Every Day Is Special: August 15 - Acadian Day in Canada

Posted on August 15, 2019

You probably know that most Canadians speak English. You know, with a few "ehs" thrown in.

You probably also know that some Canadians speak French - about 20% (one out of five) speak French as their first language. (Most of the native French speakers also know English, too.) You probably even know that the Canadian province of Quebec is majority francophones (native French speakers) and has French as its official language.

But did you know that there are sizable communities of French-speakers in Canada outside of Quebec? I didn't until recently. The province of New Brunswick is officially bilingual, English and French, and that is because it was once a part of Acadia.

Acadia was a colony of New France. It included the eastern parts of what is now Quebec, the northeastern part of what is now Maine, and the regions that now make up the provinces of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. French colonists arrived in the area in the early 1600s, and there were six colonial wars between Britain and France for control of Acadia. Britain is said to have conquered Acadia in 1710, but the wars continued all the way to the 1760s.

And here's another thing I didn't know: most of the Cajuns who make Louisiana and New Orleans a little French-speaking corner of the U.S. are descended from (1) francophones who fled from the British when they conquered Acadia in 1710, or (2) francophones who were expelled from Nova Scotia during the late 1750s and early 1760s.

(Spanish allies often secretly transported Acadians to Louisiana. About 11,500 Acadians were deported!)

August 15 was chosen as the day to celebrate Acadian culture because, in the Catholic church, it is the feast day of the Assumption of Mary, and Mary is considered the patron saint of the Acadians.

Acadian Day is celebrated by people in Caraquet, New Brunswick, with a noisy parade and a big festival called Titamarre.