Eglise St. Laurent Church in Belleisle

 

Like many people isolated by circumstances, the Acadians had a strong sense of community and performed many tasks together. 

For more than a hundred years the Acadians were able to maintain their self-contained lifestyle, enjoying their large families and peaceful communities, strengthened by a firm sense of religion. They lived on friendly terms with their immediate neighbours, the Mi'kmaq Indians, and profited from their trading links with New England and other French settlements. By preference, they had no strong ties with either France or England, and tried to avoid confrontation with them.

In some sense, it was their very isolation from the influence of these major colonial powers, coupled with the impact of the marshland landscape which was their home, which helped the Acadians to establish and maintain their unique way of life.

This first illustration  (More to come) was painted by Azor Vienneau. Very careful attention was paid to detail in these paintings; they are based largely on both historical research and on the results of an archaeological dig which the Nova Scotia Museum conducted at a pre-expulsion Acadian farm-site at Belleisle, N.S. in 1983.