View source for Acadians

{{Short description|Descendants of French settlers in Acadia}}
{{hatgrp|{{Redirect|Acadian}}
{{Distinguish|Akkadian Empire}}}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Acadians
| native_name      = {{native name|fr|Acadiens}}
| flag             = Flag of Acadia.svg
| flag_caption     = [[Flag of Acadia|Modern Acadian flag adopted in 1884]]
| image            = Acadian Distribution in Canada, 2021 Census.jpg
| caption          = Population distribution of Acadian Canadians by census division, 2021 census
| pop              = ~500,000 (cultural) / ~3,000,000 (ethnic)
| popplace         = United States ~1,100,000 / Canada ~1,900,000<ref>{{cite web |title=Acadian Culture |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/acadian-culture |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=27 December 2020 |date=15 August 2016}}</ref><br /> / France ~20,000
| region1          = [[New Brunswick, Canada]]
| pop1             = 225,560 (cultural) / ~400,000 (ethnic)
| region2          = [[Louisiana, United States]]
| pop2             = ~60,000 (cultural) / >500,000 (ethnic)
| region3          = [[Nova Scotia, Canada]]
| pop3             = 49,205 (cultural) / ~200,000 (ethnic)
| region4          = [[Quebec, Canada]]
| pop4             = 32,950 (cultural) / >1,000,000 (ethnic)
| region5          = [[Maine, United States]]
| pop5             = ~30,000 (cultural) / >300,000 (ethnic)
| region6          = [[New England, United States]]
| pop6             = >100,000 (ethnic)
| region7          = [[Ontario, Canada]]
| pop7             = <50,000 (ethnic)
| region8          = [[Alberta, Canada]]
| pop8             = >10,000 (ethnic)
| region9          = [[Prince Edward Island, Canada]]
| pop9             = <10,000 (ethnic)
| region10         = [[British Columbia, Canada]]
| pop10            = <10,000 (ethnic)
| region11         = [[Brittany, France]]
| pop11            = ~3,000 (ethnic)
| region12         = [[Saint Pierre and Miquelon, France]]
| pop12            = ~3,000 (ethnic)
| region13         = [[Manitoba, Canada]]
| pop13            = ~1,500 (ethnic)
| region14         = [[Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada]]
| pop14            = ~1,000 (ethnic)
| langs            = [[Acadian French]] (a variety of [[French language|French]] with over 300,000 speakers in Canada),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/standard/themes/RetrieveProductTable.cfm?Temporal=2001&PID=62911&APATH=3&GID=431515&METH=1&PTYPE=55440&THEME=44&FOCUS=0&AID=0&PLACENAME=0&PROVINCE=0&SEARCH=0&GC=0&GK=0&VID=0&FL=0&RL=0&FREE=0 |title=Ethnic Origin (232), Sex (3) and Single and Multiple Responses (3) for Population, for Canada ... 2001 Census - 20% Sample Data
 |work=statcan.ca |access-date=2 April 2016 |archive-date=25 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090725075428/http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/standard/themes/RetrieveProductTable.cfm?Temporal=2001&PID=62911&APATH=3&GID=431515&METH=1&PTYPE=55440&THEME=44&FOCUS=0&AID=0&PLACENAME=0&PROVINCE=0&SEARCH=0&GC=0&GK=0&VID=0&FL=0&RL=0&FREE=0 }}</ref> [[Cajun French]], [[Atlantic Canadian English|English]], [[Chiac]], [[Quebec French]] or [[Joual]].<br />[[Franglais]]
| rels             = Predominantly [[Roman Catholic]]ism
| related          = [[French people|French]] ([[Saint Pierre and Miquelon Islanders]], [[Poitevin-Saintongeais]] and [[Occitans]]), [[Cajuns]], [[French Canadian|French-Canadians]], [[Mi'kmaq]], [[Métis]], [[Huguenots]]
}}
{{French people}}

