French-speaking Acadians welcome all to their region

“Parlez-vous Francais?” (Do you speak French?) asked my French-speaking guide who lives in New Brunswick.

“Un peu (a little),” I hedged.

Of course I know many Quebecers speak French. But I was surprised to learn how many French speakers also live in Canada’s Atlantic Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. They call themselves Acadians and their region Acadia.

About 250,000 Acadians live in New Brunswick. “We are Canada’s only official bilingual province,” boasts the city of Moncton’s English- and French-speaking Acadian mayor, Leopold Belliveau.

New Brunswick Acadians live mainly on the east coast in an area called the Acadian Peninsula along the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Bay of Chaleurs and the Northumberland Strait. Just about everyone speaks French but willingly talks in English. They welcome English-speaking vacationers.

Who are the Acadians? In the early 1600s emigrants from southwest France arrived in the Maritimes. They named their region Acadia after a Peloponnesian plain called Arcadia, considered earthly paradise by the ancient Greeks. Later, when the English conquered the French colonists, they expelled the Acadians with a vengeance from 1755 to 1763.

Some of those Acadians made it to Louisiana. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 1847 poem, “Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie,” tells the sad tale of their resettlement there. Isolated along the Louisiana bayous for nearly 200 years, their descendants called themselves Cajuns. Only recently has there been an interest in their Cajun-French language, jolly music and spicy food.

Last August thousands of descendants of Acadians, banished as far as Louisiana, Australia and the Falkland Islands, returned to New Brunswick for the first Acadian Congress, attended by 220,000 people. It was an emotional time of family reunions mixed with music, food, theater, sports, cinema and academic discussions.

What the returnees saw amazed many of them. Once a poor section of Canada, the Acadian Peninsula is now home to solid fishermen and farmers. Acadian history, culture and the French language all are celebrated.

They also discovered a popular vacation destination.

For French and English speakers, a good place to begin visiting the French part of New Brunswick is in the province’s southeastern city of Moncton where 40 percent of the population is Acadian. Mayor Belliveau said, “New Brunswick’s French and English work together. We respect both cultures and know it’s an asset to understand both languages. Our future is bright.”

A politician talking? Sure. But it’s easy to have a good time on the Acadian Peninsula where French-speakers strive hard to get along with the English visitors. “Why would people want to isolate themselves?” asks the mayor.

At the Acadian Museum on the Francophone University of Moncton campus a large gallery is devoted to Acadian history. Among the items on display are an 1893 painting of the expulsion of Evangeline and allegiance forms the Acadians had to sign declaring their loyalty to England. Tour guide and student Stephane LeBlanc, who wants to teach Acadian history in Cajun Louisiana said, “Today, people are proud to be Acadian.”

This pride is strong in the town of Bouctouche at a unique theme park, Le Pays de la Sagouin (the washerwoman’s country), dedicated to a fictional scrubwoman created by New Brunswicker Antonine Maillet in her novel, “La Sagouine.” The village, built in 1930s Depression architecture, specializes in Acadian music, theater and food. But the main attraction is the washerwoman, now a French-Canadian folk hero.

Dressed in rags and carrying a bucket and mop, the washerwoman, portrayed by local Acadian actress Viola Leger, philosophizes on life for visitors. She ponders, “We ain’t Americans. We ain’t English Canadians. We ain’t completely French cause the French folks is fr’m France. We ain’t French Canadians cause they live in Quebec. L’Acadie ain’t a country, ‘n Acadjen ain’t a nationality cause it ain’t written in Joe Graphy’s books.”

The washerwoman also explains why the Acadians came back to the region after the expulsion. “They … wanned to have a country. They wanned to get ‘mselves a patch of land where they could speak their own language, ‘n where nobody could call ’em names no more.”

General Manager Rheal Savoie said, “The village is a unique cultural attraction. Here you experience Acadian culture at its best. We want English speakers to visit and enjoy Acadian culture. All our staff is bilingual.” (Since most visitors are French-speaking, English speakers must speak first so the staff knows to respond in English.)

The post-expulsion years, 1780-1890, when Acadians came out of hiding or returned to the area, is portrayed at the historic Acadian Village near Caraquet. This excellent museum was voted most authentic by the American Local Farming Association of Museums in 1982. Dozens of old homes have been moved to the village where costumed interpreters explain the Acadians’ lives.

During summer evenings at the museum, a dinner show serves Acadian food. The entertainment is by local people, including nationally famous Donat LaCroix. A singer, poet, storyteller, boat builder and fisherman, LaCroix has entertained on television and radio shows broadcast across Canada. “I sing for the love of it,” he said. “We Acadians like to celebrate.”

“Music is a way of life for us,” added Antoine Landry, star of the village’s dinner show. “It doesn’t take an event to start a party.”

One annual event that always means a party is Aug. 15, Assumption Day. Throughout the region, locals fly the Acadian flag and make lots of noise “to remind the English we’re still here.”

Another Acadian party, the annual July lobster festival, is held in the southern resort city of Shediac, the “lobster capital of the world.” Visitors who come throughout the summer to enjoy the area’s excellent saltwater beaches always find lobster on restaurant menus. Shediac is the home of the world’s largest lobster, a 90-ton, 35-foot-long, 15-foot-high concrete behemoth with claws so big a person can crawl inside.

Also in July, fishing communities like Shippagan, 28 miles from the Acadian Village, honor fishermen. The boats are blessed, fishing boats and homes are decorated with colorful flags, the carnival comes to town and town dinners feature locally caught fish and Acadian music.

In Shippagan and Caraquet it’s easy to drive to the docks and watch the fishermen haul in their catches. The importance of the fishing industry in Acadia is explained at the Aquarium and Marine Centre in Caraquet by exhibits and tanks filled with local sea life.

Once an impoverished region, Acadia is now economically healthy, its people filled with pride. The Acadian Village’s Landry sums up the spirit of the time. “We are so proud of our heritage. Now it would be impossible for us to lose our culture.”

More information is available from Tourism New Brunswick, P.O. Box 12345, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B-5C3, 800-561-0123.