By Bernard Bujold
The Acadian culture was a peaceful community close to the land and with few financial means. For this reason, they never carried arms and had no army to defend themselves against deportation. The Acadians wanted to remain neutral in the struggle for territory between France and England, which led to their deportation in 1755, more than 65 years after the first conflicts. Had they taken sides, the Acadians would have either won or lost, but there would have been no deportation.
The first Bugeaud to arrive in Acadia around 1690 had left the Larochelle area and a war of religion, and he found himself in Port Royale and Grand Pré (now Nova Scotia) in another war, equally violent and discriminatory.
Rather than live in a war zone, many Acadian families from Grand Pré and the surrounding area immigrated themselves to the Gaspé Peninsula between 1690 and 1755, including my own ancestors.
This text is my story as a descendant.
A more complete version of the history of Acadia can be read at the end of this text.
THE COUNTRY OF MY CHILDHOOD
I grew up by the sea and surrounded by the forest. My first memory is of the cows that came to eat in front of the house. Dozens of white and brown cows with a forest behind them as a backdrop.
Another memory is of the fish merchants who used to walk in front of my house in their vans and try to sell fresh fish to my mother.
She often bought mackerel and cooked it in white sauce.
Childhood is probably the best time of life for anyone.
We are full of hopes, plans and visions, and life still seems mysterious to us, as if we can't really touch it and we have to run to catch up with it and make it our friend.
The image that always comes to mind when I think of the Gaspé Peninsula is an image of sunshine, a refreshing wind that dries the laundry lying on a large rope, and a pale blue sky in which many white clouds with swollen shapes and looking like nice women like mothers are walking around. Women traveling without a specific destination. The clouds of fair weather reminded me of women, while the storm clouds brought to my mind the ideas of strong and severe men.
I often watched the clouds from a swing that my father had tinkered with an old car seat, which he had painted red...
The climate of the Gaspé Peninsula is rather temperate. The hot season only lasts from June to July. So swimming in the sea isn't very long. From the beginning of August, the winds begin and it is already a kind of autumn. The fields are still growing but some harvest work begins and holidaymakers start to return to town.
MY FATHER THE LUMBERJACK
My father wasn't a farmer, he was a lumberjack. I'm very close to the forest and the woodcutting because of my father. The energy that surrounded the fall to the ground of the tree cut down by my father was special, especially for a young boy of 6 years old.
My father owned a piece of land where he cultivated wood cutting. However, he did it in a traditional way and he used a horse to bring the cut wood to the gravel road, where it was then transported by truck or tractor. Leonard, my father, did two kinds of logging. First, he cut his firewood. This was an annual harvest that would keep him warm all winter long. Then, once or twice a year, my father would make a commercial cut that he would sell to the sawmill in New-Richmond. This mill was owned by the English company, The Consolidated Bathurst.
Growing up among the trees is the closest thing to happiness. There's life in the forest, the whole of life at every level. When you look at a small fern next to a fifty-foot tall aspen tree, you can't help but be pensive and have a little understanding of life.
The forest is mysterious, especially for children, because for adults it seems like an old friend, who has no secrets to hide. Anyway, my father seemed to know the forest well and he wasn't afraid of it. He would talk to her, and she would answer him. I tried to talk to the forest myself, but the answer was often like a mean old man who wanted to tell me about his fears.
The forest, when I wanted to venture into it alone, was for me a kind of dangerous jungle, while for my father it was a faithful friend and the trees like his brothers.
When I was in the forest with my father, I was never afraid because he protected me from the giants hidden among the trees!
The first Bugeaud to arrive in Acadia around 1690 had left the Larochelle area and a war of religion, and he found himself in Port Royale and Grand Pré (now Nova Scotia) in another war, equally violent and discriminatory.
Rather than live in a war zone, many Acadian families from Grand Pré and the surrounding area immigrated themselves to the Gaspé Peninsula between 1690 and 1755, including my own ancestors.
This text is my story as a descendant.
A more complete version of the history of Acadia can be read at the end of this text.
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| Anita Cyr (1922-2005) |
 |
| St-Siméon de Bonaventure |
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| Bernard Bujold |
THE COUNTRY OF MY CHILDHOOD
I grew up by the sea and surrounded by the forest. My first memory is of the cows that came to eat in front of the house. Dozens of white and brown cows with a forest behind them as a backdrop.
Another memory is of the fish merchants who used to walk in front of my house in their vans and try to sell fresh fish to my mother.
She often bought mackerel and cooked it in white sauce.
Childhood is probably the best time of life for anyone.
We are full of hopes, plans and visions, and life still seems mysterious to us, as if we can't really touch it and we have to run to catch up with it and make it our friend.
The image that always comes to mind when I think of the Gaspé Peninsula is an image of sunshine, a refreshing wind that dries the laundry lying on a large rope, and a pale blue sky in which many white clouds with swollen shapes and looking like nice women like mothers are walking around. Women traveling without a specific destination. The clouds of fair weather reminded me of women, while the storm clouds brought to my mind the ideas of strong and severe men.
I often watched the clouds from a swing that my father had tinkered with an old car seat, which he had painted red...
The climate of the Gaspé Peninsula is rather temperate. The hot season only lasts from June to July. So swimming in the sea isn't very long. From the beginning of August, the winds begin and it is already a kind of autumn. The fields are still growing but some harvest work begins and holidaymakers start to return to town.
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| Léonard Bujold (1915-1976) |
MY FATHER THE LUMBERJACK
My father wasn't a farmer, he was a lumberjack. I'm very close to the forest and the woodcutting because of my father. The energy that surrounded the fall to the ground of the tree cut down by my father was special, especially for a young boy of 6 years old.
My father owned a piece of land where he cultivated wood cutting. However, he did it in a traditional way and he used a horse to bring the cut wood to the gravel road, where it was then transported by truck or tractor. Leonard, my father, did two kinds of logging. First, he cut his firewood. This was an annual harvest that would keep him warm all winter long. Then, once or twice a year, my father would make a commercial cut that he would sell to the sawmill in New-Richmond. This mill was owned by the English company, The Consolidated Bathurst.
Growing up among the trees is the closest thing to happiness. There's life in the forest, the whole of life at every level. When you look at a small fern next to a fifty-foot tall aspen tree, you can't help but be pensive and have a little understanding of life.
The forest is mysterious, especially for children, because for adults it seems like an old friend, who has no secrets to hide. Anyway, my father seemed to know the forest well and he wasn't afraid of it. He would talk to her, and she would answer him. I tried to talk to the forest myself, but the answer was often like a mean old man who wanted to tell me about his fears.
The forest, when I wanted to venture into it alone, was for me a kind of dangerous jungle, while for my father it was a faithful friend and the trees like his brothers.
When I was in the forest with my father, I was never afraid because he protected me from the giants hidden among the trees!
One could say that my father was the living representation of the Acadian poem EVANGELINE by Henry Longfellow and its first opening sentence: "This is the forest primeval... "
My father definitely had Acadia in his blood!
(See link to the poem Evangeline: https://poets.org/poem/evangeline-tale-acadie )
THE HOUSE OF MY CHILDHOOD
My family's life in the Gaspé Peninsula was very much tied to the house and unlike in the city, in the country people live in the same house for a long time, often passed on from a father to one of his children.
Even today, more than 60 years later, I still have many warm memories of my life in the family home that I lived in from my birth until I turned 18, before I left for Sept-Iles.
RURAL LIFE
Rural life is different from urban life.
In the city, popular myths and beliefs don't really stand up to the passage of time, and they are always brought out into the open in one way or another.
In the countryside, I remember that myths, popular beliefs and superstitions were very present in our daily lives and often impossible to discover their true reality. Both my parents were very superstitious and towards beliefs that often dated back to their own ancestors.
Religion also dominated much of life and the village priest was the real leader in the community.
My father was a devout churchgoer, while my mother rarely went to the church, preferring to pray alone at the kitchen table in front of religious images on the wall.
Every evening, there was also a family recitation of the rosary broadcast live on the regional radio station, CHNC.
During my childhood, I was very impressed by my church of St-Siméon and by the height of the bell tower. This famous bell tower held a tin rooster at its end. One windy day in winter, the famous rooster ended up in my father's yard, at least the few pieces thrown up to that point. Afterwards the rooster was replaced by a metal cross, which was more firmly attached and stronger than the tin rooster.
THE CHURCH OF THE VILLAGE
The bell tower of the church was very present in the life of my village of St-Siméon to animate the life of the place.
However, my memories of the church do not stop at the bell tower, and I have in mind the fiery account of a visiting priest from a retirement home in Cap Noir, a priest who was an extraordinary actor. His description of hell, its horrible fires and unbearable suffering, all of this was better defined and more entertaining than modern films or horror books.
The visiting priest came to our village once a year, and the parishioners waited for him with fear. They also trusted him to help them to avoid this cruelly horrible and burning hell .
Looking back, I realize that the discourse was about hell and very rarely about the beauty of heaven. Our good old parish priests probably thought it was easier to convince people through fear, rather than through the offer of a pleasant and welcoming paradise.
But the most striking memory that I have of my church is that of the interior atmosphere during the celebrations. The silence while waiting for the entrance of the parish priest, the silence before going to the confessional, the silence during the arrival of the other families of the village and the observation of the clothes and hairstyles of these families.
My father, like all the others gathered in the church, did not hesitate to comment on the clothing of one; the aging of another, the ugliness or beauty of such a person, etc....
And there was the pew. It was a form of seating reservation where each family rented a particular pew. For an annual payment, the family had the right to exclusive use of the bench during Sunday ceremonies and various religious holidays. My father had bench number 5 for a long time. He bought it at an auction. In fact, he bought the right to rent the pew...
My father would sit on the edge of the pew, that is, near the centre aisle, and I would sit next to him. On the rare occasions when my mother was present, she would sit next to my father. Along with my father's excursions into the forest, the moments sitting together in the church pew are one of the fondest memories of my childhood that I remember most. It was as if we agreed, together, to stand in front of the whole village, announcing to him: "This is my son", and me accepting his message and saying, "He is my father".
It was a communication between a father and his son and the village.
I would later learn that my Acadian ancestors who first arrived in Acadia were probably Protestant. Huguenots, Protestants from the kingdom of France and the kingdom of Navarre during the war of religions in the second half of the 16th century, during which Protestants were in conflict with Catholics
We can therefore say that in spite of my childhood in a Catholic presbytery, in a previous life my ancestors had been Protestants!
THE POST OFFICE
The post office was the second most important meeting place in my village.
When I was a child, the mail was delivered to the village by train twice a day, in the morning and in the afternoon. The train would leave one bag at the station and pick up another. A resident of the village, who lived next to the station, would take the bag to the post office for delivery to the addressees. Families who lived near the post office could come to pick up their mail twice a day and chat among themselves to get the latest news.
Families living far from the post office, however, were allowed only one delivery per day to their home by van and by the same individual who had brought the mail bags from the station to the post office earlier.
The post office replaced the newspaper or television. News, gossip and rumours were transmitted quickly and in a direct and personalized manner.
