Two Lanes, Top Down, Green Dots: Day 16: Dalhousie NB to Parlee Beach NB

Day 16 June 22 Our 36th Anniversary!

Miles 271 (4958)
Two Lanes 251 (4092) 83%
Top Down 271 (4534) 91%

We had breakfast and drove into Acadia. What is Acadia? Well, it is not really a place, but a people and a culture. The Acadians were French Catholic immigrants, many from Brittany on the Bay of Biscay in France. Thy came as all settlers did, to find a better life in the 16th-18th centuries. They were and are a peaceful, community-oriented people whose historical calling was the sea. They are fisherman.

The Acadians settled along the coastlines from northern Maine, along New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and the southern face of the Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec.

The Lands of Acadia don’t fit neatly into current geopolitical boundaries. But they have a flag that many fly on poles from their homes: the French flag with a large gold star in the upper left corner.

The story of the Acadians is bitter sweet. Made famous by Longfellow in his 19th century classic “Evangeline”, they were persecuted by the British in 1755 and forced to swear allegiance to the British Crown or be forcibly deported, often with little concern for keeping families together.

France and England had fought for years on and off in the New and Old Worlds. They were archenemies. Following the end of the wars of the 17th century, the Treaty of Utrecht was signed in 1703. This treaty transferred ownership of the lands of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to the British from the French. The Acadians were affected deeply by this transfer by an agreement made thousands of miles away about issues which they had no involvement.

Nevertheless, the British ignored Acadia for the next two generations. But in 1755, things were again heating up with the French, this time in the New World. On the verge of the war of 1756-1763 (The French Canadians and Acadians call it the War of Conquest; the British call it the Seven Years War; and the Americans know it as the French and Indian War), in the summer of 1755, the British required all French speakers (Francophones) to swear an allegiance to the crown of England.

The Acadians were peace loving, and without care to the larger world politics. They did not even know or care who the King of England was. Many did not take the oath. Of the 14,000 Acadians, 6,000 were forcibly deported. Separated to places around the globe, many were sent to French Louisiana, the ancestors of today’s Cajuns.

But many fled or hid. The forests are quick thick and the Acadians had long ago befriended the local natives, the Mic-Maqs. Many lived for years in the woods.

After the British defeated the French in 1763, the Acadians were no longer seen as a threat, and slowly they returned.

There are many tragedies of this story. Evangeline, and all those she represented, was separated from her lover, only to be found by him in Louisiana by him years later after she had died. The other tragedy is that human kind continues to behave this way. Go to Manzanar on the east slopes of the Sierras and experience how we treated first, second or third Japanese American citizens during a state of fear. Or read Snow Falling on Cedars.

Or think about our own (some would say “understandable”) paranoia after 9/11 and how many called for limiting freedoms of Muslims.

So what is the sweet side of the bittersweet Acadian story? They have returned, survived, and prospered. They are a very proud people. First Acadian, then Canadian.

At dinner this evening we were served by Dominique LeBlanc, a young Acadian in her early twenties completing her college degree. She told us the story of her family. She is ¼ Acadian, ¼ Norwegian, ¼ Scottish and ¼ Irish. But she is Acadian and proud of it. Her father’s ancestors hid with the MicMaqs in 1755. The story is told over and over each generation. This story survival amid persecution was her bedtime story, over and over. She will tell her children. The oral history, its strength, and its perseverance are an inspiration for all of us. And it is a story of non-violence.

Today, New Brunswick is he only political unit on the world where by constitutional law all printing of signs, menus, etc must be in French and English.

But Dominique warned that they still must be vigilant, and then are constants attempts to weaken this. The main tool that the Acadians have in New Brunswick is economic. 40% of all New Brunswickers are Acadian. As tight a group as they are, any economic boycott of businesses with unfriendly practices could be catastrophic to those businesses.

Back to our travels.

To learn more, we visited Les Villages Acadien near Caraquet, New Brunswick. This I a collection of homes and buildings moved from around New Brunswick to give the visitor a taste of Acadian Life in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries.

Then to the Miramichi River Valley, the #1 place for Atlantic salmon fly-fishing in the New World. Someday John Hurlburt and I will return here to catch our trophies

Then on to our destination for the night: Parlee Beach. This is the “Florida” of Canada. Here on the northern shores of New Brunswick is the Northumberland Strait. Shallow waters, protected by Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. It is the warmest water north of the Carolinas.

We tested that. At 7 pm the air tempo was 78, the water temp as about 76, and the beach was full with many in the water!

Then to the wharf to the Sand Bar where Dominique served Linda a one-pound lobster caught that day, and I had outstanding fish and chips (fresh Newfoundland haddock).

The Flag of Acadia