The '''Acadians''' ({{langx|fr|Acadiens}}; {{IPA|fr|akadjɛ̃|label=[[European French]]:}}, {{IPA|fr-CA|akad͡zjɛ̃|label=[[Acadian French]]:}}) are an [[ethnic group]] descended from the [[French colonial empire|French]] who settled in the [[New France]] colony of [[Acadia]] during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American [[Acadia (region)|region of Acadia]], where descendants of Acadians who escaped the [[Expulsion of the Acadians]] (known as ''The Great Upheaval'', {{lang|fr|Le Grand Dérangement}}) re-settled, or in [[Louisiana]], where thousands of Acadians moved in the late 1700s. Descendants of the Louisiana Acadians are most commonly known as [[Cajuns]], the [[anglicized]] term of "Acadian".<ref name="davidcedomonds">{{cite book |title=Yankee Autumn in Acadiana: A Narrative of the GREAT TEXAS OVERLAND EXPEDITION through Southwestern Louisiana October – December 1863|author=David C. Edmonds|publisher=The Acadiana Press|year=1979|location=Lafayette, Louisiana|pages=73,114,233}}</ref> 

Acadia was one of the five regions of New France, located in what is now [[Eastern Canada]]'s [[The Maritimes|Maritime provinces]], as well as parts of [[Quebec]] and present-day [[Maine]] to the [[Kennebec River]]. It was ethnically, geographically and administratively different from the other French colonies such as the [[Canada (New France)|French colony of Canada]]. As a result, the Acadians developed a distinct history and culture.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Landry |first1=Nicolas |last2=Lang |first2=Nicole |title=Histoire de l'Acadie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SES4PQuGaooC&pg=PP1 |year=2001 |publisher=Les éditions du Septentrion |isbn=978-2-89448-177-6}}</ref> The settlers whose descendants became Acadians primarily came from the west-central region of France, such as the rural areas of [[Poitou-Charentes]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Griffiths |first=N.E.S. |title=From Migrant to Acadian: A North American Border People, 1604–1755 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cG4wSmIlziYC&pg=PA47 |year=2005 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |isbn=978-0-7735-2699-0 |page=47}}</ref> During the [[French and Indian War]] (known in Canada as The Seven Years' War),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seven Years' War |work=The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/seven-years-war |access-date=2023-02-15 }}</ref> British colonial officers suspected that Acadians were aligned with France, after finding some Acadians fighting alongside French troops at [[Fort Beauséjour]]. Though most Acadians remained neutral during the war, the British, together with New England legislators and militia, carried out the [[Great Expulsion]] ({{lang|fr|Le Grand Dérangement}}) of the Acadians between 1755 and 1764. They forcefully deported approximately 11,500 Acadians from the maritime region. Approximately one-third perished from disease and drowning.<ref name="lockerby">{{cite journal |last=Lockerby |first=Earle |title=The Deportation of the Acadians from Ile St.-Jean, 1758 |journal=[[Acadiensis]] |volume=XXVII |issue=2 |pages=45–94 |date=Spring 1998 |jstor=30303223 |url=https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/acadiensis/article/view/10844/11665}}</ref> 
In retrospect, the result has been described as an [[ethnic cleansing]] of the Acadians from Maritime Canada.<ref>John Faragher. ''Great and Noble Scheme'', 2005.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Acadian story brutal before it got better |url=https://www.theadvertiser.com/story/news/2015/10/08/acadian-story-brutal-before-got-better/73549822/ |last=Cross |first=Dominick |website=The Advertiser |access-date=2020-05-08}}</ref>

Acadians speak a variety of French called [[Acadian French]], which has a few regional accents (for example, [[Chiac]] in the southeast of New Brunswick, or [[Brayon]] in the northwest of New Brunswick). Most can also speak English. The Louisiana Cajun descendants tend to speak [[General American English|English]], including [[Cajun English]], or [[Louisiana French]], a relative of Acadian French from Canada, though most have been primarily anglophone since the mid-20th century.<ref name="Conwell 1963 18–19">{{cite book |title=Louisiana French Grammar |url=https://archive.org/details/louisianafrenchg0001conw |url-access=registration |last=Conwell |first=Marilyn |publisher=Mouton & Co |year=1963 |location=The Hague |pages=[https://archive.org/details/louisianafrenchg0001conw/page/18 18–19] }}</ref> Most Acadians in Canada continue to live in majority French-speaking communities, notably those in New Brunswick, where Acadians and Francophones are granted autonomy in areas such as education and health. In some cases, Acadians intermarried with Indigenous peoples, in particular, the [[Mi'kmaq]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/Acadiensis/article/view/31312/1882526537 |title=A Reluctant Engagement: Alliances and Social Networks in Early-18th-Century Kespukwitk and Port Royal |journal=Acadiensis |date=28 September 2020 |volume=49 |issue=1 |last1=Peace |first1=Thomas |pages=5–38 |doi=10.1353/aca.2020.0000 |s2cid=220495634 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Boudreau |first1=Christian |title=An Ethnographic Report on the Acadian-Métis (Sang-Mêlés) People of Southwest Nova Scotia |url=https://www.academia.edu/36917008 }}</ref>