Unfortunately, all that mundane stuff has disappeared today.
THE GENERAL STORE
Rural life in the Gaspé Peninsula was once an individual life where families grew their own food. So there wasn't much room for stores. It was only later, with the transition from an agricultural to an industrial economy, that general maqasins took on a more important role, even replacing the post office as the village meeting place. At home in St-Siméon, the cooperative store was the general store.
I know my co-op well because I worked there as a clerk. My job was to maintain and furnish the shelves for which I was assigned. A job that wasn't very complicated, but one that allowed me to know everything about the activities of my village. The cooperative was even better than the church and the post office, the perfect place to chat and discover all the adventures of the village.
THE FAMILY LIFE
From what I could understand, my father was deeply in love with Gemma and it was mutual on Gemma's part, a true love between the two of them.
So much so that Leonard agreed to dismantle his house built on his back land to transport it and reassemble it in the village of St-Siméon.
During my father's time, the housewife stay at home and the man was working on the land. Organized life was based on the ownership of the land and the working of the farm. This kind of life, however, did not seem to please my father's first wife, who was ahead of her time. She succeeded in convincing Leonard to move the newly built house to another piece of land, which would be located in the centre of the village. My father had originally wanted to move to the back land, on his land, three-quarters of which was still wooded and on which a barn was built for raising farm cattle. It is on this same land that my father would later cut his firewood and where he would introduce me to the forest world.
It was quite a delicate undertaking to transport a two-storey house with four bedrooms on the second floor and three large rooms on the first floor in four parts. The transport was done by road, and the pieces were simply attached back together once they reached the village and reassembled like a puzzle on a cement foundation.
However, the sudden death of his wife two years after the marriage put him in a particularly painful situation: he had a house in the village to make a family, but he no longer had a wife to create it!
My mother, Anita Cyr, was from a nearby village, New Richmond, and she came from a family of eleven children.
It was the "puzzle house" that would have been given to my mother when my father proposed marriage in 1954. Anita Cyr was 32 years old at the time.
It was a large house and it was a comfortable place to raise a small family. Already in 1954, the fashion for large families was becoming less and less popular because of the lack of economic resources. A general movement away from the land by Gaspe families meant that Gaspesians were becoming more and more dependent on paid work. Since education was not high, wages were very modest and jobs were scarce, at least for my parents' social class.
In life, some things are chosen, while others are imposed on us.
For my father, the death of his first wife was imposed on him and it was very marked.
He forgot his grief a little when he got married for the second time and began to see his children being born. He considered himself almost happy with life with his family of three healthy, intelligent boys named after him. He even began to think about how the boys would fit into the village! Perhaps one of them would be a farmer? He could give him his farm land.
His three sons would make good citizens for the village. Certainly three families that would carry on the Bujold name that was his.
My father's family was made up of eight children, all living in the village, except one, Albert, who had left for the city and to work in an office in Shawinigan. It must be said that he was also the only one who had been able to find a place in a classical court in Gaspé with the promise of becoming a priest in exchange...
But the other brothers and sister of my father all lived in St-Siméon, each in a house built with their own hands from the same common draft plan drawn by Élie, my grandfather, who knew how to read a house plan and measure the dimensions of a building.
But now, another drama occurs in Leonard's life!
His son André was diagnosed deaf.
My brother was not born deaf and there was nothing to suggest that he would be handicapped at the time of his birth or during the first years of his life. It wasn't until he was about four years old that the doctors, in fact the only doctor in the whole county, had noticed a hearing loss in André. This inability to hear well would have been caused by the measles disease that our whole family had contacted a few years earlier. For some unknown reason, André was the only one to suffer permanent consequences because he was not treated quickly enough, resulting in damage to his ear canal. It must be said that the quality of health care in the 1960s in the Gaspésie was not very advanced.
TRAGEDY IN THE FAMILY
What do you do when you are parents and you learn that your child, the most beautiful child, is suddenly disabled and will not be able to grow up normally in the village?
He will never hear, he is deaf!
What do you do if you place all your pride and joy in the value of your family and especially your three children?
This tragedy of deafness, which would have been tragic for anyone, was very hard on my parents and especially on my father. He was asked to separate from his four-year-old son and take him to an Institute for the Deaf somewhere in Charlesbourg, a village on the outskirts of Quebec City.
The decision was finally made to drive André directly to Charlesbourg for the beginning of the school year. He would then be 5 years old but as my father was too saddened by the situation, it was decided that my mother would make the trip.
On the spot it would be my uncle Albert's brother-in-law who would receive her at his house for a few days. It was also decided that I would be on the trip to keep my mother company. It would be my first big trip and I was 10 years old. The trip was made by train during the night over a distance of more than 400 miles (643 kilometers).
DISCOVERING THE CITY
The arrival in Levis was dramatic because of the city lights. Once we entered the train station in Lévis in the early morning, we took the ferry to the Quebec City wharf where my uncle friend was waiting to meet us.
To this day, I still remember the lights of the port of Quebec City and the wooden floor of the ferry that reasoned under my feet. I had never experienced such a phenomenon before and I felt very far from my village. My father's brother's friend welcomed us in his living room transformed as a bedroom.
The discovery of urban life compared to the one of the Gaspé Peninsula made me dizzy.
First, there were the living room curtains, white drapes, veils that went all the way down to the floor. I had never seen anything so beautiful. The windows were also different. The one in the living room was a large window looking out on the street in front of the house.
The outside environment was also different and if in the Gaspé Peninsula the distance between houses is hundreds of feet or so, here in Quebec City there were only a few feet between the walls of the different houses.
But the newest thing was the noise.
The next morning of our night arrival in Quebec City, I was woken up at 7 o'clock by many car horns. These horns, however, were for me like new music, like a melody never heard before.
Back home, in Gaspésie, I was used to a rural alarm clock and the noises heard were not mechanical. If the countryside is not silent, its noises are more natural and they are part of us, of our bodies, as if they came from within us. In the city, the noises seemed to come from an environment completely removed from my being.
Another difference that made a big impression on me was the bathroom. First there was the bathroom floor. At our house my father had built himself a bathroom at the end of the corridor leading to the four bedrooms upstairs.
The room was not large and contained the toilet, the bath and a sink. At barely 4 feet by 4 feet, this room had nevertheless represented luxury for my family. It had replaced for my parents an old outside hut, a hut that housed a wooden toilet with a hole in the middle. This cabin was small, 3 feet by 3 feet, and was installed underneath a large hole dug manually in the ground.
Another important detail, as far as the bathroom in the Gaspé Peninsula was concerned, was the floor. Since our bathroom in St-Simeon had been laid out by rudimentary means at the end of a corridor, the floor was not completely straight and solid. Neither were all the other floors in the Gaspesian house. All the surfaces in all the rooms were like sea surfaces. Nor were the undulations fixed or silent, and they varied according to our movements. Noises, sometimes musical, came from the floors, to which were added the movements of "waves".
In Quebec City, in my uncle's friend's house, the floors were not made of wood but of marble. Of course, it was only polished and varnished cement, but it looked like marble to me as a country boy. The bathroom was not in the end of the corridor either, but in the middle of the house. This room was large and it was at least 10 feet by 10 feet. You could stand inside and even walk. There was also a shower. The interior light was also different and it was like lighting I had never seen before.
My father's brother's friend was not rich and he was a simple postal clerk at the central post office, but for a young child of 10 years old that I was at the time, his house projected the image of a real luxurious and rich castle!
Please note that our host's accommodation was not luxurious but for a young boy from the country it was. A little later, when I became an adult and visited these family friends again, I realized how average the quality of this Quebec City house was.
It was a simple, well-built city duplex in a residential area of the city. The interior courtyard was modest, about 25 feet wide by 15 feet deep, and the rear balconies overlooking this courtyard also served as a shed for temporary storage. Viewed from the street, this two-unit house looked like a square box covered with red bricks. There was nothing luxurious about this residence.
Another striking difference of this first trip was the urban eating habits. My mother, who had grown up on a farm, always had a well developed appetite. She had the particular habit of not serving portions but placing the dishes in the centre of the table for self-service by each of the guests. In the city, the custom is rather to serve portions for each guest of the meal. Moreover, breakfast is modest, as imposed by the fast pace of the city. My mother couldn't believe the controlled meals and she didn't know whether to be ashamed of being as hungry as she was or whether the hosts were the ones who were stingy about receiving their visitors in terms of meals!
THE INSTITUTE FOR THE DEAF
The Institute for the Deaf where my brother was to go was located in Charlesbourg, an urban agglomeration on the outskirts of Quebec City.
The Institute itself looked like a college and was guarded at the entrance by a huge glass door and it was locked.
My uncle's friend came to take us to the Institute the very next morning of our arrival so that my mother could meet in person the religious, an Oblate Brother who was in charge of welcoming the parents whose children were going to attend the establishment specializing in the education of deaf children.
The religious, a man in his late thirties, received us politely and showed us around. The college for the deaf was vast and included all the services to enable them to be independent. Laundry room, cafeteria that could accommodate hundreds of people. My mother was even invited to dine there, which she liked because she was able to serve herself until her hunger was satisfied.
There was also a huge dormitory where the beds were set up without any walls to separate them from each other. Finally, we visited the chapel for Sunday Masses and an infirmary to care for the residents.
My mother met the religious in private and had a long discussion with him. It was about the registration process and the method of payment for my brother's lodging, for which the fees were largely paid by the Government of the Province because of my father's low income. It would be enough for my father to buy the clothes for André.
THE CRUELTY OF DEPORTATION
Finally, there was a discussion about how my mother, me and my uncle's friend would leave the Institute but leaving my brother behind. I did not fully understand the dialogue but I remember that it was decided that we would leave after supper. My mother had no doubt wanted to avoid another meal from the diet offered by our hosts in Quebec City and the generous cafeteria was much appreciated.
I also understood that the departure would be from the infirmary. I'm not sure why, but that's where the separation was supposed to take place.
My brother André had been dressed in brand new clothes, from pants to shirt, including a cap that made the child look like a sort of Prince from a storybook. There was something different about that cap and it made my brother look like an immigrant from overseas, a figure of an Italian national arriving in the new world by ship. I still remember my brother's hairdo when he took his cap off. It wasn't even depicted because my mother had put BuiltCream on it.
His short cut blond hair was pulled up to the front and the parting with the comb brought out a freckle that blended with his blond hair.
My brother must have felt the announcement of departure because when it came time to leave, for no particular reason, he refused to let go of my mother's hand. This was strange because all the time before he had walked around without holding her hand and he seemed to feel totally comfortable in what would be his home for the next 12 years.
In fact, he was 5 years old and would live at the Institute until he was 17 in 1978.
When my mother wanted to leave the room where we were sitting to leave without announcing it, it was like a burst. My brother wouldn't let my mother out and he held on tightly to her. However, the religious had said that the method to follow was to leave the room without saying goodbye to the child. This avoided crying fits and reduced the pain on both sides. My mother had wanted to follow this method, but my brother acted as if he had read it through our mind. However, he was deaf, he should not have understood the conversations with the religious. How was it that my brother understood that we wanted to abandon him alone in that institute?
