In the municipality of Argyle, at the southwest tip of Nova Scotia, most Acadians who still speak French[1] are gathered in villages scattered along a very indented and irregular coastline. In addition to the atypical profile of their coasts there is a historical singularity. One of these villages, West Pubnico, and the neighbouring village on the other side of the harbour, East Pubnico, form the oldest region of Acadia still inhabited by Acadians. It is also the oldest region of Canada still inhabited by the descendants of its founders[2]. Was this a favour granted by the governor of Nova Scotia to the Acadians of this region when they returned from exile? Certainly not…
Separated and Marginalized
It is 1767. Nine Acadian families have returned to the Pubnico region where, eleven years earlier, the British had captured them and exiled them to Boston. Their names are d’Entremont, Amirault, Belliveau, Mius and Duon (today d’Eon). These families are familiar with the vast territory of the actual municipality of Argyle, with its rocky and poor soil, which was formerly called Cap-Sable. That year, around Pubnico Harbour, the government of Nova Scotia grants 1,012 hectares of land to about twenty families. The English-speaking settlers had already appropriated the best lands, at the head of the harbour, cultivated by the Acadians before their dispersion. The Acadian settlers must make do with more barren lands, at the tips of the harbour. The d’Entremont and d’Eon families chose the west side of the harbour and the Amirault and Belliveau settled on the east side. Tolerated without enthusiasm by the Nova Scotia authorities, they could only endure this unwelcomed desire to be separated and marginalized.
By the early 1780s, the Acadians had completed their migrations to the Cap-Sable region. Their communities of Buttes-Amirault, West Pubnico, Sainte-Anne-du-Ruisseau and Wedgeport (formerly Bas-de-Tousquet) had gradually become established. The way in which land was granted to them and the complex network of straits, coves and islands making up their local geography reflect a bitter reality. Marginalized and scattered over barren lands, separated by English-speaking communities, the Acadians were never able to create a homogeneous region with a French-speaking majority, as they had in the northwest, along Saint Mary’s Bay. Added to this cultural insecurity was the need to establish a viable economy that would guarantee their survival and prosperity. The poor soil only provided subsistence agriculture, so the Acadians turned, like all the settlers in the region, to the sea through fishing, shipbuilding and coastal shipping. But the economy is not everything. How can the community be united to preserve its Acadian and Francophone cultural heritage?
Uniting the community
In early July 1799, coming from Halifax, Father Jean-Mandé Sigogne landed at Cap-Sable, at Pointe-à-Rocco (today Sainte-Anne-du-Ruisseau), where a chapel had been built in 1784. He had the formidable mission of founding two Acadian parishes at the same time, one at this location, dedicated to Sainte-Anne, the other 80 km to the northwest, dedicated to Sainte-Marie along the bay of the same name. Deprived of real spiritual help since their return from exile, about 80 families in Cap-Sable and 120 families along Saint Mary’s Bay[3] were impatiently awaiting their first resident priest. Very quickly, Father Sigogne set about organizing his two parishes and establishing a procedural rule to resolve disputes amicably, ensure good morals and teach catechism in the Catholic community. He also arranged to stay in each parish for a time proportionate to its population, in summer and winter. How can we not pay tribute to this devoted missionary, in fragile health, who forced himself to undertake such an exhausting journey, up to three days on horseback, twice a year?