Estimates of contemporary Acadian populations vary widely. The Canadian census of 2006 reported only 96,145 Acadians in Canada, based on self-declared ethnic identity.<ref name="census">{{cite web |url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/tbt/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=92333&PRID=0&PTYPE=88971,97154&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2006&THEME=80&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF= |title=Canadian census, ethnic data |quote=A note on interpretation: With regard to census data, rather than going by ethnic identification, some would define an Acadian as a French-speaking person living in the Maritime provinces of Canada. According to the same 2006 census, the population was 25,400 in New Brunswick; 34,025 in Nova Scotia; 32,950 in Quebec; and 5,665 in Prince Edward Island |access-date=18 March 2013}}</ref> However, the Canadian Encyclopedia estimates that there are at least 500,000 people of Acadian ancestry in Canada, which would include many who declared their ethnic identity for the census as French or as Canadian.<ref name="CdnEncy">{{cite web |title=Acadian Culture |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/acadian-culture |work=The Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=27 December 2020 |date=15 August 2016 }}</ref>

==Pre-deportation history==
{{Main|History of the Acadians|Military history of the Acadians}}

[[Image:Acadia 1754.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Acadia (1754)]]

During the early 17th century,<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Oxford companion to Canadian history|date=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|editor-last=Hallowell |editor-first=Gerald |isbn=978-0-19-541559-9|location=Don Mills, Ont.|oclc=54971866|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont0000unse_o5y1}}</ref> about 60 [[History of the Acadians#Arrival of the first European families|French families were established in Acadia]]. They developed relations with the peoples of the [[Wabanaki Confederacy]] (particularly the regional [[Miꞌkmaq|Mi'kmaq]]). The Acadians lived mainly in the coastal regions of the [[Bay of Fundy]]; they reclaimed farming land from the sea by building dikes to control water and drain certain wetlands.

Living in a contested borderland region between French Canada and the British territories on New England and the coast, the Acadians often became entangled in the conflict between the powers. Their competition in Europe played out in North America as well. Over a period of 74 years, six wars (the four [[French and Indian Wars]], [[Father Rale's War]], and [[Father Le Loutre's War]]) took place in Acadia and Nova Scotia, in which the Wabanaki Confederacy and some Acadians fought to keep the British from taking over the region. While France lost political control of Acadia in 1713, the Mí'kmaq did not concede land to the British. Along with  Acadians, the Mi'kmaq used military force to resist the British.  That was particularly evident in the early 1720s during [[Dummer's War]].

The British had conquered Acadia in 1710. Over the next 45 years, the Acadians refused to sign an unconditional oath of allegiance to Britain. Many were influenced by Father [[Jean-Louis Le Loutre]], who from his arrival in 1738 until his capture in 1755, preached against the "English devils".<ref>{{cite book|last=Parkman|first=Francis|author-link=Francis Parkman|title=Montcalm and Wolfe|url=https://archive.org/details/montcalmandwolf08parkgoog|series=France and England in North America|year=1914|publisher=Little, Brown|orig-date=1884}}</ref> 
Father Le Loutre led the Acadian people during the [[Acadian Exodus]], as an act of defiance towards British demands and oppression. Acadians took part in various militia operations against the British and maintained vital supply lines to the French [[Fortress of Louisbourg]] and [[Fort Beauséjour|Fort Beausejour]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Grenier|first=John|title=The Far Reaches of Empire: War in Nova Scotia, 1710–1760|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TXoCBQAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|year=2008|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0-8061-8566-8}}</ref> 
During the French and Indian War, the British sought to neutralize any military threat posed by the Acadians and to interrupt the vital supply lines which they provided to Louisbourg by making them sign an oath of allegiance to the crown.<ref>{{cite book |last=Patterson |first=Stephen E. |chapter=Indian-White Relations in Nova Scotia, 1749–61: A Study in Political Interaction |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jnxIPgAACAAJ&pg=PA105 |editor1-last=Buckner |editor1-first=Phillip Alfred |editor2-last=Campbell |editor2-first=Gail Grace |editor3-last=Frank |editor3-first=David |title=The Acadiensis Reader: Atlantic Canada Before Confederation |date=1998 |pages=105–106|publisher=Acadiensis Press |isbn=978-0-919107-44-1}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite book|last=Patterson|first=Stephen E.|chapter=1744–1763: Colonial Wars and Aboriginal Peoples|editor1=Phillip Buckner|editor2=John G. Reid|title=The Atlantic Region to Confederation: A History|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P2spDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|year=1994|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-1-4875-1676-5|page=144|jstor=10.3138/j.ctt15jjfrm}}</ref>