Eventually, an assistant to the religious had to take my brother's hand by force and hold him while my mother, my uncle's friend and I ran out of the place. My brother was trying to get out of the assistant's grasp and he knew that time was running out. He could see us running behind a glass wall, and he knew we were on our way out. He must have been thinking, "Why did you leave me like that?"
I took one last look behind me, and I saw my brother desperately trying to free himself from the grip that was holding him prisoner. He looked at me with a supplicant gaze, and the rage that came out of it contained both the desperation of the last chance and the desperation of the last chance. For a moment I heard my brother, who didn't speak, shouting at me: "Wait for me, don't leave without me! Wait, I am no longer deaf, I can hear well. It's a mistake, wait, I want to go with you."
The deportation of the Acadians in 1755 could not have been more cruel than the deportation of my brother in 1966!
*****
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A BUGEAUD FRENCH MILITARY HERO -
The city of Paris is undoubtedly the most beautiful city in the world. I particularly love this city and like many others I can't escape its historical charm. Moreover, in terms of history, I have every reason to be proud because Paris named a street in honour of my family, at least in honour of one my ancestors.
Indeed, if you go up the Champs Elysée from the Arc de Triomphe, and follow the Avenue Victor Hugo, you will arrive directly on the Avenue Bugeaud.
According to historians, Marshal Thomas-Robert Bugeaud was a great French soldier who is credited with the invention of the so-called colonial military strategy.
Marshal Bugeaud was a veteran of Napoleon's time and would have served in an important way during the Spanish War. He found himself in forced retirement during the Bourbon Restoration, the period before the French defeat. He returned to the army after the Revolution of 1830 and spent a few months in Algeria from 1836. However, his opposition to this war prevented him from holding an important post and he had to wait until 1839 to obtain the title of Governor General and later be appointed Commander-in-Chief, an appointment made by the French King Louis Philippe.
In 1840, Commandant Bugeaud was therefore in charge of French troops in Algeria. He would have completely transformed the art of warfare for the time and rather than bringing his troops to fight on open ground, he developed the war of attrition by applying surprise attacks on Arab sources of supply. He directly attacked military supply points and thus diminished Arab strength from within. It is said that in the space of a few months, Commander Bugeaud would have completely reversed the strategic situation in favour of France.
Commandant Bugeaud also looked after his own men and it is said that his first priority once he was appointed military commander in Algeria was to ensure that French soldiers received adequate medical care when they were wounded. According to historians, the morale of the French troops would quickly improve as a result of Bugeaud's actions, a situation that would count for much in the French victory.
Bugeaud's philosophy is said to have included four themes: speed of action, self-confidence of the troops, leadership qualities on the part of the military leadership, and access to adequate military equipment (having enough ammunition to sustain and win the attacks that were launched).
SEE BIOGRAPHY THOMAS ROBERT BUGEAUD
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SEE VIDEO ST-SIMEON - 1
https://vimeo.com/100640153
SEE VIDEO ST-SIMEON - 2
http://saintsimeonenmemoire.com/
GENEALOGY
Bernard Bujold's first Acadian ancestors
Peu après la mort de D'Aulnay, l'Acadie connaît à nouveau les affres de la conquête en 1654 et demeure anglaise jusqu'au Traité de Bréda en 1667. Le nouveau gouverneur, Hector d'Andigné de Grandfontaine, prend possession du territoire en 1670. À compter de cette époque, des familles acadiennes commencent à quitter les environs de l'établissement mère de Port-Royal pour coloniser d'autres régions. C'est ainsi que sont fondés Beaubassin (Amherst, Nouvelle-Écosse) et Grand-Pré (Wolfville, Nouvelle-Écosse). Contrairement aux colonies anglo-américaines et canadienne, les Acadiens pratiquent une agriculture basée sur l'assèchement des marais en utilisant la technique des aboiteaux. L'Acadie péninsulaire d'alors n'est pas la seule région de peuplement français en Atlantique. À Terre-Neuve, la France installe de manière permanente des habitants-pêcheurs à son poste de Plaisance à compter des années 1660. À chaque été, une grande effervescence résulte de l'arrivée des navires de pêche métropolitains. Dès lors, des conflits éclatent entre les coloniaux et les métropolitains pour l'usage des graves, nécessaires aux activités d'apprêtage et de séchage de la morue. Si Plaisance centre son activité commerciale sur la morue, l'Acadie péninsulaire peut dorénavant se permettre d'exporter des surplus agricoles de manière illicite vers la Nouvelle- Angleterre.
De 1690 à 1710, les colonies françaises d'Acadie et de Plaisance sont l'objet d'attaques anglaises. En 1690, Sir William Phips s'empare de l'Acadie, qui redevient française par le Traité de Ryswick de 1697. Mais peu de temps après, les hostilités reprennent et ne cessent définitivement qu'avec le Traité d'Utrecht qui confirme la cession de l'Acadie et de Plaisance à l'Angleterre. La population acadienne se chiffre alors à environ 2 500 personnes. Ce traité met fin à la Guerre de la Succession d'Autriche (1701-1713), mais les négociations démontrent que la France et l'Angleterre éprouvent beaucoup de difficulté à s'entendre sur l'emplacement des frontières. Alors que la France limite l'Acadie à l'actuelle Nouvelle-Écosse péninsulaire, l'Angleterre y ajoute le Nouveau-Brunswick, le Maine et la Gaspésie actuelle.
Bien que l'historiographie demeure discrète à ce sujet, il est indéniable que les Acadiens participent activement aux deux grandes guerres mondiales même si des chiffres sûrs demeurent difficiles à circonscrire. Jusqu'à maintenant, l'histoire à surtout retenu leur opposition à la conscription lors des deux grandes guerres. La période 1881-1950 voit aussi l'émergence de certaines caractéristiques régionales dans les communautés acadiennes des provinces Maritimes. La réalité démographique favorisant les Acadiens du Nouveau-Brunswick; ce sont surtout eux qui portent le flambeau lors des grands combats pour l'avancement de la cause acadienne.
My family's life in the Gaspé Peninsula was very much tied to the house and unlike in the city, in the country people live in the same house for a long time, often passed on from a father to one of his children.
Even today, more than 60 years later, I still have many warm memories of my life in the family home that I lived in from my birth until I turned 18, before I left for Sept-Iles.
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| My childhood home in Siméon de Bonaventure |
RURAL LIFE
Rural life is different from urban life.
In the city, popular myths and beliefs don't really stand up to the passage of time, and they are always brought out into the open in one way or another.
In the countryside, I remember that myths, popular beliefs and superstitions were very present in our daily lives and often impossible to discover their true reality. Both my parents were very superstitious and towards beliefs that often dated back to their own ancestors.
Religion also dominated much of life and the village priest was the real leader in the community.
My father was a devout churchgoer, while my mother rarely went to the church, preferring to pray alone at the kitchen table in front of religious images on the wall.
Every evening, there was also a family recitation of the rosary broadcast live on the regional radio station, CHNC.
During my childhood, I was very impressed by my church of St-Siméon and by the height of the bell tower. This famous bell tower held a tin rooster at its end. One windy day in winter, the famous rooster ended up in my father's yard, at least the few pieces thrown up to that point. Afterwards the rooster was replaced by a metal cross, which was more firmly attached and stronger than the tin rooster.
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| Church, cemetery and the presbytery in St-Siméon de Bonaventure (1965) |
THE CHURCH OF THE VILLAGE
The bell tower of the church was very present in the life of my village of St-Siméon to animate the life of the place.
However, my memories of the church do not stop at the bell tower, and I have in mind the fiery account of a visiting priest from a retirement home in Cap Noir, a priest who was an extraordinary actor. His description of hell, its horrible fires and unbearable suffering, all of this was better defined and more entertaining than modern films or horror books.
The visiting priest came to our village once a year, and the parishioners waited for him with fear. They also trusted him to help them to avoid this cruelly horrible and burning hell .
Looking back, I realize that the discourse was about hell and very rarely about the beauty of heaven. Our good old parish priests probably thought it was easier to convince people through fear, rather than through the offer of a pleasant and welcoming paradise.
But the most striking memory that I have of my church is that of the interior atmosphere during the celebrations. The silence while waiting for the entrance of the parish priest, the silence before going to the confessional, the silence during the arrival of the other families of the village and the observation of the clothes and hairstyles of these families.
My father, like all the others gathered in the church, did not hesitate to comment on the clothing of one; the aging of another, the ugliness or beauty of such a person, etc....
And there was the pew. It was a form of seating reservation where each family rented a particular pew. For an annual payment, the family had the right to exclusive use of the bench during Sunday ceremonies and various religious holidays. My father had bench number 5 for a long time. He bought it at an auction. In fact, he bought the right to rent the pew...
My father would sit on the edge of the pew, that is, near the centre aisle, and I would sit next to him. On the rare occasions when my mother was present, she would sit next to my father. Along with my father's excursions into the forest, the moments sitting together in the church pew are one of the fondest memories of my childhood that I remember most. It was as if we agreed, together, to stand in front of the whole village, announcing to him: "This is my son", and me accepting his message and saying, "He is my father".
It was a communication between a father and his son and the village.
I would later learn that my Acadian ancestors who first arrived in Acadia were probably Protestant. Huguenots, Protestants from the kingdom of France and the kingdom of Navarre during the war of religions in the second half of the 16th century, during which Protestants were in conflict with Catholics
We can therefore say that in spite of my childhood in a Catholic presbytery, in a previous life my ancestors had been Protestants!
THE POST OFFICE
The post office was the second most important meeting place in my village.
When I was a child, the mail was delivered to the village by train twice a day, in the morning and in the afternoon. The train would leave one bag at the station and pick up another. A resident of the village, who lived next to the station, would take the bag to the post office for delivery to the addressees. Families who lived near the post office could come to pick up their mail twice a day and chat among themselves to get the latest news.
Families living far from the post office, however, were allowed only one delivery per day to their home by van and by the same individual who had brought the mail bags from the station to the post office earlier.
The post office replaced the newspaper or television. News, gossip and rumours were transmitted quickly and in a direct and personalized manner.
Unfortunately, all that mundane stuff has disappeared today.
THE GENERAL STORE
Rural life in the Gaspé Peninsula was once an individual life where families grew their own food. So there wasn't much room for stores. It was only later, with the transition from an agricultural to an industrial economy, that general maqasins took on a more important role, even replacing the post office as the village meeting place. At home in St-Siméon, the cooperative store was the general store.
I know my co-op well because I worked there as a clerk. My job was to maintain and furnish the shelves for which I was assigned. A job that wasn't very complicated, but one that allowed me to know everything about the activities of my village. The cooperative was even better than the church and the post office, the perfect place to chat and discover all the adventures of the village.
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| Louise Paquet (1879-1967 ) and Élie Bujold (1878-1973) |
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| My father's first house on his back land |
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| GEMMA POIRIER (1921-1952) |
My father was first married in 1950 to GEMMA POIRIER, the daughter of Benoît Poirier and Suzanne Henri of Row 2 in St-Siméon. He looked forward to life with all the hope in the world.
