Who gets to define Acadian?
or as my mother might say "eh, pétaque"?*
Sucker punched.
That’s what it felt like to be lulled into the time of our pre-Deportation ancestors in a story told on a blog by a retired history professor. Then ripped to the present by his adamant, almost angry, statement of opinion that, after the British won in Canada in the mid-1700s, Acadia is a “fabricated romantic dream.”
“There are two Acadias, in my opinion, the one of circa 1605-1755 located in what is now Nova Scotia. That is history. The other Acadia, which in 2019 celebrated its first World Congress, is a fabricated romantic dream born in 1884. It has a life of its own in contemporary times and little connection with the first Acadia, except, of course, through genealogy. Its identity seems to be inspired by the poem Evangeline by the American poet Longfellow, and its symbols of what it calls nationhood – flag, anthem, motto and mascot – are in no way connected with the original Acadia. That is fantasy. The historian trying to keep the two apart often sails onto dangerous shoals.” Reg Porter's blog
What are these “symbols of what it calls nationhood”?
Flag
Anthem (listen on Youtube) Ave Maris Stella
Motto: L'union fait la force--strength through unity
Mascot: I suppose by this he means Evangeline, though mascot is not the term I’d have chosen for her
“What it calls nationhood” Really? Twenty-four hours after reading the blog, the frisson of a psychic assault continued to course through my body. Not because he held an opinion so different from mine. But because he seemed so certain that Acadia of now is “no way connected with the original Acadia.” Might as well say the Hebrews of Egypt have no connection to Israel, or the synagogues of New York, or Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.
I begin to understand what the cousins talk about when they tell stories of bias and prejudice. The kind that dismisses and hurts.
At first, I thought I’d talk about this without citing Porter’s blog. No need to start a fight, heh? Or to taint the curiosity of anyone who wants to visit the abundance of cool maps he posted.
Then, like a possum waking from its freeze response, I shook my head and said “what the hell?” Then came “eh, pétaque!”* which my mother said whenever she was annoyed.
The year he stated for the first World Acadian Congress was wrong. It couldn’t be 2019 because I, with my sister Sue and youngest brother Glenn, were at the 2014 World Acadian Congress in Madawaska, Maine. We were not engaged in fantasy role play. We were learning about our heritage, meeting more cousins, parading and partying. It was transformative.
Then I wondered, do the vagaries of war or the people who write about them get to define a culture’s identity? Saying the Acadian identity of now is “no way connected” to pre-Deportation Acadia is like saying the indigenous tribes of both Canada and the U.S. are in “no way connected” to their ancestors and identities because of forced migrations and ethnic cleansings in our countries.
And what was so important that a historian needed to equate the activities and reclamation of heritage in post-trauma cultural recovery with the making of a fantasy? As if culture before trauma were real, and culture after trauma were imaginary.
In my other role as a psychotherapist, I know that’s not how trauma recovery works. It’s not how growth and reconciliation work either. First you stabilize the nervous system, reconnect with others, then integrate and grow to another self that can hold the pain of the trauma without melting down yourself or taking out anyone who triggers you. It takes time.
Maybe I was missing something. So I asked Nina Savoie-Colwell to weigh in on the idea of a Real vs. Fantasy Acadia. Nina teaches Acadian French and History courses at the University of New Brunswick. Her research interest is in what it means to be Acadian.
This is a pretty big thing to say. I think a lot of Acadians would have a strong opinion on what it means to be Acadian. Fantasy is certainly not a word that has come up in my research on Acadian identity. Pride and a sense of collectivism and community came up a lot. Acadians have a proud identity. We cannot deny Acadian culture; you can find folks across the USA and Eastern Canada who identify as Acadian. Acadian culture remains popular among Acadians despite time and larger pop culture.
In New Brunswick, I am currently working on a Acadian French and History course for local cable here in the province's capital. The episodes will be inspired by the courses I teach at the College of Extended Learning (CEL) at the University of New Brunswick - "Acadians outside of Acadie" and "Everyday Acadian Culture". If anything we have more interests now in Acadian culture as more and more folks turn to genealogy and family history.
Eh, bon.
* Thank you to Patrick Joseph Marcel Vincent for explaining that pétaque is an Old French word that means potato. Patrick’s Mémère Yvette lived in Saint-Edmond d'Autray, then Saint-Cuthbert, d'Autray, Lanaudière, Québec, and spoke old French. While my mother used it as a mild swear, his mother and grandmother never used pétaque that way.. Just as the garden vegetable it is.
Patrick is among the helpful members of Nicole Gallant Nunes' Facebook group, one of the most welcoming, sharing, generous, and supportive Acadian groups you’ll ever find.
Thank you to Francois Sylvestre (Montreal) for the link about pétaque on Wkitionnaire.
For more on Acadian identity:
Go if you can. I don’t remember the name of the woman who said this or at which Congress she spoke, but I will never forget this Welcome to Acadie: (paraphrasing) If your ancestors where born here, if you were born here, if you were adopted, or you just love Acadie, welcome home to the family.
Bookshelf
Acadian Driftwood by Tyler Leblanc
From Canada’s history: Tyler LeBlanc didn’t care much about history until he stumbled upon a family secret hiding almost in plain sight. He’d always believed, as family lore had maintained, that LeBlanc was an adopted surname. Instead, after being prodded to explore further, he found that a suppressed lineage could be traced back seven generations to one of the original settlers of Acadia.
Refuge by Susan Surette-Draper
What an interesting question Susan raised with her family: Are we Acadian if we never left? Refuge tells the story of a family not deported.