The British founded the town of [[Halifax, Nova Scotia|Halifax]] and fortified it in 1749 in order to establish a base against the French. The Mi'kmaq resisted the increased number of British (Protestant) settlements by making numerous raids on Halifax, [[Raid on Dartmouth (1751)|Dartmouth]], Lawrencetown, and [[Raid on Lunenburg, Nova Scotia (1756)|Lunenburg]]. During the French and Indian War, the Mi'kmaq assisted the Acadians in resisting the British during the Expulsion of the Acadians.{{sfnp|Faragher|2005|pp=110–112}}

Many Acadians might have signed an unconditional oath to the British monarchy had the circumstances been better, while other Acadians would not sign because it was religious oath which denied the Catholic faith because the British Monarch was head of the [[Church of England]].<ref>For the best account of Acadian armed resistance to the British, see Grenier, John. ''The Far Reaches of Empire. War in Nova Scotia, 1710–1760.'' Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 2008.</ref> 
Acadians had numerous reasons against signing an oath of loyalty to the British Crown. Acadian men feared that signing the oath would commit them to fighting against France during wartime. They also worried about whether their Mi'kmaq neighbours might perceive an oath as acknowledging the British claim to Acadia rather than that of the indigenous Mi'kmaq. Acadians believed that if they signed the oath, they might put their villages at risk of attack by the Mi'kmaq.<ref>{{cite book|last=Reid|first=John G.|title=Nova Scotia: A Pocket History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D-69QAAACAAJ&pg=PA49|year=2009|publisher=Fernwood |isbn=978-1-55266-325-7|page=49}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Acadians, Inset of painting by Samuel Scott Annapolis Royal, 1751.jpg|Acadians by [[Samuel Scott (painter)|Samuel Scott]], Annapolis Royal, 1751
File:Costumes de Differents Pays, 'Homme Acadien' LACMA M.83.190.378.jpg|''Homme Acadien'' (''Acadian Man'') by [[:fr:Jacques Grasset de Saint-Sauveur|Jacques Grasset de Saint-Sauveur]] represents a Mi'kmaq man in the area of Acadia according to the Nova Scotia Museum.
</gallery>

== Geographical distribution ==
Data from this section from Statistics Canada, 2021.<ref name='census-2021'>{{cite web | url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E | title=Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population | date=9 February 2022 }}</ref>

=== Provinces and territories ===
{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="font-size: 90%;"
|-
! Province / Territory !! Percent Acadians
!Total Acadians
|-
| {{flag|Alberta}} || 0.2% 
|10,110
|-
| {{flag|British Columbia}} || 0.1%
|7,025
|-
| {{flag|Manitoba}} || 0.1%
|1,465
|-
| {{flag|New Brunswick}} || 14.3%
|108,375
|-
| {{flag|Newfoundland and Labrador}} || 0.2%
|1,100
|-
| {{flag|Northwest Territories}} || 0.7%
|270
|-
| {{flag|Nova Scotia}} ||5.1%
|49,205
|-
| {{flag|Nunavut}} ||0.3%
|95
|-
| {{flag|Ontario}} || 0.2% 
|34,125	
|-
| {{flag|Prince Edward Island}}  || 5.5%
|8,265
|-
| {{flag|Quebec}} || 1.0%
|83,945	
|-
| {{flag|Saskatchewan}} || 0.1%
|935
|-
| {{flag|Yukon}} || 0.7%
|260
|-
! '''{{flag|Canada}}'''—''Total'' ||  0.8% || |305,175
|}

