Destinations
Exploring the complex history and amazing culture of Acadians in Louisiana
When I read “A Walk Through Time and History” by Karen Cook in More of Our Canada, (July 2020), I was reminded of our trip to P.E.I., New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in 1987, before Confederation Bridge was built. I wasn’t aware of the plight of the Acadians until that trip, although as a schoolgirl in Wales, I had learned about the conflicts in North America between the British and the French. I had not heard about the suffering that the deportation of the Acadians had caused, all because they refused to swear allegiance to the British Crown.
The 1713 Treaty of Utrecht abolished Acadia forever, displacing many Acadians to the British Colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina. While some survived in hiding with the help of the Mi’kmaq First Nations, others sailed across the Atlantic to France
and Great Britain; many were placed in internment camps for 20 to 30 years. Some were invited to live on Belle Île en Mer, off the coast of Brittany; these souls suffered from a harsh climate, drought and promised subsidies that arrived long overdue.
Meanwhile the Spanish colony of Louisiana in the southern part of North America on the coast of Gulf of Mexico also became home for Acadian exiles, who began arriving in 1764 from Halifax and the colonies. In 1785, 1,600 people were brought over by Spain to Louisiana, with some also arriving from Belle Île en Mer.
Acadians in Louisiana became known as “Cajuns,” due to the fact that in spoken French, the capital “A” in “Acadiens” was being dropped and the “d” was pronounced as a “j” instead. “Acadiens” became “Cajiens” and, when anglicized later, “Cajuns.”
In September 2014, my husband and I took a tour that ended in New Orleans, Louisiana. We were meeting friends in St. Louis, Missouri, so we decided to travel through the area that the Cajuns settled in and around St. Martinville. In a rented car hired at the New Orleans airport, and with the help of the locals, we managed to find a museum called Acadian Memorial (Monument Acadian), situated along Bayou Teche. We spent almost three hours there and walked around the Evangeline Oak Park, where in addition to the famous and most photographed oak tree around, we viewed a statue of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, author of the poem “Evangeline,” who supposedly met her lover beneath the branches of the Evangeline Oak.
Part of the museum relates the story of the Acadians living alongside the Free Blacks in the area, who contributed to the Creole culture—including food—that blossomed in the area. In another building, there is a large interactive mural depicting the story of the original Acadians. It talks of how they had to adapt to the cold, temperate climate in Nova Scotia, and, upon arriving in Louisiana, adapt again, this time to a humid, sub-tropical climate. Hard labour jobs draining land in the Minas Basin by Grand Pré were there to be found, drainage being a necessity of life in the region.
Opposite the interactive mural is the “Wall of Names,” listing original settlers in the St. Martinville area, and there is a book available with details about the families and the times they lived in.
Afterwards, we walked a short distance to the church, St. Martin de Tours, where there was another statue, that of Evangeline. We had a beautiful, hot day to visit the town, and were glad it was not as humid as in New Orleans. We did sample some hot Cajun food on the trip, but not liking spicy food, we would never make good Cajuns!
While I do not have a direct connection to the Acadians, I do have an interest in family history as well as a “French Connection” dating back to the 1100s, which made the visit all the more fascinating for me!