The dual mission of Father Sigogne perfectly illustrates the difficulties of communication, at the beginning of the 19th century, between the two Acadian communities. To use the usual terms, it was difficult to travel by land between Par-en-Bas (Cap-Sable) and Par-en-Haut (Saint Mary’s Bay), the access to which was easier by sea than by land. The Acadians of Par-en-Bas had indeed enjoyed great success at sea, by easily accessing the fishing grounds and the American markets. But this undeniable economic strength had little weight, in Par-en-Bas, in overcoming the cultural difficulties of the Acadians. Initially rejected for their Catholic faith, long penalized at school for their education in French[4], they also did not have sufficient political weight at the provincial level. They still had to create their own social institution to unite the community. This is how in 1937, an Acadian from West Pubnico had a truly brilliant idea…
A Letter for the entire Province
On February 10, Désiré d’Eon[5], a direct descendant of Abel d’Eon, one of the founders of West Pubnico, published the very first edition of the weekly French-language newspaper Le Petit Courrier (from Southwestern Nova Scotia). His intention was clearly to unite the Acadian communities in his region. His stroke of genius was to design this popular newspaper for Acadians to “talk about themselves” through briefs that they could easily read. For 35 years, Désiré d’Eon distributed his newspaper to a few thousand subscribers, from West Pubnico, where he printed his starting publication in 1939. The newspaper became provincial in 1972, under the impetus of the newly created Fédération acadienne de la Nouvelle-Écosse, before being later renamed Le Courrier de la Nouvelle-Écosse. It has been published since 1988 by the Société de presse acadienne, whose head office is in Saulnierville, in the municipality of Clare (Par-en-Haut).
Today, with a printed edition every two weeks and articles published every day on its website, Le Courrier de la Nouvelle-Écosse (in French) is the only French-language media outlet with provincial wide distribution. In an English-speaking environment, it is an essential link between all Acadians in the province, whose communities are scattered throughout the territory and have developed very differently. Consider that over 700 km of roads separate West Pubnico from Chéticamp in Cape Breton. Could one imagine a better place than West Pubnico, the French-speaking heart of the municipality of Argyle (Par-en-Bas), where the geography was so penalizing, to found Le Courrier de la Nouvelle-Écosse? From now on, it stands proudly as a bulwark to fight against the geographic isolation and assimilation that weaken all Acadian communities.
In memory of Acadian history
Today, there are several historic sites that bear witness to the Acadian history of Par-en-Bas. In West Pubnico, a new cenotaph (community monument) is dedicated to Philippe Mius d’Entremont. Moreover, the Monument de l’Odyssée acadienne commemorates the Acadians of the former Cap-Sable.
Also in West Pubnico is the Musée des Acadiens des Pubnicos, which includes a research centre and a historical society. The Village historique acadien de la Nouvelle-Écosse, which invites visitors to discover the life and culture of Acadians in the early 1900s, is also on site. Other historical scenes include the chapel and the Pointe-à-Rocco trail in Sainte-Anne-du-Ruisseau, on the site of the original chapel from 1784. Finally, Acadian festivals attract many visitors each summer, particularly in West Pubnico (Chez-Nous à Pombcoup) and Wedgeport.
Header image: View of Pubnico harbour, from the Historic Acadian Village, in West-Pubnico (Photo Jean-Marc Agator).
Author: Jean-Marc Agator,
Paris Region, France.
English translation: Jean-Pierre Bernier,
Greater Toronto Area (ON), Canada.
Main sources
Ross, Sally et J. Alphonse Deveau ; Les Acadiens de la Nouvelle-Ecosse, hier et aujourd’hui ; Les Editions d’Acadie, Moncton, 1995.
Oury, Guy-Marie ; Les débuts du missionnaire Sigogne en Acadie ; Les Cahiers des dix, Numéro 40, 1975.
Musée des Acadiens des Pubnicos (How Pubnico Was Founded, The Story of Sainte-Anne-du-Ruisseau, Désiré d’Eon), West Pubnico.
[1] 56.7% of Argyle’s 7,870 residents are still able to conduct a conversation in both official languages (Statistics Canada 2021).
[2] Baron Philippe Mius d’Entremont, founder of the barony of Pobomcoup (now Pubnico) in 1653, whose core was located on the east side of Pubnico Harbour.
[3] See on this site the article “Saint Mary’s Bay. A university anchored in its community”.
[4] See on this site the generic article “A long fight for education in French”.
[5] Son of “Charles to Augustin to Mathurin to Augustin to Abel to Jean-Baptiste d’Eon”.