About the Author
By way of introduction . . .
I should say at the outset that I can’t claim the distinction of being Acadian, though I have both Acadian and Québecois ancestors on my father’s side. I was raised mostly in California, which has its own unique culture(s), and where I live today.
I became interested in Acadian history, and my connection to it, as a child living in upstate New York. One day, as my father helped me on with my snow boots, he talked about his childhood in Maine. He grew up there in the Acadian culture, and believed his family was Acadian. A genealogy done decades later showed that our surname is actually Québecois, via Normandy.
(Québec and Acadia, though they shared a French heritage, were culturally and economically quite different in the early days. Their colonists came from different parts of France, and for different reasons.)
Our first French Canadian ancestor arrived in Québec as a soldier in the late 1600s, and stayed as a settler after his service ended. The Acadian connection began in 1799, when two of his descendants married Acadian women on the same day at St. Basile, New Brunswick.
Later, when the border between the United States and Canada was finally set, my father’s branch of the family found themselves living not in New Brunswick, but in present-day Maine. They became U. S. citizens by a line inked on a map.
By the time I learned this, however, I was already hooked on Acadia. Over the years, I researched the history of the region for my own pleasure. I traveled to Eastern Canada several times to walk the historical landscape, talk with folks, delve into the various archives, and visit the excellent living history sites offered by Parks Canada.
If you visit the place that was once called Acadia, I think you’ll fall in love with it as I did. I’ll return from time to time to enjoy this beautiful region and continue my research. Maybe I’ll see you there!
Warm regards,
Christine Dufour
@AcadianLives