M 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     VVe Island Acadîans 
     
     are the lucky ones, 
     
     for we stîll occupy 
     
     some of the lands 
     
     wbere our ancestors 
     
     first Came... 
     
     Witl] proud names 
     
     sucli as Arsenault, 
     
     Poirier, Gallant, 
     
     Gaudet, Bernard, 
     
     Caissîe, DesRoches 
     
     and a couple 
     
    
   
   
    
     of a dozen more. 
     
    
   
   
    
     i: 
     
     i: 
     
    
   
   
    
     fil; 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     fertilizer? Did they eat biscuits or 
     
     bannock? Did they love râpure as 
     
     much as I do? Were they military 
     
     men? Or were they opposed t0 war 
     
     and fighting? Were they active in 
     
     their religion? Or just going through 
     
     the motions? Were their childrcn 
     
     their pride and joy? What was la 
     
     Mi-Carême, or la Chandeleur? Did 
     
     they have the same feelings I have, 
     
     about the birth of a child, the death 
     
     of a loved one? Do I have tlicir nose 
     
     shape, their eye or hair colour? 
     
     How tall were they? Were tliey as 
     
     passionate about where they lived 
     
     as I am? I know some of these 
     
     questions will never be answered, 
     
     until I can ask them for myself in 
     
     tbe next lite. But I never tire of 
     
     looking for the answcrs here and 
     
     now. 
     
    
   
   
    
     There was a popular beer commer— 
     
     cial a few montlis back, a young 
     
     man extolling tlie virtues of being 
     
     Canadian. I sometimes feel like tliat, 
     
     but ratlier as an Acadian! We are 
     
     not Québécois; our national day is 
     
     August 15th, not lune 24th. Our flag 
     
     is tbe Frencli Tricolor with tlie golden 
     
     star in the blue representing our 
     
     national patron saint, Our Lady of 
     
     the Assumption. I personally do 
     
     not speak French, but Acadians the 
     
     world over spcak many different 
     
     languages, for we are a people 
     
     witliout a bomeland, banislied in 
     
     thC 1750’5 and dispersed all over the 
     
     world. 
     
    
   
   
    
     We Island Acadians are tlie luclxy 
     
     ones, for we still occupy some ot 
     
     the lands where our ancestors first 
     
     came. Many left for only a few 
     
     years, some not at all, Wltl‘l proud 
     
     names such as Arsenault, Poirier, 
     
     Gallant, Gaudet, Bernard, Caissie. 
     
     DesRoches and a couple of a dozen 
     
     more. At one time I thouglit tlmt 
     
     Canadian history was boring, not 
     
     at all like our neiglibours to 
     
     the soutb. But my studios of 
     
     the pioneers of the Acadinn 
     
     parishes of Prince County have 
     
     brouglit to life the exciting times 
     
    
   
   
    
     t" ‘ “m v "   
     
    
   
   
    
     LA PENTE SOUVENANCE 
     
    
   
   
    
     they lived in. Hard times. happy 
     
     times, sad times, good times. 
     
     Many Otl‘lCI'S and I are their 
     
     legacy. The DNA in their bodies 
     
     will match ours. 
     
    
   
   
    
     I remember reading somewhere 
     
     about a young man who had a 
     
     dream about going to heaven wliere 
     
     he met his grandfather. They had 
     
     so much to talk about, but all that 
     
     the old man would ask was : «What 
     
     have you done witli rny naine?» 
     
     Finally the young man answered, 
     
     that lie had clone nothing tliat his 
     
     grandfather would be asliamed of, 
     
     that lie was proud to bear the name 
     
     of his grandfatlier and he would 
     
     make him proud also. The grand- 
     
     fatlier thanked him and walked 
     
     away. And the young man woke 
     
     up, back in the world. We need to be 
     
     proud of our ancestors. They lived 
     
     and died in a harsh environment 
     
     different from ours, so that we migbt 
     
     have a better life, tliat we might 
     
     enjoy freedom, in a great country. 
     
     There are hundreds of thousands of 
     
     Acadians througliout Nortli America, 
     
     from tlie Gulf of Mexico to Nunavut, 
     
     from the Pacific Ocean to riglit here 
     
     at home on the Atlantic coast. There 
     
     are Acadians in France, and England, 
     
     Spain and Italy, indeed all over tlie 
     
     world. W‘ are all cousins, relatcd 
     
     through tlie centuries. 
     
    
   
   
    
     With m)’ intcrest came a desire 
     
     t0 record on paper events from my 
     
     grandparents’ lives. I rewrote a 
     
     short biography an aunt had 
     
     previously written on my patcrnal 
     
     grandparents, hacl it printed and 
     
     now malxc it availablc for aunts 
     
     and uncles and cousins to have. 
     
     It was so well received tlmt I 
     
     went back anotlier generation, and 
     
     tlien anotheÏr. I have now started 
     
     to do tlic ,lsamc for my maternal 
     
     grandparcnts. Witli tlie advent of 
     
     computer» I began entering my 
     
     lineage into a database, in time 
     
     it expanded to include brotliers 
     
     and sisters of my ancestors and 
     
     their cliildren. It now bas almost