Chapter 13

Conclusions

Descendants of the original 1841 English, Irish, Loyalist and Scottish settlers are residents of these five communities today: people with the surnames of Campbell, Craig, Dawson, Duffy, Johnston, Keefe, Kelly, McCardle, McCarville, McKenna, Murphy, Mulligan, Shreenan, Smith, Trainor, Wright and Young. Descendants of French Acadians who came to this area in the 18805 are also residents of Kinkora: people with surnames of Arsenault, DesRoches, Dougay, Gallant, Perry, Peters and Richards. In the 19505 families of Dutch and Polish ancestry arriv- ed: Maas, Mol, Postma, Terrebenec, Vander Velen and Zielinski. The community is more multiethnic now. Never- theless, the majority, about 60%, are of Irish ancestry; another 23 070 of English and Scottish descent; and 13% are Acadians — the three largest ethnic groups? A majority are also members of the Roman Catholic Church. In these two dimensions, ancestry and religion, the profile of the Kinkora area has not changed significantly since the 18405.

What has changed most dramatically in these five com— munities is their economic situation. Most of the households, about 72%, no longer own family farms;2 instead, they (husbands and Wives) are employees of small businesses, industries and government-owned institutions, most of which are situated outside the five communities. They must travel to work, to shop, bank and to obtain health—care services in the larger urban centres. Four of the communities no longer have any schools. And although Kinkora has held on to its church, schools, post—office, automotive service station, restaurant, fire station, funeral

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home and recreation centre, it does not have a general store; (Roberts’ Restaurant does sell some groceries). This lack of services is a source of disappointment and inconvenience to many, especially to the retired people, who represent about 29% of the households.3 The attractiveness of the larger urban centres draws people away from the Kinkora area, and represents perhaps the greatest threat to its future development.

The dismantling of the smaller school districts has meant the destruction of some neighbourhoods. Children are educated in the larger regional schools in Kinkora, which has become the community for the area. Many people however still identify with one of the other four neighbourhoods; a sense of local identity is still strong. In fact, during this research some residents refused to cooperate in replying to a survey because the question— naire was seen as giving priority to Kinkora. However, the majority appear to accept the fact that Kinkora represents their community. This is evident in their participation in various groups and activities based in Kinkora, such as the volunteer fire department, senior citizens clubs, parish organizations, and the annual Somerset Festival. Many also recognize that Kinkora community is part of a wider regional division, the East Prince County Development Region; and so a more complex, inclusive attitude of what community means today permeates the thinking of most residents in all five communities.

In addition to having a sense of community loyalty, and understandable pride in what they and their ancestors have accomplished, the people in these communities also show a belief in the basic sameness or equality of members in the communities. Older and former residents reflecting on the past explained that “there were no leaders, except perhaps, the priests?4 They would point out that “so-and—so” was very skilled in doing something, but they carefully added,