Today about one third of the population of the officially bilingual province of New Brunswick speaks French as their mother tongue. About half of these are of Acadian ancestry, and there are also many Acadian institutions, organizations and cultural events.<ref>Salut Canada, https://salutcanada.ca/en/new-brunswick/2022</ref>

==Deportation==
{{Main|Expulsion of the Acadians}}
[[File:La Deportation des Acadiens par Henri Beau.jpg|thumb|''The Deportation of Acadians'' by Henri Beau]]
[[File:A View of the Plundering and Burning of the City of Grymross, by Thomas Davies, 1758.JPG|thumb|[[St. John River Campaign]]: ''A View of the Plundering and Burning of the City of Grimross'' (present-day [[Arcadia, New Brunswick]]) by [[Thomas Davies (British Army officer)|Thomas Davies]], 1758. This is the only contemporaneous image of the [[Expulsion of the Acadians]].]]

In the Great Expulsion (known by French speakers as ''le Grand Dérangement''), after the [[Battle of Fort Beauséjour]] beginning in August 1755 under [[Charles Lawrence (British Army officer)|Lieutenant Governor Lawrence]], approximately 11,500 Acadians (three-quarters of the Acadian population in Nova Scotia) were expelled, families were separated, their lands and property confiscated, and in some cases their homes were burned. The Acadians were deported to separated locations throughout the British eastern seaboard colonies, from New England to [[Province of Georgia|Georgia]], where many were put into forced labour, imprisoned, or put into [[Indentured servitude|servitude]].<ref name="Hope and Despair of Acadian Exiles">{{cite web |title=The Hope and Despair of Acadian Exiles, 1755–1766 |url=https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/hope-despair-acadian-exiles-1755-1766/ |date=2017-01-08 |website=New England Historical Society |access-date=2020-05-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Bernard |first=Shane K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CRjiTFg90L0C&q=acadian+servitude&pg=PA24 |title=Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors: A Young Reader's History |year=2010 |publisher=[[University Press of Mississippi]] |isbn=978-1-60473-321-1}}</ref>

===Second wave===
The British conducted a second and smaller expulsion of Acadians after taking control of the north shore of what is now [[New Brunswick]]. After the [[Battle of the Plains of Abraham|fall of Quebec]] and defeat of the French, the British lost interest in such relocations.

Some Acadians were deported to England, some to the Caribbean, and some to France. After being expelled to France, many Acadians were eventually recruited by the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] government to migrate to ''[[Louisiana (New Spain)|Luisiana]]'' (present-day [[Louisiana]]). These Acadians settled into or alongside the existing [[Louisiana Creole people|Louisiana Creole]] settlements, sometimes intermarrying with Creoles, and gradually developed what became known as [[Cajuns|Cajun]] culture.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Han |first1=Eunjung |last2=Carbonetto |first2=Peter |last3=Curtis |first3=Ross E. |last4=Wang |first4=Yong |last5=Granka |first5=Julie M. |last6=Byrnes |first6=Jake |last7=Noto |first7=Keith |last8=Kermany |first8=Amir R. |last9=Myres |first9=Natalie M. |date=2017-02-07 |title=Clustering of 770,000 genomes reveals post-colonial population structure of North America |journal=Nature Communications |volume=8 |article-number=14238 |doi=10.1038/ncomms14238 |pmid=28169989 |pmc=5309710 |issn=2041-1723 |bibcode=2017NatCo...814238H}}</ref>

===Louisiana Acadians===
{{main|Cajuns}}
After 1758, thousands were transported to France. Most of the Acadians who later went to Louisiana sailed there from France on five Spanish ships. These had been provided by the Spanish Crown, which was eager to populate their Louisiana colony with Catholic settlers who might provide farmers to supply the needs of New Orleans residents. The Spanish had hired agents to seek out the dispossessed Acadians in Brittany and kept this effort secret in order to avoid angering the French king. These new arrivals from France joined the earlier wave expelled from Acadia, and gradually their descendants developed the [[Cajun]] population (which included multiracial unions and children) and culture. They continued to be attached to French culture and language, and Catholicism.