But Gemma died at the age of 31 in 1952 from complications with the baby she was carrying. She died because her baby died in her womb.
From what I could understand, my father was deeply in love with Gemma and it was mutual on Gemma's part, a true love between the two of them.
So much so that Leonard agreed to dismantle his house built on his back land to transport it and reassemble it in the village of St-Siméon.
During my father's time, the housewife stay at home and the man was working on the land. Organized life was based on the ownership of the land and the working of the farm. This kind of life, however, did not seem to please my father's first wife, who was ahead of her time. She succeeded in convincing Leonard to move the newly built house to another piece of land, which would be located in the centre of the village. My father had originally wanted to move to the back land, on his land, three-quarters of which was still wooded and on which a barn was built for raising farm cattle. It is on this same land that my father would later cut his firewood and where he would introduce me to the forest world.
It was quite a delicate undertaking to transport a two-storey house with four bedrooms on the second floor and three large rooms on the first floor in four parts. The transport was done by road, and the pieces were simply attached back together once they reached the village and reassembled like a puzzle on a cement foundation.
However, the sudden death of his wife two years after the marriage put him in a particularly painful situation: he had a house in the village to make a family, but he no longer had a wife to create it!
My mother, Anita Cyr, was from a nearby village, New Richmond, and she came from a family of eleven children.
It was the "puzzle house" that would have been given to my mother when my father proposed marriage in 1954. Anita Cyr was 32 years old at the time.
It was a large house and it was a comfortable place to raise a small family. Already in 1954, the fashion for large families was becoming less and less popular because of the lack of economic resources. A general movement away from the land by Gaspe families meant that Gaspesians were becoming more and more dependent on paid work. Since education was not high, wages were very modest and jobs were scarce, at least for my parents' social class.
In life, some things are chosen, while others are imposed on us.
For my father, the death of his first wife was imposed on him and it was very marked.
He forgot his grief a little when he got married for the second time and began to see his children being born. He considered himself almost happy with life with his family of three healthy, intelligent boys named after him. He even began to think about how the boys would fit into the village! Perhaps one of them would be a farmer? He could give him his farm land.
His three sons would make good citizens for the village. Certainly three families that would carry on the Bujold name that was his.
My father's family was made up of eight children, all living in the village, except one, Albert, who had left for the city and to work in an office in Shawinigan. It must be said that he was also the only one who had been able to find a place in a classical court in Gaspé with the promise of becoming a priest in exchange...
But the other brothers and sister of my father all lived in St-Siméon, each in a house built with their own hands from the same common draft plan drawn by Élie, my grandfather, who knew how to read a house plan and measure the dimensions of a building.
But now, another drama occurs in Leonard's life!
His son André was diagnosed deaf.
My brother was not born deaf and there was nothing to suggest that he would be handicapped at the time of his birth or during the first years of his life. It wasn't until he was about four years old that the doctors, in fact the only doctor in the whole county, had noticed a hearing loss in André. This inability to hear well would have been caused by the measles disease that our whole family had contacted a few years earlier. For some unknown reason, André was the only one to suffer permanent consequences because he was not treated quickly enough, resulting in damage to his ear canal. It must be said that the quality of health care in the 1960s in the Gaspésie was not very advanced.
TRAGEDY IN THE FAMILY
What do you do when you are parents and you learn that your child, the most beautiful child, is suddenly disabled and will not be able to grow up normally in the village?
He will never hear, he is deaf!
What do you do if you place all your pride and joy in the value of your family and especially your three children?
This tragedy of deafness, which would have been tragic for anyone, was very hard on my parents and especially on my father. He was asked to separate from his four-year-old son and take him to an Institute for the Deaf somewhere in Charlesbourg, a village on the outskirts of Quebec City.
The decision was finally made to drive André directly to Charlesbourg for the beginning of the school year. He would then be 5 years old but as my father was too saddened by the situation, it was decided that my mother would make the trip.
On the spot it would be my uncle Albert's brother-in-law who would receive her at his house for a few days. It was also decided that I would be on the trip to keep my mother company. It would be my first big trip and I was 10 years old. The trip was made by train during the night over a distance of more than 400 miles (643 kilometers).
DISCOVERING THE CITY
The arrival in Levis was dramatic because of the city lights. Once we entered the train station in Lévis in the early morning, we took the ferry to the Quebec City wharf where my uncle friend was waiting to meet us.
To this day, I still remember the lights of the port of Quebec City and the wooden floor of the ferry that reasoned under my feet. I had never experienced such a phenomenon before and I felt very far from my village. My father's brother's friend welcomed us in his living room transformed as a bedroom.
The discovery of urban life compared to the one of the Gaspé Peninsula made me dizzy.
First, there were the living room curtains, white drapes, veils that went all the way down to the floor. I had never seen anything so beautiful. The windows were also different. The one in the living room was a large window looking out on the street in front of the house.
The outside environment was also different and if in the Gaspé Peninsula the distance between houses is hundreds of feet or so, here in Quebec City there were only a few feet between the walls of the different houses.
But the newest thing was the noise.
The next morning of our night arrival in Quebec City, I was woken up at 7 o'clock by many car horns. These horns, however, were for me like new music, like a melody never heard before.
Back home, in Gaspésie, I was used to a rural alarm clock and the noises heard were not mechanical. If the countryside is not silent, its noises are more natural and they are part of us, of our bodies, as if they came from within us. In the city, the noises seemed to come from an environment completely removed from my being.
Another difference that made a big impression on me was the bathroom. First there was the bathroom floor. At our house my father had built himself a bathroom at the end of the corridor leading to the four bedrooms upstairs.
The room was not large and contained the toilet, the bath and a sink. At barely 4 feet by 4 feet, this room had nevertheless represented luxury for my family. It had replaced for my parents an old outside hut, a hut that housed a wooden toilet with a hole in the middle. This cabin was small, 3 feet by 3 feet, and was installed underneath a large hole dug manually in the ground.
Another important detail, as far as the bathroom in the Gaspé Peninsula was concerned, was the floor. Since our bathroom in St-Simeon had been laid out by rudimentary means at the end of a corridor, the floor was not completely straight and solid. Neither were all the other floors in the Gaspesian house. All the surfaces in all the rooms were like sea surfaces. Nor were the undulations fixed or silent, and they varied according to our movements. Noises, sometimes musical, came from the floors, to which were added the movements of "waves".
In Quebec City, in my uncle's friend's house, the floors were not made of wood but of marble. Of course, it was only polished and varnished cement, but it looked like marble to me as a country boy. The bathroom was not in the end of the corridor either, but in the middle of the house. This room was large and it was at least 10 feet by 10 feet. You could stand inside and even walk. There was also a shower. The interior light was also different and it was like lighting I had never seen before.
My father's brother's friend was not rich and he was a simple postal clerk at the central post office, but for a young child of 10 years old that I was at the time, his house projected the image of a real luxurious and rich castle!
It was a simple, well-built city duplex in a residential area of the city. The interior courtyard was modest, about 25 feet wide by 15 feet deep, and the rear balconies overlooking this courtyard also served as a shed for temporary storage. Viewed from the street, this two-unit house looked like a square box covered with red bricks. There was nothing luxurious about this residence.
Another striking difference of this first trip was the urban eating habits. My mother, who had grown up on a farm, always had a well developed appetite. She had the particular habit of not serving portions but placing the dishes in the centre of the table for self-service by each of the guests. In the city, the custom is rather to serve portions for each guest of the meal. Moreover, breakfast is modest, as imposed by the fast pace of the city. My mother couldn't believe the controlled meals and she didn't know whether to be ashamed of being as hungry as she was or whether the hosts were the ones who were stingy about receiving their visitors in terms of meals!
THE INSTITUTE FOR THE DEAF
The Institute for the Deaf where my brother was to go was located in Charlesbourg, an urban agglomeration on the outskirts of Quebec City.
The Institute itself looked like a college and was guarded at the entrance by a huge glass door and it was locked.
My uncle's friend came to take us to the Institute the very next morning of our arrival so that my mother could meet in person the religious, an Oblate Brother who was in charge of welcoming the parents whose children were going to attend the establishment specializing in the education of deaf children.
The religious, a man in his late thirties, received us politely and showed us around. The college for the deaf was vast and included all the services to enable them to be independent. Laundry room, cafeteria that could accommodate hundreds of people. My mother was even invited to dine there, which she liked because she was able to serve herself until her hunger was satisfied.
There was also a huge dormitory where the beds were set up without any walls to separate them from each other. Finally, we visited the chapel for Sunday Masses and an infirmary to care for the residents.
My mother met the religious in private and had a long discussion with him. It was about the registration process and the method of payment for my brother's lodging, for which the fees were largely paid by the Government of the Province because of my father's low income. It would be enough for my father to buy the clothes for André.
THE CRUELTY OF DEPORTATION
Finally, there was a discussion about how my mother, me and my uncle's friend would leave the Institute but leaving my brother behind. I did not fully understand the dialogue but I remember that it was decided that we would leave after supper. My mother had no doubt wanted to avoid another meal from the diet offered by our hosts in Quebec City and the generous cafeteria was much appreciated.
I also understood that the departure would be from the infirmary. I'm not sure why, but that's where the separation was supposed to take place.
My brother André had been dressed in brand new clothes, from pants to shirt, including a cap that made the child look like a sort of Prince from a storybook. There was something different about that cap and it made my brother look like an immigrant from overseas, a figure of an Italian national arriving in the new world by ship. I still remember my brother's hairdo when he took his cap off. It wasn't even depicted because my mother had put BuiltCream on it.
His short cut blond hair was pulled up to the front and the parting with the comb brought out a freckle that blended with his blond hair.
My brother must have felt the announcement of departure because when it came time to leave, for no particular reason, he refused to let go of my mother's hand. This was strange because all the time before he had walked around without holding her hand and he seemed to feel totally comfortable in what would be his home for the next 12 years.
In fact, he was 5 years old and would live at the Institute until he was 17 in 1978.
When my mother wanted to leave the room where we were sitting to leave without announcing it, it was like a burst. My brother wouldn't let my mother out and he held on tightly to her. However, the religious had said that the method to follow was to leave the room without saying goodbye to the child. This avoided crying fits and reduced the pain on both sides. My mother had wanted to follow this method, but my brother acted as if he had read it through our mind. However, he was deaf, he should not have understood the conversations with the religious. How was it that my brother understood that we wanted to abandon him alone in that institute?
Eventually, an assistant to the religious had to take my brother's hand by force and hold him while my mother, my uncle's friend and I ran out of the place. My brother was trying to get out of the assistant's grasp and he knew that time was running out. He could see us running behind a glass wall, and he knew we were on our way out. He must have been thinking, "Why did you leave me like that?"
I took one last look behind me, and I saw my brother desperately trying to free himself from the grip that was holding him prisoner. He looked at me with a supplicant gaze, and the rage that came out of it contained both the desperation of the last chance and the desperation of the last chance. For a moment I heard my brother, who didn't speak, shouting at me: "Wait for me, don't leave without me! Wait, I am no longer deaf, I can hear well. It's a mistake, wait, I want to go with you."
