rally to draw attention to what they consider is the Higgs government's unfair treatment of minority groups in the province.

Adopting the fashion of an Acadian tintamarre, the crowd of about 300 people marched from city hall to the legislature, where leaders, including Sitansisk First Nation Chief Allan Polchies, gave speeches lambasting the government.

"Our diversity was a catalyst that drove us to organize this event for today," he said. "Today we are combining our voices to advocate for the respect for the First Peoples and minority groups here in New Brunswick."

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[noelcollection]

On this day in 1755, the Expulsion of the Acadians (Fr: Le Grand Dérangement) began. The nine-year-long British deportation of French settlers from Acadia served as the historical backdrop for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem, Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie.

As portrayed in the poem, British forces forcibly removed Acadians from what are now the Canadian Maritime Provinces and the state of Maine because they questioned the French settlers’ loyalty to the British Crown during the French and Indian War. The Acadians were deported to various American colonies and even sent as far away as Great Britain and France. In the 1780s, French politician Henri Peyroux de la Coudrenière spearheaded a project to resettle the exiles in Louisiana, and the Louisiana Acadians became known as the “Cajuns.”

The featured photogravure illustrations of Evangeline were drawn by Sir Frank Dicksee.

Images from: Porter, Noah. Evangeline: The Place, the Story and the Poem. New York: Cassell, Petter, Galpin, 1882.

Call number: PS2263 .P6 1882

Catalog record: https://bit.ly/3jHiqEL

[tzifron]

Colby Gaudet from Annapolis County, N.S., has discovered through their PhD research that their Acadian ancestors not only owned slaves, but fought for the right to keep them even with abolition on the horizon.

The way the article mentions slave owning as a “custom” someone could “pick up” from time spent in the states is a bit jarring.

"I'm not by any means saying that all Acadians at this time would have been slave owners," Gaudet said. "In fact, I'm specifically focusing in on these few names as representing sort of an elite strata of Acadian society at that time."

[...]

Charmaine Nelson, an art history professor at McGill University, said slave ownership was rampant in Nova Scotia, both among those of British and French origin.

"We have this misperception that slavery was only in the hands of the richest, most elite whites and that's not the case," Nelson said. "Because of that, we don't understand how pervasive slavery was in Canada."

She's studied the ads that slave owners printed in newspapers to sell slaves or track down those who ran away. Slave owners often signed their names to the ads, along with occupations that spanned social classes: butcher, tailor, military man and governor.

[...]

Nelson applauds Gaudet's bravery in being willing to confront a dark family secret, and she's encouraging other Canadians to do the same.

Slavery is not a Black history, she said, but one that everyone, regardless of race, must carry and learn from.

"There's a very good chance that some of your ancestors, if you go back in that family tree, had something to do with slavery, directly or indirectly," she said. "The question is do you want to know about it, and what do you do about it once you know?"

[...]

People like to tell only part of the story — that Acadians were persecuted by the English and that Black slaves fled the U.S. for safety in Canada, she said. But that's not the whole truth. 

[everbayou]

Folk Tale: M’su Carencro and Mangeur de Poulet (Mr. Buzzard and the Chicken Hawk)

M’su Carencro, the Buzzard, was sitting in a tree waiting for something to drop dead so he could feast. It had been days since he had a decent meal. Then out of nowhere came flying in Mangeur de Poulet, the Chicken Hawk. Mangeur de Poulet notices M’su Carencro in his tree and calls out “ Ca Va, mon padnat?” (How’s it goin’, friend?)

M’su Carencro cawed back “Ca va mal! (Not good at all!) I am starving! I been here waiting for something to drop dead for the pas’ couple of days. I just want my supper.” 

“And why is that padnat?” says the confident and full of himself Chicken Hawk.”If you are hungry, you just go get it yourself like I do. Why dont’cha just catch you some fresh meat? You have to look out for yourself if you gonna make it in this world, mon ami.” (My friend.)

“Non!“ (No!) said M’su Carencro. “You don’t understand how this works. I have to for somethin’ to drop dead before I can eat it. This is my purpose given to me by le Bon Dieu.” (The Good God) 

“Le Bon Dieu? Non! Don’t bother with the Good God. Even if he does exist, what says you that he cares if you eat? You have to look out fo’ yourself like I do. I’ll show you how to take care of yourself and not depen’ on anyone else!” said Mangeur de Poulet. 

And with that the Chicken Hawk soared in to the air, doing fancy flips and maneuvers. The Buzzard followed along at a safe distance behind watching in amazement at how agile Mangeur de Poulet was. They soon came upon a wide empty field and noticed some movement down below.

A fat, juicy rabbit was darting below; quick and agile trying to avoid the Chicken Hawk. The Chicken Hawk grew closer to the rabbit and thought that he had him for sure. At the last moment Mangeur de Poulet talons graced the rabbits fur as he dropped in to a den hole near a fence post. Before Mangeur de Poulet could realize what had happened, he hit that pole at full speed. 

The Chicken Hawk fell straight dead to the ground. M’su Carencro landed next to him and looked up to the sky. “Merci beaucoup, mon Grand Bon Dieu!” (Good God almighty, thank you!) He then grins and says “Suppertime!”

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Heritage Minutes: Acadian Deportation

The Acadians are descendants of early French settlers who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1604 and built a distinct culture and society over generations. Their peaceful existence was uprooted in 1755 when over 10,000 Acadians were ripped from their homeland to ensure British rule in North America. This Heritage Minute portrays the deportation through the eyes of an Acadian mother. 

For more information about the Acadian Deportation, please visit: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-deportation-of-the-acadians-feature

Tagging: @ontarionewsnow @abpoli @politicsofcanada @nspoli

[noelcollection]

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote an epic poem about Evangeline on her journey to find her lost love, Gabriel. Her story takes place during the Expulsion of the Acadians in 1755-1764. Her grave shrine (The Evangeline Oak) is located in Saint Martinville, Louisiana.

(images from: Henry W. Longfellow's Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie (PS2263.A1 1866) http://bit.ly/2s4FErv and Felix Voorhies' Acadian Reminiscences: The True Story of Evangeline (E184 .A2 V8 1907B)http://bit.ly/2t3B01G)