Breton-American Communities (influence, England, general, biggest)

[wimsey]

Are there any communities in the US that still have strong ties to a Breton heritage? I'm also curious as to how "Breton" Cape Breton could be considered. It seems to be a great mix of a variety Celtic and other groups at this point (from what I've read), but it's hard to get a real idea.

Also, I have seen sources that indicate Breton speakers in the US and Canada, but not where they're located.

Perhaps there would be a better place to post this than History... any tips in this would also be appreciated.

Thank you for any help.

Kathy

[majoun]

Originally Posted by wimsey

Are there any communities in the US that still have strong ties to a Breton heritage? I'm also curious as to how "Breton" Cape Breton could be considered. It seems to be a great mix of a variety Celtic and other groups at this point (from what I've read), but it's hard to get a real idea.

Also, I have seen sources that indicate Breton speakers in the US and Canada, but not where they're located.

Perhaps there would be a better place to post this than History... any tips in this would also be appreciated.

Thank you for any help.

Kathy

Try Quebec. A disproportionate number of the French who went to Canada were Bretons.

Northern New England might also have some. Bretons in North America probably lost the Breton language a long time ago. The Celtic folk music popular in Quebec has its origins in 19th century Irish immigration more than in a Breton past.

[diogenes2]

Named by early settlers from Brittany, one would expect to find Cape Breton Island heavily populated by people of Breton descent, but thousands of Acadians of French/Breton lineage were evicted by the British around 1755. Many emigrated to Quebec and others went to Mobile and Louisiana. Still others found refuge in New England. One American of Breton descent was author Jack Kerouac. There are several well-known Bretons in history from Brittany, one being Jules Verne. The following link gives more detail on the Bretons in Canada:

Arrival and Settlement | Multicultural Canada

An interesting aside is that the Celtic language division of Brittany called Brythonic was brought to Brittany by the Cornish as they emigrated to the northeast of France around the 5th century AD under pressure from Germanic tribes. The two languages were mutually intelligible until about the 15th century, when heavy French influence in pronunciation and vocabulary changed the Breton language.

[wimsey]

diogenes2,

Thank you for your response. I knew about Kerouac, but not the eviction of the Bretons from Cape Breton in the mid-18th century. I will take a look at that link.

Like that username. Referencing the smarter of the Holmes brothers or something other?

Thanks again.

Wimsey

Originally Posted by diogenes2

Named by early settlers from Brittany, one would expect to find Cape Breton Island heavily populated by people of Breton descent, but thousands of Acadians of French/Breton lineage were evicted by the British around 1755. Many emigrated to Quebec and others went to Mobile and Louisiana. Still others found refuge in New England. One American of Breton descent was author Jack Kerouac. There are several well-known Bretons in history from Brittany, one being Jules Verne. The following link gives more detail on the Bretons in Canada:

Arrival and Settlement | Multicultural Canada

An interesting aside is that the Celtic language division of Brittany called Brythonic was brought to Brittany by the Cornish as they emigrated to the northeast of France around the 5th century AD under pressure from Germanic tribes. The two languages were mutually intelligible until about the 15th century, when heavy French influence in pronunciation and vocabulary changed the Breton language.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by wimsey

diogenes2,

Thank you for your response. I knew about Kerouac, but not the eviction of the Bretons from Cape Breton in the mid-18th century. I will take a look at that link.

Actually, there were never that many Bretons on Cape Breton Island. The French explorers simply named the island Cap-Breton, perhaps because the scenery reminded them of Brittany. But there was no real significant settlement of the island by people of Breton origin. And under the French régime, the island was actually called Île Royale.

Today there are two very small areas in that part of the world that are home to French-speaking Acadians: Chéticamp on the west coast of the island of Cape Breton and the small Île Madame region to the southeast. Both of these were settled after the expulsion of the Acadians from the mainland part of Nova Scotia along the Bay of Fundy.

The expulsion of the Acadians that began in 1755 was from the Bay of Fundy region, not from Cape Breton since the island was sparsely populated at the time.

Few Acadians or French Canadians in general are of Breton origin, to be quite honest. Though Acadians came from various regions of France, the biggest region of origin is the Poitou-Charente, in the vicinity of the city of La Rochelle. As a point of comparison, the most common regions of origin for the French-speaking people living in Quebec today were apparently Normandy in northern France and the Greater Paris area.

[Irishtom29]

My wife is half Breton and half Welsh (both parents born in Europe) and hails from Philadelphia. Better a P Celt than no Celt.