OUR ACADIAN ROOTS

By looking at a census of Stella Maris Parish, it is quite easy to conclude that the great majority of parishioners are of Acadian descent. Many of those who do not have Acadian names have married Acadian women or are able to find some Acadian heritage in their background. In view of these facts, we felt that it was appropriate to give a brief history of the Acadians.

The arrival at Port Lajoie (Charlottetown) on August 23, 1720 of three small ships from France carrying 300 passengers marked the beginning of French settlement on Ile Saint-Jean. Michel Haché-Gallant was one of the first Acadians to arrive there in 1720. With the failure of the company of Comte de Saint-Pierre in the Fall of 1724, most of the colonists from France returned home.

The first census of Ile Saint-Jean taken in 1728 shows a population of 297 plus 125 fishermen not listed. By 1748, the total Acadian population of Ile Saint- Jean was only 735.

Over the years Acadia, which comprised much of the Maritime region, had become a pawn in the power struggle between the two great imperialistic powers,

France and England. Subject to continual wars, the Acadians had developed a policy of neutrality as being their wisest course.

With the founding of Halifax in 1749, the English authorities now ‘ demanded that the Acadians take an unconditional oath of allegiance. This demand led to a large-scale movement of Acadians across to Ile Saint—Jean. The census taken by Sieur de la Roque in 1752 gives the population as 2,223 souls, a marked increase in only four years.

The expulsion of the Acadians in 1755 brought a second large influx to Ile Saint-Jean. Crossing over without warning or resources, some 2,000 Acadians made their escape almost doubling the Island population overnight.

During the next few years, things went from bad to worse for the inhabitants of Ile Saint-Jean. The inhabitants had hardly been able to provide themselves with the bare necessities of life let alone help their poor destitute brothers from Acadia. The plight of the Acadians is well stated in a letter dated April 18, 1757 written by Vaudreuil, the Governor at Quebec, to the Minsiter in Paris: “The women and children dare not go out, being unable to hide their

nakedness. It is the same with a number of the men. Ile Saint-Jean deserves at— tentioni’

Tragically, those Acadians who had escaped to the Island faced yet another expulsion. In the Fall of 1758, approximately 3,500 Acadians were expelled from Ile Saint-Jean and the settlements in different parts of the Island were ordered destroyed. Approximately 1,100 people were able to escape deportation, but not all of these remained on Ile Saint Jean.