The deportation of the Acadians in 1755 could not have been more cruel than the deportation of my brother in 1966!
*****
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A BUGEAUD FRENCH MILITARY HERO -
Indeed, if you go up the Champs Elysée from the Arc de Triomphe, and follow the Avenue Victor Hugo, you will arrive directly on the Avenue Bugeaud.
According to historians, Marshal Thomas-Robert Bugeaud was a great French soldier who is credited with the invention of the so-called colonial military strategy.
Marshal Bugeaud was a veteran of Napoleon's time and would have served in an important way during the Spanish War. He found himself in forced retirement during the Bourbon Restoration, the period before the French defeat. He returned to the army after the Revolution of 1830 and spent a few months in Algeria from 1836. However, his opposition to this war prevented him from holding an important post and he had to wait until 1839 to obtain the title of Governor General and later be appointed Commander-in-Chief, an appointment made by the French King Louis Philippe.
In 1840, Commandant Bugeaud was therefore in charge of French troops in Algeria. He would have completely transformed the art of warfare for the time and rather than bringing his troops to fight on open ground, he developed the war of attrition by applying surprise attacks on Arab sources of supply. He directly attacked military supply points and thus diminished Arab strength from within. It is said that in the space of a few months, Commander Bugeaud would have completely reversed the strategic situation in favour of France.
Commandant Bugeaud also looked after his own men and it is said that his first priority once he was appointed military commander in Algeria was to ensure that French soldiers received adequate medical care when they were wounded. According to historians, the morale of the French troops would quickly improve as a result of Bugeaud's actions, a situation that would count for much in the French victory.
Bugeaud's philosophy is said to have included four themes: speed of action, self-confidence of the troops, leadership qualities on the part of the military leadership, and access to adequate military equipment (having enough ammunition to sustain and win the attacks that were launched).
SEE BIOGRAPHY THOMAS ROBERT BUGEAUD
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SEE VIDEO ST-SIMEON - 1
https://vimeo.com/100640153
SEE VIDEO ST-SIMEON - 2
http://saintsimeonenmemoire.com/
GENEALOGY
Bernard Bujold's first Acadian ancestors
LINK TO GENEALOGY OF MY FAMILY
https://geneabujold.accra.ca/familychart.php?familyID=F2506&tree=Bugeaud&fbclid=IwAR1V4QUCIunRZMFB3HucUjjHtWomi6zqjW367hVQMU1_c1O7uZSlBXNC4Tg
LINK TO THE OFFICIAL GENEALOGY SITE
https://geneabujold.accra.ca/
LINK TO HISTORY OF ACADIAN DEPORTATION (in french)
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9portation_des_Acadiens
https://geneabujold.accra.ca/familychart.php?familyID=F2506&tree=Bugeaud&fbclid=IwAR1V4QUCIunRZMFB3HucUjjHtWomi6zqjW367hVQMU1_c1O7uZSlBXNC4Tg
LINK TO THE OFFICIAL GENEALOGY SITE
https://geneabujold.accra.ca/
LINK TO HISTORY OF ACADIAN DEPORTATION (in french)
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9portation_des_Acadiens
LINK TO POEM EVANGELINE BY HENRY LONGFELLOW
LINK TO HISTORY OF LONGFELLOW
LINK TO HISTORY OF ACADIA
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HISTOIRE DE L'ACADIE
L'Acadie des origines à nos jours :
synthèse historique
Acadie : l'origine du nom
Acadie est le nom donné au premier établissement français en Amérique du
Nord. Selon les sources officielles, l'explorateur italien Giovanni da
Verrazano, alors à la solde de la France, aurait été le premier à faire
connaître cette région. Lors de son premier voyage au nouveau monde en 1524, il
aurait donné le nom de Acadie à un territoire s'étendant le long de la côte
atlantique près du Delaware actuel. Il fonde son choix de nom en référence à la
beauté de la faune et de la flore. Il l'a compare aux plaines du Péloponèse
dans l'ancienne Grèce, alors considérées comme un véritable paradis terrestre.
Par contre, les cartographes du 16e siècle utiliseront plutôt le mot Arcadie et
l'appliqueront aussi à la région comprenant maintenant les provinces maritimes
du Canada. Mais la lettre "r" disparaîtra assez rapidement.
Verrazano ne sera pas le seul explorateur à visiter l'Acadie avant les
premières démarches officielles de peuplement. Après lui, Jacques Cartier, en
1534, demeure le plus connu puisqu'il visite et dresse la carte des régions
acadiennes telles que la rive sud de la baie des Chaleurs et l'Île-du-Prince-
Édouard. Bien que l'historiographie canadienne demeure hésitante à ce sujet, il
est indéniable que les navires de pêche européens fréquentent le littoral
acadien bien avant le début du 17e siècle. Quoiqu'il en soit, les historiens
s'accordent sur la date de 1604 comme étant l'année où Pierre du Gua, sieur De
Monts et Samuel de Champlain établissent un premier contingent de 80 hommes sur
l'Île Sainte-Croix, située à mi-chemin entre le Nouveau-Brunswick et l'État du
Maine. La démarche était devenue possible grâce à la décision de Henri IV, roi
de France, d'utiliser le monopole de traite comme moyen de financer la
colonisation.
L'hiver de 1604-1605 fut désastreux alors que le scorbut emporta au
moins 36 hommes. C'est ce qui explique qu'au printemps 1605, la colonie
déménage sur un site plus au nord dans la baie de Fundy, sur le versant
néo-écossais. Le nouvel établissement est baptisé Port-Royal. Quoique l'année
1605- 1606 fut-elle aussi éprouvante, l'avenir s'annonce plutôt prometteur.
Surtout dans un contexte de bonnes relations avec les Amérindiens Micmacs et
leur grand chef Membertou. Mais de l'autre côté de l'Atlantique, les marchands
français supportent mal d'être tenus à l'écart du commerce des fourrures,
remettant en question le monopole de De Monts. Quoique la presque totalité des
colons doivent retourner en France, Poutrincourt, de même que Claude et Charles
de Saint-Étienne de La Tour, décident de maintenir leurs activités commerciales
en Acadie.
Il n'y a pas que les rivalités commerciales qui nuisent alors au développement de l'Acadie. En juillet 1613, l'aventurier virginien Samuel Argall rase Port-Royal et Saint-Sauveur, autre petite colonie française située plus au sud. La même année, Québec subît un sort identique face à Argall. L'Acadie ne fait pourtant pas l'objet d'une occupation officielle, sauf pour quelques rares commerçants français. Même si les Anglais changent le nom de Acadie pour celui de Nova Scotia en 1621, ce n'est qu'en 1629 que les colons écossais de William Alexander s'installent pour de bon. La même année, la France nomme Charles de La Tour lieutenant-général en Acadie et ce dernier installe des forts au Cap Sable et à l'embouchure de la rivière Saint-Jean. Bien que la petite colonie écossaise connaît elle-aussi des moments difficiles, il semble toutefois qu'elle entretienne des relations amicales avec les Micmacs et les quelques Français fréquentant le territoire. Mais le projet de Alexander est coupé court par le Traité de Saint-Germain-en-Laye de 1632, permettant à la France de récupérer l'Acadie.
La relance de la colonisation française allait choir entre les mains du nouveau gouverneur de l'Acadie, Isaac de Razilly, arrivé en 1632. Accompagné de 300 hommes d'élite, il déménage la capitale de Port- Royal à La Hève, sur la côte sud de la Nouvelle-Écosse actuelle. Durant les trois années précédent la mort de Razilly en 1635, les quelques colons présents ont le temps d'installer de modestes infrastructures de pêche et quelques fortins. Razilly s'intéresse davantage au commerce maritime qu'à l'agriculture. Marin de profession, ses choix géographiques pour ses établissements obéissent plus à une vision maritime qu'à une vocation agricole. Un entrepreneur comme Nicolas Denys, venu avec Razilly, en profite pour entretenir des activités de pêche et exporter de la morue en Europe. Mais à la mort de Razilly, Charles de Menou d'Aulnay, commandant en second, tente d'asseoir son autorité de nouveau gouverneur. Pour ce faire, il estime nécessaire d'écarter Denys, mais ce sera beaucoup plus difficile dans le cas de Charles La Tour, solidement ancré à la Rivière Saint-Jean et au Cap-Sable. Avant d'entreprendre une véritable guerre civile contre La Tour, D'Aulnay déménage la capitale à Port-Royal, convaincu que l'avenir de la colonie réside dans le développement agricole qui assure l'auto-suffisance alimentaire et un peuplement plus stable. Durant son administration qui s'arrête brusquement à sa mort, en 1650, D'Aulnay est responsable de l'arrivée d'une vingtaine de familles. En 1671, la population acadienne se chiffre à environ 400 personnes.
Il n'y a pas que les rivalités commerciales qui nuisent alors au développement de l'Acadie. En juillet 1613, l'aventurier virginien Samuel Argall rase Port-Royal et Saint-Sauveur, autre petite colonie française située plus au sud. La même année, Québec subît un sort identique face à Argall. L'Acadie ne fait pourtant pas l'objet d'une occupation officielle, sauf pour quelques rares commerçants français. Même si les Anglais changent le nom de Acadie pour celui de Nova Scotia en 1621, ce n'est qu'en 1629 que les colons écossais de William Alexander s'installent pour de bon. La même année, la France nomme Charles de La Tour lieutenant-général en Acadie et ce dernier installe des forts au Cap Sable et à l'embouchure de la rivière Saint-Jean. Bien que la petite colonie écossaise connaît elle-aussi des moments difficiles, il semble toutefois qu'elle entretienne des relations amicales avec les Micmacs et les quelques Français fréquentant le territoire. Mais le projet de Alexander est coupé court par le Traité de Saint-Germain-en-Laye de 1632, permettant à la France de récupérer l'Acadie.
La relance de la colonisation française allait choir entre les mains du nouveau gouverneur de l'Acadie, Isaac de Razilly, arrivé en 1632. Accompagné de 300 hommes d'élite, il déménage la capitale de Port- Royal à La Hève, sur la côte sud de la Nouvelle-Écosse actuelle. Durant les trois années précédent la mort de Razilly en 1635, les quelques colons présents ont le temps d'installer de modestes infrastructures de pêche et quelques fortins. Razilly s'intéresse davantage au commerce maritime qu'à l'agriculture. Marin de profession, ses choix géographiques pour ses établissements obéissent plus à une vision maritime qu'à une vocation agricole. Un entrepreneur comme Nicolas Denys, venu avec Razilly, en profite pour entretenir des activités de pêche et exporter de la morue en Europe. Mais à la mort de Razilly, Charles de Menou d'Aulnay, commandant en second, tente d'asseoir son autorité de nouveau gouverneur. Pour ce faire, il estime nécessaire d'écarter Denys, mais ce sera beaucoup plus difficile dans le cas de Charles La Tour, solidement ancré à la Rivière Saint-Jean et au Cap-Sable. Avant d'entreprendre une véritable guerre civile contre La Tour, D'Aulnay déménage la capitale à Port-Royal, convaincu que l'avenir de la colonie réside dans le développement agricole qui assure l'auto-suffisance alimentaire et un peuplement plus stable. Durant son administration qui s'arrête brusquement à sa mort, en 1650, D'Aulnay est responsable de l'arrivée d'une vingtaine de familles. En 1671, la population acadienne se chiffre à environ 400 personnes.
