Who are the Acadians?
I ve learned a little bit about France, the country of my ancestors, in French class. At the time my ancestors came to Acadia, the regions and provinces of France had their own dialects, customs and traditions. People in each province had different ways of using tools, of cooking, of making clothing, of working wood and the land, etc. I wondered what part of France the Acadians came from. “Mémère, were the Acadians all from the same place in France?” I asked one day after lunch. “Non, non, Josephine,” replied Mémère. She was at the sink, just finishing up the dishes. “People from many different parts of France came to live in Acadia. Ma famille, les Martin, came from Normandie in the north of France.” She wiped her hands and came to sit down at the table with me.
The Acadians are an ethnic and cultural group who trace their lineage to settlers expelled from Canada in the mid-18th century. Although the group scattered after their expulsion, a large number formed an active community in southern Louisiana, eventually leading to the Cajun ethnicity. Their name comes from the area of Canada they settled in, part of the Maritime Provinces of the northeastern seaboard. In the 1630s, French immigrants arrived in Acadia in large groups, recruited by the French government to settle the land. Though spread over a large region, the Acadians congregated mostly around Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. Quite early in their residence, the settlers created a strong alliance with the Mi’kmaq Indian tribes, leading to frequent marriages between the two groups. Contrary to some reports, not all the Acadian settlers were French. Some English and German families also joined the settlement, and were largely accepted by the French majority. Unfortu