[[Image:Grand Pré.JPG|thumb|left|Sculptor [[Louis-Philippe Hébert]]'s sculpture of [[Evangeline]] at the [[Grand-Pré National Historic Site]] in [[Nova Scotia]]|203x203px]]

The Spanish offered the Acadians lowlands along the [[Mississippi River]] in order to block British expansion from the east. Some would have preferred Western Louisiana, where many of their families and friends had settled. In addition, that land was more suitable to mixed crops of agriculture. Rebels among them marched to New Orleans and ousted the Spanish governor. The Spanish later sent infantry from other colonies to put down the rebellion and execute the leaders. After the rebellion in December 1769, Spanish Governor O'Reilly permitted the Acadians who had settled across the river from [[Natchez, Louisiana|Natchez]] to resettle along the [[Bayou Manchac|Iberville]] or [[Amite River|Amite]] rivers closer to [[New Orleans]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Holmes|first=Jack D.L.|title=A Guide to Spanish Louisiana, 1762–1806|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FfEvAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA5|year=1970|publisher=A. F. Laborde|page=5}}</ref>

===Returnees===

In time, some Acadians returned to the Maritime provinces of Canada, mainly to New Brunswick and coastal villages that were not occupied by colonists from New England.<ref>{{cite web |title=A scenic tour of New Brunswick's East Coast |url=https://www.westjetmagazine.com/story/article/scenic-tour-new-brunswicks-east-coast |date=2013-08-21 |website=WestJet Magazine |access-date=2020-05-04 |archive-date=18 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518220107/https://www.westjetmagazine.com/story/article/scenic-tour-new-brunswicks-east-coast }}</ref>

The British prohibited them from resettling their lands and villages in what became Nova Scotia. A few of the Acadians in this area had evaded the British for several years, but the brutal winter weather eventually forced them to surrender. Some returnees settled in the region of Fort Sainte-Anne, now [[Fredericton]], but were later displaced when the Crown awarded land grants to numerous [[United Empire Loyalist]]s from the Thirteen Colonies after the victory of the United States in the [[American Revolution]]. Most of the descendants of Acadian returnees now live primarily on the eastern coast of New Brunswick, Canada.
[[File:Acadian deportation map.jpg|thumb|261x261px|Map of the Deportation/Expulsion of the Acadians (1755–1816)]]
In 2003, at the request of Acadian representatives, [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada]] issued a [[Royal Proclamation of 2003|Royal Proclamation]] acknowledging the deportation. She established 28 July as an annual day of commemoration, beginning in 2005. The day is called the "Great Upheaval" on some English-language calendars.

Before the [[American Revolutionary War]], the Crown settled Protestant European immigrants and [[New England Planters]] in former Acadian communities and farmland. After the war, it made land grants in Nova Scotia to [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalists]]. British policy was to establish a majority culture of Protestant religions and to [[Cultural assimilation|assimilate]] Acadians with the local populations where they resettled.<ref name="lockerby" />

==Geography==
[[Image:The Acadians.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Present-day Acadian communities]]
The Acadians today live predominantly in the Canadian Maritime provinces (New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia), as well as parts of Quebec, Canada, and in Louisiana and Maine, United States.

In New Brunswick, Acadians inhabit the northern and eastern shores of New Brunswick. Other groups of Acadians can be found in the [[Magdalen Islands]] and the [[Gaspé Peninsula]]. Ethnic Acadian descendants still live in and around the area of [[Madawaska, Maine]], where some of the Acadians first landed and settled in what is now known as the St. John Valley. There are also Acadians in Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, at [[Chéticamp, Nova Scotia|Chéticamp]], [[Isle Madame (Nova Scotia)|Isle Madame]], and [[Municipality of the District of Clare|Clare]]. East and West [[Pubnico (village), Nova Scotia|Pubnico]], located at the end of the province, are the oldest regions that are predominantly ethnic Acadian.

Other ethnic Acadians can be found in the southern regions of New Brunswick, Western Newfoundland and in New England. Many of these communities have assimilated to varying degrees into the majority culture of English speakers. For many families in predominantly [[English language|Anglophone]] communities, French-[[language attrition]] has occurred, particularly in younger generations.

The Acadians who settled in [[Louisiana]] after 1764 became known as Cajuns for the culture they developed. They have had a dominant cultural influence in many [[Parish (subnational entity)|parishes]], particularly in the southwestern area of the state, which is known as [[Acadiana]].