Peu après la mort de D'Aulnay, l'Acadie connaît à nouveau les affres de la conquête en 1654 et demeure anglaise jusqu'au Traité de Bréda en 1667. Le nouveau gouverneur, Hector d'Andigné de Grandfontaine, prend possession du territoire en 1670. À compter de cette époque, des familles acadiennes commencent à quitter les environs de l'établissement mère de Port-Royal pour coloniser d'autres régions. C'est ainsi que sont fondés Beaubassin (Amherst, Nouvelle-Écosse) et Grand-Pré (Wolfville, Nouvelle-Écosse). Contrairement aux colonies anglo-américaines et canadienne, les Acadiens pratiquent une agriculture basée sur l'assèchement des marais en utilisant la technique des aboiteaux. L'Acadie péninsulaire d'alors n'est pas la seule région de peuplement français en Atlantique. À Terre-Neuve, la France installe de manière permanente des habitants-pêcheurs à son poste de Plaisance à compter des années 1660. À chaque été, une grande effervescence résulte de l'arrivée des navires de pêche métropolitains. Dès lors, des conflits éclatent entre les coloniaux et les métropolitains pour l'usage des graves, nécessaires aux activités d'apprêtage et de séchage de la morue. Si Plaisance centre son activité commerciale sur la morue, l'Acadie péninsulaire peut dorénavant se permettre d'exporter des surplus agricoles de manière illicite vers la Nouvelle- Angleterre.
De 1690 à 1710, les colonies françaises d'Acadie et de Plaisance sont l'objet d'attaques anglaises. En 1690, Sir William Phips s'empare de l'Acadie, qui redevient française par le Traité de Ryswick de 1697. Mais peu de temps après, les hostilités reprennent et ne cessent définitivement qu'avec le Traité d'Utrecht qui confirme la cession de l'Acadie et de Plaisance à l'Angleterre. La population acadienne se chiffre alors à environ 2 500 personnes. Ce traité met fin à la Guerre de la Succession d'Autriche (1701-1713), mais les négociations démontrent que la France et l'Angleterre éprouvent beaucoup de difficulté à s'entendre sur l'emplacement des frontières. Alors que la France limite l'Acadie à l'actuelle Nouvelle-Écosse péninsulaire, l'Angleterre y ajoute le Nouveau-Brunswick, le Maine et la Gaspésie actuelle.
Suite à la perte de l'Acadie et de Plaisance, la France décide de
relancer une deuxième phase de colonisation à l'Île Royale (Cap-Breton) et à
l'Île Saint-Jean (Île-du-Prince-Édouard). À l'Île Royale, Louisbourg est
sélectionné pour le site de la nouvelle capitale. La construction d'une
imposante forteresse débute en 1720. Cet établissement vise trois objectifs :
un nouveau poste de pêche pour remplacer Plaisance, une solide présence
militaire pouvant empêcher un blocus anglais du Saint- Laurent et finalement,
une plaque tournante du commerce triangulaire. Quant à l'Île Saint-Jean, même
si le comte de Saint-Pierre tente d'y pratiquer une importante pêche
commerciale, on la considère davantage comme le grenier potentiel de l'Île
Royale. Quoique les provisions du Traité d'Utrecht autorisent théoriquement le
départ des Acadiens, ces derniers se montrent peu enclins à déménager dans les
nouvelles colonies françaises. Ils s'y rendent en très petit nombre puisque les
terres de l'Île Royale, entre autres, ne permettent pas l'agriculture avec les
aboiteaux. Cette lacune favorise par contre la contrebande de produits
agricoles en provenance de Beaubassin et, à un moindre degré, de Grand-Pré. En
fait, la petite garnison d'Annapolis Royal (ancien Port-Royal) n'est pas en
mesure de contrôler les activités commerciales acadiennes. L'Angleterre fait
peu d'efforts pour favoriser la venue de colons anglais, du moins jusqu'en
1749, alors qu'environ 4 000 colons anglais s'établissent à Halifax, destinée à
servir de contrepoids militaire et commercial à Louisbourg.
De 1713 à 1744, la timide présence anglaise et une longue période de
paix, permettent à la population acadienne d'augmenter à un rythme dépassant
les moyennes de l'époque. Ces progrès font dire à l'historienne Naomi Griffiths
que ce fût peut-être l'âge d'or de l'Acadie. La deuxième moitié des années 1740
est cependant marquée par la guerre. Après l'échec français devant Annapolis
Royal en mai 1745, Louisbourg tombe pour la première fois en 1745. Bien que le
Traité d'Aix-la-Chapelle marque la restitution de l'Île Royale à la France en
1748, les Acadiens sont dès lors confrontés à des pressions croissantes pour
prêter un serment d'allégeance sans condition à l'Angleterre. Depuis 1720, les
Acadiens maintiennent une position de neutralité en insistant pour se limiter à
un serment qui ne les engage pas à prendre les armes contre la France,
l'Angleterre et les Amérindiens. L'historiographie plus récente offre un traitement
plus objectif des implications d'un tel serment et de son importance aux yeux
des Britanniques. Il implique un droit à la propriété, ce qui signifie que
devant la justice anglaise, les Acadiens occupent illégalement leurs terres
tant et aussi longtemps qu'ils refusent de se plier à la totalité des
obligations du serment.
La période allant de 1749 à 1760 représente l'étape fatidique pour l'Acadie du 18e siècle. Afin d'affermir leur position aux confins de l'Acadie anglaise, les Français érigent le Fort Beauséjour (près de Sackville, Nouveau-Brunswick), peu avant la construction du fort Lawrence à moins de 3 kilomètres à l'est. En vertu de leur interprétation militaire de la situation, les Anglais de la Nouvelle- Écosse s'estiment exposés aux dangers d'un encerclement. Au nord, Louisbourg et le Canada, à l'Est, Beauséjour. Qui plus est, les autorités britanniques voient la population acadienne comme une menace potentielle de rébellion. Entre 1750 et 1755, cette population est évaluée entre 10 000 et 13 000 personnes. C'est donc en 1755 que les autorités britanniques de Halifax décident de régler une fois pour toute la question acadienne. Si cette population refuse de prêter le serment d'allégeance sans réserve, on envisage la déportation. C'est donc coincé entre les menaces anglaises et la crainte des représailles françaises et amérindiennes, par le biais de l'abbé Leloutre, que les députés acadiens doivent se rendre à Halifax pour comparaître devant Charles Lawrence, commandant en chef des troupes britanniques en Nouvelle-Écosse.
Selon l'historiographie, il semble que le refus initial des délégués de prêter serment ait convaincu Lawrence d'agir. Bien que ces derniers aient par la suite décidé d'accepter, Lawrence se dit insatisfait d'un serment prêté à contre-coeur. La décision d'appliquer les plans de déportation doit se lire dans un contexte continental et non seulement au niveau de Lawrence. Tout comme son état-major, il est conscient que les troupes anglaises du général Braddock viennent de subir une cuisante défaite contre des forces françaises et canadiennes dans la vallée de l'Ohio. Les craintes d'une attaque combinée de Louisbourg et Québec contre la Nouvelle-Écosse, à laquelle peuvent théoriquement se joindre les Acadiens et les Micmacs, justifie en quelque sorte, aux yeux de Lawrence, l'ordre de déportation. Déportation qui, une fois enclenchée, dure de 1755 à 1762 et éparpille la population acadienne, un peu partout dans les colonies américaines et en Europe. Le fort Beauséjour tombe en 1755, Louisbourg et l'Île Saint-Jean en 1758.
La période allant de 1749 à 1760 représente l'étape fatidique pour l'Acadie du 18e siècle. Afin d'affermir leur position aux confins de l'Acadie anglaise, les Français érigent le Fort Beauséjour (près de Sackville, Nouveau-Brunswick), peu avant la construction du fort Lawrence à moins de 3 kilomètres à l'est. En vertu de leur interprétation militaire de la situation, les Anglais de la Nouvelle- Écosse s'estiment exposés aux dangers d'un encerclement. Au nord, Louisbourg et le Canada, à l'Est, Beauséjour. Qui plus est, les autorités britanniques voient la population acadienne comme une menace potentielle de rébellion. Entre 1750 et 1755, cette population est évaluée entre 10 000 et 13 000 personnes. C'est donc en 1755 que les autorités britanniques de Halifax décident de régler une fois pour toute la question acadienne. Si cette population refuse de prêter le serment d'allégeance sans réserve, on envisage la déportation. C'est donc coincé entre les menaces anglaises et la crainte des représailles françaises et amérindiennes, par le biais de l'abbé Leloutre, que les députés acadiens doivent se rendre à Halifax pour comparaître devant Charles Lawrence, commandant en chef des troupes britanniques en Nouvelle-Écosse.
Selon l'historiographie, il semble que le refus initial des délégués de prêter serment ait convaincu Lawrence d'agir. Bien que ces derniers aient par la suite décidé d'accepter, Lawrence se dit insatisfait d'un serment prêté à contre-coeur. La décision d'appliquer les plans de déportation doit se lire dans un contexte continental et non seulement au niveau de Lawrence. Tout comme son état-major, il est conscient que les troupes anglaises du général Braddock viennent de subir une cuisante défaite contre des forces françaises et canadiennes dans la vallée de l'Ohio. Les craintes d'une attaque combinée de Louisbourg et Québec contre la Nouvelle-Écosse, à laquelle peuvent théoriquement se joindre les Acadiens et les Micmacs, justifie en quelque sorte, aux yeux de Lawrence, l'ordre de déportation. Déportation qui, une fois enclenchée, dure de 1755 à 1762 et éparpille la population acadienne, un peu partout dans les colonies américaines et en Europe. Le fort Beauséjour tombe en 1755, Louisbourg et l'Île Saint-Jean en 1758.
Les historiens estiment que le nombre de déportés peut se situer entre 7
000 et 10 000. Certains groupes d'Acadiens se retrouvent en France, d'autres en
Angleterre et un nombre important décide de s'installer en Louisiane française.
Quelques-uns se réfugient au Canada alors que d'autres préfèrent demeurer aux
Maritimes en se cachant ou en exerçant une certaine forme de résistance comme,
par exemple, Beausoleil Broussard. Un nombre important de déportés périssent en
mer ou en exil. Mais partout où ils se trouvent, les Acadiens continuent
d'exprimer un esprit communautaire fort, qui leur permet de surmonter les pires
épreuves.
