Evangeline

Here comes another sad story of human suffering during the 1700's and another UNESCO World Heritage Site. Grand Pre, along the Bay of Fundy, is a rich agricultural area steeped in history of Mi'kmaq, Acadian and Planter cultures. At the Grand-Pre National Historic Site the story of the Acadian diaspora is told and a memorial church marks the site of a 17th-century Acadian village. A video in the Visitor Center tells the story of the deportation of the Acadian settlers immortalized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie. 

During the struggle between the British and the French for control of North America, Acadians occupied strategic territory. The Acadian settlers came mostly from the Anjou and Poetore areas of France beginning in 1638 and settled along the coast of Nova Scotia in areas that were not used by the Mi'kmaq who befriended the Acadians. Attracted by the salt marshes along the Bay of Fundy, the Acadians claimed the land for farming by building dikes and draining the marshes using a process called aboiteaux. After several years, the recovered land made incredibly fertile farm land and the Acadians claimed over 3,000 acre in an area around Grand Pre. 

At the time of the Seven Years War (French and Indian War in America), the British, who controlled Nova Scotia at the time, became suspicious of the Acadians, who, after all, came from France and still spoke the language, even though they claimed neutrality. In 1755, an attempt was made by the British to obtain a declaration of allegiance to the King from the Acadians. When they refused, the order came to deport the Acadians and make their land available to the New England Planters. 

On September 5, 1755, the decree was read to the Acadians and the deportation began. Over 10,000 Acadians were forced to leave their homes and farms which were burned to the ground to prevent the return of the Acadians. They were forced to return to France and England and approximately 5,000 arrived in the British colonies that later became the United States. They were not welcomed by the colonists, being French and Roman Catholic, and were forced to live in poverty. Many of these Acadians eventually settled in Louisiana. 

Louisiana became a focal point of the Acadian exiles' migration. Approximately 1,500 Acadians arrived from the American Colonies, West Indies and Nova Scotia between 1763 and 1767. The largest group, nearly 1,600, came back from France in 1785 and they were followed by smaller groups over the next several years.  Acadians were welcomed in the Spanish colony of Louisiana , which had been French until 1762, and encouraged Roman Catholic settlers.

The Grand Pre National Historic Site Visitor Center. It is the site of the 17th/18th-century Acadian village that was the setting for Longfellow's narrative poem Evangeline.

This is Brad Samson, of Acadian heritage, who was our tour guide at the Grand-Pre center. 

The land where the site is located was purchased in 1907 by John Frederic Herbin, an Acadian with a big heart and attuned with his culture. This land was believed to be the site of a church and an Acadian burial site. The land was later acquired by the Canadian Government and in now under  Parks Canada control. This memorial church was built at the request of Herbin.

Statue of Mary in the Memorial church.

A stained glass depiction of the deportation. (It's really hard to see.)

Statue of Evangeline who has become very important to the Acadians as a symbol of their sorrow and their strength.

There are beautiful gardens at the site.

More of the gardens that were built to protect the land and the burial sites.

After we left the Grand-Pre Historic Site we travelled west to our campground right outside of Port Royal.  Along the way we passed Greenwood, site of the largest Atlantic Canadian Air Force base, and home to the 14th Wing.

There was a group of close formation aircraft that seemed to be practicing and we enjoyed the show for many miles.