==Culture==
{{see also|Acadian culture}}

Acadians are a vibrant minority, particularly in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada, and in Louisiana (Cajuns) and northern Maine, United States. Since 1994, ''[[Acadian World Congress|Le Congrès Mondial Acadien]]'' has worked as an organization to unite these disparate communities and help preserve the culture.

In 1881, Acadians at the First Acadian National Convention, held in [[Memramcook, New Brunswick|Memramcook]], New Brunswick, designated 15 August, the Christian feast of the [[Assumption of Mary]], as the [[National Acadian Day|national feast day]] of their community. On that day, the Acadians celebrate by having a ''[[tintamarre]],'' a big parade and procession for which people dress up with the colors of Acadia and make a lot of noise and music.

The [[national anthem]] of the Acadians is "[[Ave Maris Stella]]", adopted in 1884 at [[Miscouche]], Prince Edward Island. The anthem was revised at the 1992 meeting of the [[Société Nationale de l'Acadie]]. The second, third and fourth verses were translated into French, with the first and last kept in the original [[Latin]].

The Federation des Associations de Familles Acadiennes of New Brunswick and the Société Saint-Thomas d'Aquin of Prince Edward Island have resolved to commemorate 13 December annually as "Acadian Remembrance Day", in memory of the sinking of the ''[[Duke William (ship)|Duke William]]'' and of the nearly 2,000 Acadians deported from Ile-Saint Jean who died in 1758 while being deported across the North Atlantic: from hunger, disease and drowning.<ref>''Pioneer Journal'', Summerside, Prince Edward Island, 9 December 2009.{{full citation needed|date=September 2016}}</ref> The event has been commemorated annually since 2004; participants mark the day by wearing a black star.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Tintamarre during National Acadian Day 2009, Caraquet New Brunswick.jpg|The [[Tintamarre]] in [[Caraquet]], [[New Brunswick]]
File:Acadiennes (2).jpg|A picture of four Acadian women, 1895<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.argylecourthouse.com/content/four-acadian-women/|title=Four Acadian Women {{pipe}} the Argyle Township Court House Archives}}</ref>
File:Acadian lady making rug 1938.jpg|Acadian woman making a rug, 1938
</gallery>

==Legacy==
[[Image:Evangeline - Saint Martinville.jpg|thumb|upright|A statue of Longfellow's ''Evangeline'' – at [[St. Martinville, Louisiana|St. Martinville]], Louisiana]]

American writer [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]] published ''[[Evangeline]]'', an epic poem loosely based on the 1755 deportation. The poem became an American classic. Activists used it as a catalyst in reviving a distinct Acadian identity in both Maritime Canada and in Louisiana. [[Antonine Maillet]]'s novel ''[[Pélagie-la-charette]]'' concerns the return voyage to Acadia of several deported families, starting 15 years after the Great Expulsion.

In the early 20th century, two statues were made of the fictional figure of "Evangeline" to commemorate the Expulsion: one was installed in [[St. Martinville, Louisiana]] and the other in [[Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia]]. The Acadian Memorial (Monument Acadien) has an eternal flame;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.acadianmemorial.org/the-eternal-flame.php |title=Acadian Memorial – The Eternal Flame |access-date=18 October 2012 |archive-date=16 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716093323/http://www.acadianmemorial.org/the-eternal-flame.php }}</ref> it honors the 3,000 Acadians who settled in Louisiana after the Expulsion. Monuments to the Acadian Expulsion have been erected at several sites in the Maritime Provinces, such as at [[Georges Island (Nova Scotia)|Georges Island]], Nova Scotia, and at [[Beaubears Island]].