Le Traité de Paris de 1763 met un terme définitif à la présence de la France au Canada et aux Maritimes. Plus chanceux que les Acadiens, les Canadiens évitent la déportation. Ce traité marque la fin des hostilités et persuade un bon nombre d'Acadiens de revenir s'établir dans les Maritimes, maintenant sous le contrôle absolu des Britanniques.
Le Traité de Paris de 1763 met un terme définitif à la présence de la France au Canada et aux Maritimes. Plus chanceux que les Acadiens, les Canadiens évitent la déportation. Ce traité marque la fin des hostilités et persuade un bon nombre d'Acadiens de revenir s'établir dans les Maritimes, maintenant sous le contrôle absolu des Britanniques.
À compter de 1763, la présence anglaise se fait sentir partout aux
Maritimes, ne serait-ce que par l'anglicisation de plusieurs noms de localités
françaises ou amérindiennes. D'un point de vue administratif, l'ensemble des
Maritimes est d'abord regroupé sous le giron d'une seule province, la
Nouvelle-Écosse. Mais dès 1769, l'Île Saint-Jean acquiert ce statut et devient
la province de Saint John's Island, nom qu'elle conserve jusqu'en 1799 alors
qu'on la rebaptise Île-du-Prince-Édouard. Plus à l'ouest, en 1784, en bonne
partie pour accommoder les milliers de Loyalistes arrivés après la Révolution
américaine, on détache un autre territoire que l'on nomme Nouveau-Brunswick.
Le rétablissement des Acadiens n'est pas chose facile et son histoire continue de s'écrire. D'abord, théoriquement, ils devaient prêter le serment d'allégeance à la couronne britannique. Parmi ces groupes d'Acadiens, plusieurs reviennent d'exil, d'autres sortent de leur cachette alors que certains sont libérés des camps d'internement de Beauséjour, Pisiguit, Port-Royal et Halifax. De manière générale, les régions d'établissement choisies par les Acadiens sont celles où l'on retrouve encore la grande majorité de leurs descendants aujourd'hui. Des régions de l'arrière-pays seront toutefois colonisées entre 1880 et 1940.
Au Cap-Breton, les Acadiens s'installent surtout à l'Île Madame et à Chéticamp. En Nouvelle-Écosse péninsulaire, le gros de la population d'origine acadienne choisît le sud-ouest soit la Baie Sainte-Marie et la grande région du Yarmouth actuel. Un nombre moindre s'installe à l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard alors que la majorité opte pour le Nouveau-Brunswick. Dans le cadre de ce retour, les autorités britanniques préfèrent voir les Acadiens éparpillés sur l'ensemble du territoire. Les Acadiens eux- mêmes semblent s'accommoder de cette directive qui, automatiquement, leur permet d'éviter les régions à majorité britannique qui, dans la plupart des cas, occupent les anciennes terres des Acadiens.
Le rétablissement des Acadiens n'est pas chose facile et son histoire continue de s'écrire. D'abord, théoriquement, ils devaient prêter le serment d'allégeance à la couronne britannique. Parmi ces groupes d'Acadiens, plusieurs reviennent d'exil, d'autres sortent de leur cachette alors que certains sont libérés des camps d'internement de Beauséjour, Pisiguit, Port-Royal et Halifax. De manière générale, les régions d'établissement choisies par les Acadiens sont celles où l'on retrouve encore la grande majorité de leurs descendants aujourd'hui. Des régions de l'arrière-pays seront toutefois colonisées entre 1880 et 1940.
Au Cap-Breton, les Acadiens s'installent surtout à l'Île Madame et à Chéticamp. En Nouvelle-Écosse péninsulaire, le gros de la population d'origine acadienne choisît le sud-ouest soit la Baie Sainte-Marie et la grande région du Yarmouth actuel. Un nombre moindre s'installe à l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard alors que la majorité opte pour le Nouveau-Brunswick. Dans le cadre de ce retour, les autorités britanniques préfèrent voir les Acadiens éparpillés sur l'ensemble du territoire. Les Acadiens eux- mêmes semblent s'accommoder de cette directive qui, automatiquement, leur permet d'éviter les régions à majorité britannique qui, dans la plupart des cas, occupent les anciennes terres des Acadiens.
Cette nouvelle Acadie des Maritimes est donc concentrée sur le littoral,
tournée vers la mer mais confrontée à des sols beaucoup moins fertiles que ceux
occupés avant 1755. De par la force des choses, la pêche et l'industrie du bois
deviennent des activités économiques prédominantes alors que l'agriculture en
est une à caractère de subsistance, à l'exception de l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard et
du Madawaska, où les sols permettent même une agriculture commerciale.
L'arrivée de marchands anglos-saxons et anglos-normands a pour effet d'intégrer
les pêcheurs acadiens dans une économie de marché mais seulement à titre de
producteurs. Ils ne possèdent pas les capitaux leur permettant de se hisser
eux-mêmes au rang d'exportateurs.
Sur la scène politique, de par leur statut de catholique, les Acadiens se voient privés du droit de vote et de siéger comme membre d'une législature provinciale. Même que de 1758 à 1763, ils ne peuvent détenir légalement des terres. Les Acadiens de la Nouvelle-Écosse obtiennent le droit de vote en 1789, ceux du Nouveau-Brunswick et leurs frères de l'Île-Prince-Édouard en 1830. À compter de ce moment-là, les Acadiens des trois provinces peuvent siéger dans les législatures. Il n'en demeure pas moins que les Acadiens de l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard et de certaines régions du sud-est du Nouveau-Brunswick sont confrontés aux embûches légales imposées par de grands propriétaires fonciers anglais. Dans certains cas, ils choisissent de s'établir ailleurs alors que ceux qui restent finissent par obtenir gain de cause et font reconnaître leur droit de propriété.
Si au début du 19e siècle, de manière générale, les Acadiens aspirent surtout à des objectifs de subsistance, quelques-uns d'entre-eux dépassent ce stade. De 1780 à 1840, une petite cohorte de leaders locaux émerge. Possédant une éducation rudimentaire, ils réussissent à participer aux activités commerciales inter-régionales avec leurs voisins anglophones. Plusieurs contractent des mariages qualifiés d'avantageux, du moins pour leur permettre d'exercer une influence sociale significative dans leur milieu. Entre autres exemples, Simon d'Entremont et Frédéric Robichaud siègent à la législature néo-écossaise durant la période 1830-1850 alors qu'au Nouveau-Brunswick, Othon Robichaud de Négouac et Joseph Goguen de Cocagne s'avèrent comme étant des exemples types du notable acadien de la nouvelle Acadie des Maritimes.
Il n'en demeure pas moins que l'Église missionnaire catholique est alors la seule réelle institution francophone à laquelle peuvent s'identifier les Acadiens. Ces missionnaires, Français ou Canadiens- français, ont parfois beaucoup de difficulté à exercer leur contrôle dans certaines régions acadiennes jugées plus réfractaires à leur autorité. Les écoles françaises sont très rares et l'on note la présence de maîtres-ambulants, témoignant de leur savoir d'un village à l'autre. On ne compte alors pratiquement aucun Acadien qui soit médecin ou avocat et il n'y a pas encore de journal acadien. Les Acadiens profitent néanmoins d'une première reconnaissance sur la scène internationale, grâce au poème de l'Américain Henry W. Longfellow, Évangéline, publié en 1847. Une décennie plus tard, l'historien français Edmé Rameau de Saint-Père, publie une synthèse historique de la présence française au Canada. Une bonne partie de cet ouvrage porte sur les Acadiens.
Sur la scène politique, de par leur statut de catholique, les Acadiens se voient privés du droit de vote et de siéger comme membre d'une législature provinciale. Même que de 1758 à 1763, ils ne peuvent détenir légalement des terres. Les Acadiens de la Nouvelle-Écosse obtiennent le droit de vote en 1789, ceux du Nouveau-Brunswick et leurs frères de l'Île-Prince-Édouard en 1830. À compter de ce moment-là, les Acadiens des trois provinces peuvent siéger dans les législatures. Il n'en demeure pas moins que les Acadiens de l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard et de certaines régions du sud-est du Nouveau-Brunswick sont confrontés aux embûches légales imposées par de grands propriétaires fonciers anglais. Dans certains cas, ils choisissent de s'établir ailleurs alors que ceux qui restent finissent par obtenir gain de cause et font reconnaître leur droit de propriété.
Si au début du 19e siècle, de manière générale, les Acadiens aspirent surtout à des objectifs de subsistance, quelques-uns d'entre-eux dépassent ce stade. De 1780 à 1840, une petite cohorte de leaders locaux émerge. Possédant une éducation rudimentaire, ils réussissent à participer aux activités commerciales inter-régionales avec leurs voisins anglophones. Plusieurs contractent des mariages qualifiés d'avantageux, du moins pour leur permettre d'exercer une influence sociale significative dans leur milieu. Entre autres exemples, Simon d'Entremont et Frédéric Robichaud siègent à la législature néo-écossaise durant la période 1830-1850 alors qu'au Nouveau-Brunswick, Othon Robichaud de Négouac et Joseph Goguen de Cocagne s'avèrent comme étant des exemples types du notable acadien de la nouvelle Acadie des Maritimes.
Il n'en demeure pas moins que l'Église missionnaire catholique est alors la seule réelle institution francophone à laquelle peuvent s'identifier les Acadiens. Ces missionnaires, Français ou Canadiens- français, ont parfois beaucoup de difficulté à exercer leur contrôle dans certaines régions acadiennes jugées plus réfractaires à leur autorité. Les écoles françaises sont très rares et l'on note la présence de maîtres-ambulants, témoignant de leur savoir d'un village à l'autre. On ne compte alors pratiquement aucun Acadien qui soit médecin ou avocat et il n'y a pas encore de journal acadien. Les Acadiens profitent néanmoins d'une première reconnaissance sur la scène internationale, grâce au poème de l'Américain Henry W. Longfellow, Évangéline, publié en 1847. Une décennie plus tard, l'historien français Edmé Rameau de Saint-Père, publie une synthèse historique de la présence française au Canada. Une bonne partie de cet ouvrage porte sur les Acadiens.
Il semble alors plus facile d'établir des collèges privés que
d'instaurer un système d'écoles publiques. C'est ainsi qu'en 1854, l'abbé
François-Xavier Lafrance, d'origine québécoise, inaugure la première
institution d'enseignement supérieure de langue française, le Séminaire
Saint-Thomas. L'abbé Gagnon tente en vain d'établir un collège dans la région
de Shédiac durant les années 1830. Situé à Saint- Joseph, au sud-est du
Nouveau-Brunswick, le Séminaire Saint-Thomas ferme ses portes en 1862 pour
ré-ouvrir en 1864 sous les bons soins d'une congrégation québécoise, les Pères
de Sainte-Croix.
