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I have relatives who are from some of these regions. When you consider how small they are and how totally surrounded they are by much larger and more populated anglophone areas, it's a pretty freaky accident of history and even a small miracle that people there still speak French after several centuries.
Yes indeed, they're probably some of the oldest communities in Canada. I wonder how many French Speaking commnunities still exist in NS? I know of the two mentioned above in Cape Breton, and I know there are several on the Southern tip of NS around Yarmouth. There are probably more I just not aware of them.
Are there any Acadian communities on the Gaspe peninsula in Qc?
Yes indeed, they're probably some of the oldest communities in Canada. I wonder how many French Speaking commnunities still exist in NS? I know of the two mentioned above in Cape Breton, and I know there are several on the Southern tip of NS around Yarmouth. There are probably more I just not aware of them.
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There really are only two other areas I'd say.
The main one in the province is actually between the towns of Digby and Yarmouth (the towns aren't included in the Acadian region and have few francophones).
It's known as Clare municipally but in French it's referred to as "la Baie Sainte-Marie".
It has about 8,000 people scattered in 20 or so villages and small towns and extends about 50 km or so.
So it's a decent-sized region. Far larger than any other Acadian region in Nova Scotia.
About 70-75% of the population is francophone, and AFAIK there are no truly anglophone towns in Clare, though of course many anglophones do live in amongst the Acadian francophones in all communities.
It's in the municipality of Argyle but here the population is about 50-50 between anglophones and francophones, and there are both Anglo and Acadian predominant towns.
The Acadian towns are places like Wedgeport, Sainte-Anne-du-Ruisseau (where the regional French high school) and a half dozen towns which have the name Pubnico in them: Lower East Pubnico, West Pubnico, Middle West Pubnico, and so on...
This area is known for the (almost freaky) predominance of the surname "D'Entremont", which seems totally unique to the area.
Interestingly enough the accent seems to vary from family to family, and households that have lived next to each other for generations in the same town often have different accents.
Havre-Saint-Pierre and some of its surrounding towns on the far north shore of the St. Lawrence also have Acadian roots, and some accent traces as well.
The ÃŽles-de-la-Madeleine, in the middle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence not too far from PEI and Newfoundland, also belong to Quebec and there the population is quite predominantly Acadian, with lots of accent similarities.
A version of Zachary Richard's Travailler c'est trop dur by Ivoirian singer Alpha Blondy, has over 10 million hits in multiple videos. I think that's probably due to Blondy being relatively well-known in France.
Versions by Richard himself amount to a couple million hits for sure as well.
I didn't count it because it appears to be traditional (though popularized as arranged and performed by Richard, of course).
I have relatives who are from some of these regions. When you consider how small they are and how totally surrounded they are by much larger and more populated anglophone areas, it's a pretty freaky accident of history and even a small miracle that people there still speak French after several centuries.
It really is pretty amazing how Acadian French has not just survived the deportation but has, even in such tiny islets, withstood the 250 years since, and made it well into the 21st century. But today, it looks to be in trouble in all the NS Acadian areas except for Clare.
On the one hand, it's sad but not really surprising that such small pockets of French can't hold on indefinitely. On the other hand, though, there are some tendencies among Acadians that don't help. Well, among all ROC francophones, really, but it's particularly striking in the Acadian case because of how strong Acadian identity and cultural vitality still seems to be in many respects.
One is that many seem to have a lack of awareness of the concerning assimilation statistics, or maybe are just set on ignoring them and denying them. So many seem to be think the language is in a pretty safe place nowadays, which is not really the case even in NB, let alone outside of it.
The other (which is likely exacerbated by the first) is an overreliance on French language schools (and occasional exposure to French from extended family) to transmit the language and the culture to kids from mixed language relationships. I don't mean to shame anyone who's made such a choice, but lots of francophones in relationships with anglophones don't seem to see the need to bother speaking to their kids in French when there are readily available francophone schools that will teach them French anyway - i.e. just putting one's kids in French school is seen as doing one's bit for the culture. Of course, while that's better than nothing, it's just not the same as transmitting the language and culture in the home, which Acadians in exogamous relationships (especially fathers) do at very low rates. Ultimately, that's just not a sustainable approach.
Quote:
Originally Posted by UrbanLuis
Yes indeed, they're probably some of the oldest communities in Canada. I wonder how many French Speaking commnunities still exist in NS? I know of the two mentioned above in Cape Breton, and I know there are several on the Southern tip of NS around Yarmouth. There are probably more I just not aware of them.
