After an exceptionally disastrous harsh winter (1604-05) on St. Croix Island where nearly half of the 79 French colonists died of scurvy, Pierre Dugua de Mons (born in Royan, France) decided to move his establishment to Port Royal, so named by his crew. The site is majestic and easy to defend (now Annapolis Royal). In … Read more
From the outset, it is important to know that the landscapes of the “French Coast” along St. Mary’s Bay is unforgettable. It was in 1604 during an expedition by Pierre Dugua de Mons, who was accompanied by Samuel de Champlain participating as a geographer and cartographer, that the bay took its name. The Mi’kmaqs called … Read more
After the founding of Isle Royale (now Cape Breton Island), Antoine Gaulin (born on Île d’Orléans and priest from the Seminary of Foreign Missions at Quebec) gathered in 1716 (according to the Mi’kmaqs) a large number of indeginous peoples from the Acadian Peninsula around his large Antigonish mission. It was located within British territory (English … Read more
Minudie is a small rural community located in the estuary of the Hebert River, named after Louis Hébert, one of the first Acadians and co-founder of Port-Royal, who navigated the waterway. In the oral history of the place it is said that members of the Mi’kmaq First Nation invited the people of Port-Royal to come … Read more
Chezzetcook Cove, Labrecque Island and Grand Desert Beach, as well as Petit Lac and Bellefontaine, Bonin, Murphy and Petitpas streets are located approximately 30 kilometers east of downtown Halifax. Today, Chezzetcook is an integral part of the Halifax Regional Municipality (commonly known as Halifax). We know that French, Basque and Portuguese fishermen frequented these coasts … Read more
Pisiguit (now Windsor) takes its name from the Mi’kmaq word “Pesegitk” which means “Where the rising tide branches off” in reference to the junction of the Avon (formerly Pisiguit) and St. Croix rivers in the Minas Basin. The first settlers were young Acadians from Port-Royal who came around 1684, followed by the British in 1749 … Read more
At the outset, it’s important to know that the seascape of Pubnico in southwestern Nova Scotia is splendidly beautiful. Around 1650, the governor of Acadia, Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour, invited Philippe Mius d’Entremont, whose ascending genealogy is a puzzle, to become commander of the King’s troops. Three years later, the governor granted him … Read more
Cobéguit (Cobequid being the English appellation) is the French interpretation given to the Mi’kmaq word “Wecobeguit” which means “the bay that goes far”, in reference to the impressive phenomenon of the tidal range which is the difference in level between the successive levels of a high tide and a low tide. The higher the vertical … Read more
In 1665 in Port-Royal Pierre Melanson said La Verdure, stonemason, espoused at the age of 27 Marguerite-Anne Mius d’Entremont, aged 15. Between 1666 and 1679, six children were born of their union, namely Philippe-Charles (1666), Cécile (1668), Pierre (1670), Marie-Madeleine (1673), Marguerite (1676), and Isabelle Élisabeth (1679). The Melanson family left Port-Royal in 1680 to … Read more
Beaubassin, near the current town of Amherst in Nova Scotia, is the first and most important colony of the isthmus of Chignectou linking, prior to 1713, Canada and Acadia (before becoming Nova Scotia). At the time, the entire region, delimited by the Tantramar salt marshes along the Mésagouèche River (meaning muddy river in the Mi’kmaq … Read more