Peu de temps après, en 1867, un Québécois, Israël Landry, lance le premier journal francophone aux Maritimes; le Moniteur Acadien, situé à Shédiac, toujours au sud-est du Nouveau-Brunswick. Les Acadiens se dotent ainsi d'outils fondamentaux à leur reconstruction sociale; un collège qui formera les prochaines générations de leaders cléricaux et un journal qui permettra de communiquer et d'apprendre à mieux se connaître. C'est au cours de cette même année que les Acadiens se font remarquer de manière percutante sur la scène politique des Maritimes. En effet, les régions à majorité acadienne du Nouveau-Brunswick votent à deux occasions contre le projet d'une confédération canadienne. Si bon nombre de politiciens les taxent de réactionnaires, il n'en demeure pas moins qu'ils ne furent pas les seuls citoyens des Maritimes à s'opposer à la Confédération puisque certaines régions côtières de la Nouvelle-Écosse la rejetèrent et l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard n'y adhère qu'en 1873. Cette relative précarité socio-économique n'empêche pas l'essor démographique des Acadiens. Au début du 19e siècle, ils sont 4 000 en Nouvelle-Écosse, 700 à l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard et 3 800 au Nouveau-Brunswick. En 1867, les trois provinces Maritimes comptent environ 87 000 habitants d'origine française.
Peu de temps après, en 1867, un Québécois, Israël Landry, lance le premier journal francophone aux Maritimes; le Moniteur Acadien, situé à Shédiac, toujours au sud-est du Nouveau-Brunswick. Les Acadiens se dotent ainsi d'outils fondamentaux à leur reconstruction sociale; un collège qui formera les prochaines générations de leaders cléricaux et un journal qui permettra de communiquer et d'apprendre à mieux se connaître. C'est au cours de cette même année que les Acadiens se font remarquer de manière percutante sur la scène politique des Maritimes. En effet, les régions à majorité acadienne du Nouveau-Brunswick votent à deux occasions contre le projet d'une confédération canadienne. Si bon nombre de politiciens les taxent de réactionnaires, il n'en demeure pas moins qu'ils ne furent pas les seuls citoyens des Maritimes à s'opposer à la Confédération puisque certaines régions côtières de la Nouvelle-Écosse la rejetèrent et l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard n'y adhère qu'en 1873. Cette relative précarité socio-économique n'empêche pas l'essor démographique des Acadiens. Au début du 19e siècle, ils sont 4 000 en Nouvelle-Écosse, 700 à l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard et 3 800 au Nouveau-Brunswick. En 1867, les trois provinces Maritimes comptent environ 87 000 habitants d'origine française.
Durant les années 1860, une classe moyenne acadienne commence déjà à se
constituer. Bien que le Collège Saint-Joseph allait certes contribuer à former
l'élite intellectuelle, l'historienne Sheila Andrew estime qu'il existe en fait
au moins quatre catégories d'élites en Acadie. Les deux plus en vue sont sans
doute le clergé et les membres des professions libérales. Mais même si les
fermiers et les commerçants ne bénéficient pas de capitaux aussi importants que
les anglophones exerçant ces mêmes occupations, certains Acadiens fermiers et
commerçants se démarquent.
Chez ces élites, ce sont le clergé et les membres des professions libérales qui orchestrent les structures aptes à définir les grands projets nationaux. À compter de 1881, les Conventions nationales acadiennes servent de forum permettant d'établir des consensus autour de grandes priorités. Entre autres, la promotion de l'agriculture et de la colonisation pour contrer l'émigration, l'éducation en français et l'acadianisation du clergé catholique aux Maritimes. Jusque vers 1930, les congrès sont tenus de manière intermittente dans différentes localités acadiennes des Maritimes. C'est de là qu'émergent les symboles nationaux que sont le drapeau, l'hymne national, la fête nationale et la devise "l'union fait la force". Parmi les grandes victoires des promoteurs de la cause acadienne, mentionnons la nomination du premier évêque acadien en 1912, Mgr Edouard LeBlanc.
Chez ces élites, ce sont le clergé et les membres des professions libérales qui orchestrent les structures aptes à définir les grands projets nationaux. À compter de 1881, les Conventions nationales acadiennes servent de forum permettant d'établir des consensus autour de grandes priorités. Entre autres, la promotion de l'agriculture et de la colonisation pour contrer l'émigration, l'éducation en français et l'acadianisation du clergé catholique aux Maritimes. Jusque vers 1930, les congrès sont tenus de manière intermittente dans différentes localités acadiennes des Maritimes. C'est de là qu'émergent les symboles nationaux que sont le drapeau, l'hymne national, la fête nationale et la devise "l'union fait la force". Parmi les grandes victoires des promoteurs de la cause acadienne, mentionnons la nomination du premier évêque acadien en 1912, Mgr Edouard LeBlanc.
La période 1881-1950 marque un tournant socio-économique important pour
les Acadiens, soit leur intégration dans le processus d'industrialisation et
d'urbanisation canadien. Bien que les migrations d'Acadiens et d'Acadiennes de
la campagne vers les villes soient moins importantes que chez les anglophones,
un bon nombre d'hommes et de femmes francophones s'installent à Moncton,
Yarmouth, Amherst ou encore, dans des villes de la Nouvelle-Angleterre pour
s'initier au travail en usine. Plusieurs membres du clergé et de l'élite y
voient un grand danger d'assimilation à la masse anglo-saxonne. Les mouvements
de colonisation des années 1880 et 1930 sont destinés à endiguer l'exil, à
détourner les Acadiens des pêcheries contrôlées surtout par des compagnies
étrangères ou encore, à soulager certaines familles des dures réalités de la
crise économique des années 1930. D'ailleurs, les pêches sont peu valorisées
par l'élite et le clergé avant les années 1920. Ce secteur de l'économie
connaît un souffle nouveau avec l'implantation du régime coopératif. Lancé
durant les années 1930 par l'Université Saint-François-Xavier, ce mouvement de
renouveau social permet à des communautés de pêche telles l'Île Madame,
Chéticamp ou encore Lamèque, de prendre en charge une partie importante de
l'activité de pêche de leur région.
Bien que l'historiographie demeure discrète à ce sujet, il est indéniable que les Acadiens participent activement aux deux grandes guerres mondiales même si des chiffres sûrs demeurent difficiles à circonscrire. Jusqu'à maintenant, l'histoire à surtout retenu leur opposition à la conscription lors des deux grandes guerres. La période 1881-1950 voit aussi l'émergence de certaines caractéristiques régionales dans les communautés acadiennes des provinces Maritimes. La réalité démographique favorisant les Acadiens du Nouveau-Brunswick; ce sont surtout eux qui portent le flambeau lors des grands combats pour l'avancement de la cause acadienne.
Depuis les années 1950, l'Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick s'est dotée
d'outils de revendication et de développement plus rapidement que les autres
régions acadiennes en Atlantique. Bien que des organismes comme la Société
Nationale de l'Acadie et la Société des Acadiens et des Acadiennes du
Nouveau-Brunswick aient été des éléments clés dans les revendications
acadiennes, il faut surtout souligner l'importance du poids démographique
acadien. Composant environ le tiers de la population provinciale, les Acadiens
furent en mesure d'élire plusieurs des leurs à la législature provinciale et à
la Chambre des Communes à Ottawa.
D'une certaine manière, l'Acadie, particulièrement au Nouveau-Brunswick, a elle aussi vécu sa révolution tranquille. Durant les années 1950 et 1960, les Acadiens du Nouveau-Brunswick obtiennent des stations de radio et de télévision de la Société Radio-Canada, à Moncton, fondent une université au même endroit et contribuent à élire le premier Premier ministre acadien à la tête de la province, le libéral Louis J. Robichaud. À cela s'ajoutent un quotidien francophone, l'Évangéline, de même qu'un système d'écoles publiques francophones et des hôpitaux dans la majorité des régions acadiennes d'importance.
D'une certaine manière, l'Acadie, particulièrement au Nouveau-Brunswick, a elle aussi vécu sa révolution tranquille. Durant les années 1950 et 1960, les Acadiens du Nouveau-Brunswick obtiennent des stations de radio et de télévision de la Société Radio-Canada, à Moncton, fondent une université au même endroit et contribuent à élire le premier Premier ministre acadien à la tête de la province, le libéral Louis J. Robichaud. À cela s'ajoutent un quotidien francophone, l'Évangéline, de même qu'un système d'écoles publiques francophones et des hôpitaux dans la majorité des régions acadiennes d'importance.
Le gouvernement Robichaud, grâce à son programme innovateur de
"chances égales pour tous", contribue grandement à la mise en place
de ces infrastructures. À la même époque, la jeunesse étudiante acadienne
manifeste son opposition à l'establishment anglophone de Moncton en exigeant
des services municipaux en français.
Bien que les communautés acadiennes d'ailleurs en Atlantique ne puissent s'appuyer sur des assises démographiques comparables à celles du Nouveau-Brunswick pour obtenir des réformes au même rythme, elles réussissent tout de même à se faire reconnaître le droit à l'enseignement en français et l'accès aux services de radio et de télévision française de Radio-Canada. La Nouvelle-Écosse et l'Île- du-Prince-Édouard comptent toutes deux un journal hebdomadaire et dans la première province, les Acadiens peuvent fréquenter l'Université Sainte-Anne de Pointe-de-l'Église.
Malgré le long chemin parcouru depuis la déportation de 1755, l'Acadie des Maritimes se devra de relever d'autres défis au cours des prochaines années. L'éducation en français n'est pas forcément un fait acquis partout puisqu'en Nouvelle-Écosse, des groupes de parents acadiens ne semblent pas convaincus du bien-fondé d'un enseignement exclusivement français alors qu'à l'Île-du-Prince- Édouard, le gouvernement provincial se fait tirer l'oreille pour fournir des locaux adéquats pour les francophones de Summerside.
Également, considérant l'option souverainiste au Québec et le peu de sympathie envers le bilinguisme chez les Réformistes de l'Ouest, il est fort à parier que les Acadiens devront batailler ferme pour conserver certains acquis au niveau fédéral .
Bien que les communautés acadiennes d'ailleurs en Atlantique ne puissent s'appuyer sur des assises démographiques comparables à celles du Nouveau-Brunswick pour obtenir des réformes au même rythme, elles réussissent tout de même à se faire reconnaître le droit à l'enseignement en français et l'accès aux services de radio et de télévision française de Radio-Canada. La Nouvelle-Écosse et l'Île- du-Prince-Édouard comptent toutes deux un journal hebdomadaire et dans la première province, les Acadiens peuvent fréquenter l'Université Sainte-Anne de Pointe-de-l'Église.
Malgré le long chemin parcouru depuis la déportation de 1755, l'Acadie des Maritimes se devra de relever d'autres défis au cours des prochaines années. L'éducation en français n'est pas forcément un fait acquis partout puisqu'en Nouvelle-Écosse, des groupes de parents acadiens ne semblent pas convaincus du bien-fondé d'un enseignement exclusivement français alors qu'à l'Île-du-Prince- Édouard, le gouvernement provincial se fait tirer l'oreille pour fournir des locaux adéquats pour les francophones de Summerside.
Également, considérant l'option souverainiste au Québec et le peu de sympathie envers le bilinguisme chez les Réformistes de l'Ouest, il est fort à parier que les Acadiens devront batailler ferme pour conserver certains acquis au niveau fédéral .
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