Are there any Acadian communities on the Gaspe peninsula in Qc?
Historically, there were a few other post-deportation Acadian settlements in NS, but there are several of these communities in NS and PEI where, while a form of Acadian identity hangs on, French has long been lost. Here's a map that shows them (though it vastly overestimates the extent of Acadian French in the northwest!):
Historically, there were a few other post-deportation Acadian settlements in NS, but there are several of these communities in NS and PEI where, while a form of Acadian identity hangs on, French has long been lost. Here's a map that shows them (though it vastly overestimates the extent of Acadian French in the northwest!):
When I was a teen there was talk of an Acadian francophone community called L'Ardoise that was fast dying out on the main island of Cape Breton. Just east of Isle-Madame but not part of it. And not included in pink on that map. I think basically no one speaks French there any more.
It was raised in the Acadian media as a sign of the ineptitude of the Nova Scotian Acadian leadership. That they didn't really do much to help out there.
Speaking of traditionals, while Dans les prisons de Nantes / Dans les prisons de Londres survived in Canada in many different versions of the lyrics and the melodies, the version that ended up popularized as performed by Louise Forestier (and later by Tri Yann and Nolwenn Leroy) appears to have been collected in Caraquet.
When I was a teen there was talk of an Acadian francophone community called L'Ardoise that was fast dying out on the main island of Cape Breton. Just east of Isle-Madame but not part of it. And not included in pink on that map. I think basically no one speaks French there any more.
It was raised in the Acadian media as a sign of the ineptitude of the Nova Scotian Acadian leadership. That they didn't really do much to help out there.
As part of this Acadian French kick I'm on currently (again), I've finally watched the Acadie Road program that replaced the usual televised Fête nationale concert last year. I don't know if it was broadcast nationally at the time, but it's pretty great. I actually had it on in the background for much of the day. Anway, there were two performances from Nova Scotia, and both were from Clare. Not saying there aren't passionate Acadian artists in other NS regions, and it's not necessarily smart to read too much into things like this (after all, Clare is the biggest community, and there were two PEI performances, despite PEI's Acadian community certainly not being in a great position demographically), but I do think it's just one example of a much larger pattern that seems to point to a future of NS Acadians pretty much boiling down to Clare (though, of course, Clare itself is in a precarious position in the long term).
I'm in no position to have a well-informed opinion on today's Nova Scotia Acadian leadership, and it's difficult to say what they should do about this. They're definitely in a really tough position. I do think a lot of emphasis gets put on things like the protected Acadian seats (and I'm not saying it shouldn't), but not enough on trying to influence people's individual choices. I realize it's a very touchy subject because people might take it as shaming them or guilting them, or it might come across as pushing away people who have not maintained French in the home. But despite these risks, I do think that if the Acadian leadership (even in NB) is serious about trying to help the language, at this point they have no real choice but to go there. Of course, many community members won't care regardless of whatever strategy is tried, but I do think there's definitely room to raise the language transmission rate.
As part of this Acadian French kick I'm on currently (again), I've finally watched the Acadie Road program that replaced the usual televised Fête nationale concert last year. I don't know if it was broadcast nationally at the time, but it's pretty great. I actually had it on in the background for much of the day. Anway, there were two performances from Nova Scotia, and both were from Clare. Not saying there aren't passionate Acadian artists in other NS regions, and it's not necessarily smart to read too much into things like this (after all, Clare is the biggest community, and there were two PEI performances, and PEI's Acadian community is certainly not in a great position demographically), but I do think it's just one example of a larger pattern that seems to point to a future of NS Acadians pretty much boiling down to Clare (though, of course, Clare itself is in a precarious position longterm).
I'm in no position to have a well-informed opinion on today's Nova Scotia Acadian leadership, and it's difficult to say what they should do about this. They're definitely in a really tough position. I do think a lot of emphasis gets put on things like the protected Acadian seats (and I'm not saying it shouldn't), but not enough on trying to influence people's individual choices. I realize it's a very touchy subject because people might take it as shaming them or guilting them, or it might come across as pushing away people who have not maintained French in the home. But despite these risks, I do think that if the Acadian leadership (even in NB) is serious about trying to help the language, at this point they have no real choice but to go there.
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