== Flags ==
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The [[Flag of Acadia|flag of the Acadians]] is the French [[Flag of France|tricolour]], with the addition of a golden star in the blue field (see top of article). This symbolizes Saint [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]], Our Lady of the Assumption, [[patron saint]] of the Acadians and widely known as the "[[Our Lady, Star of the Sea|Star of the Sea]]". This flag was proposed by Father [[Marcel-François Richard]] and adopted in 1884 at the Second Acadian National Convention, held in Miscouche, Prince Edward Island.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Landry |first1=Nicolas |last2=Lang |first2=Nicole |title=Histoire de l'Acadie |date=2001 |publisher=Septentrion |isbn=2-89448-177-2 |page=192 |language=French}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilbur |first1=Richard |title=The Rise of French New Brunswick |date=1989 |publisher=Formac Publishing Co. |location=Halifax |isbn=0-88780-070-X |page=70}}</ref>

Acadians in the [[Acadian diaspora|diaspora]] have adopted other symbols. The flag of Acadians in Louisiana, known as Cajuns, was designed by Thomas J. Arceneaux of the [[University of Louisiana at Lafayette]]. In 1974 it was adopted by the Louisiana legislature as the official emblem of the Acadiana region. The state has supported the culture, in part because it has attracted cultural and heritage tourism.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.acadian-cajun.com/acflag.htm |title=Acadian Flag |work=Acadian-Cajun.com |access-date=2011-10-02}}</ref>

In 2004 New England Acadians, who were attending Le Congrès Mondial Acadien in Nova Scotia, endorsed a design by William Cork for a New England Acadian flag.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wquercus.com/acadie/flag.htm |title=A New England Acadian Flag |access-date=2011-10-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110907234058/http://www.wquercus.com/acadie/flag.htm |archive-date=2011-09-07}}</ref>

==Prominent Acadians==
{{See also|List of Acadians|List of Cajuns|List of Louisiana Creoles}}
[[File:Acadian memorial Halifax.JPG|thumb|right|upright|Monument to Imprisoned Acadians at Bishops Landing, Halifax, overlooking Georges Island]]

* [[Joseph Broussard]], an Acadian folk hero and militia leader who joined French priest [[Jean-Louis Le Loutre]] in resisting the British occupation of Acadia.
* [[Noël Doiron]] (1684–1758). A regional leader, Noel was among the more than 350 Acadians who died during the deportation when the ''Duke William'' sank on 13 December 1758.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Shawn |last1=Scott |first2=Tod |last2=Scott |title=Noel Doiron and East Hants Acadians |journal=The Journal of Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society |volume=11 |date=2008 |page=45}}</ref> He was widely celebrated and places have been named for him in Nova Scotia.<!--  -->
* [[Jean Baptiste Guedry]] (d. 1726).  An example of an Acadian who resisted British rule.  He took over a small ship off Acadia and was tried for piracy. The trial was publicized to the Mi'kmaq tribes as an example of English law.  Guedry's trial was used as a counter to local customs, which allowed the holding of a group—i.e., all Englishmen—responsible for an individual's crimes.  His prosecutors also used his trial as a test case for separating English law as applied to Acadia from law applied to First Nations groups like the Wabanaki Confederacy.

===Contemporary Canadian figures<!-- Put and keep in alphabetical order by surname; put name before occupation; summarize—each must have WP article or cite to Reliable Source; will be deleted otherwise -->===
* [[Angèle Arsenault]], singer
* [[Aubin-Edmond Arsenault]], the first Acadian premier of any province and the first Acadian appointed to a provincial supreme court
* [[Joseph-Octave Arsenault]], the first Acadian appointed to the Canadian Senate from Prince Edward Island
* Jean Paul Bourque (known by the stage name [[Johnny Burke (Canadian singer)|Johnny Burke]]), singer/songwriter
* [[Édith Butler]], singer
* [[Phil Comeau]], film director
* [[Rhéal Cormier]], baseball player
* [[Chris d'Entremont]], member of parliament for West Nova 
* [[Julie Doiron]], singer/songwriter
* [[Lyse Doucet]], BBC journalist and presenter
* [[Yvon Durelle]], boxer
* [[Jacques LeBlanc (boxer)|Jacques LeBlanc]], boxer
* [[Roméo LeBlanc]], former [[Governor General of Canada]]
* [[Antonine Maillet]], writer, first non-European recipient of the [[Prix Goncourt]]
* [[Robert Maillet]], actor and former professional wrestler
* Gérard Poitras, former Command Chief Warrant Officer of the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]]
* [[Louis Robichaud]], former New Brunswick premier, modernized education and the government of New Brunswick in the mid-20th century.
* [[Natasha St-Pier]], singer
* [[Jackie Vautour]], activist
* [[Peter John Veniot]], first Acadian to serve as Premier of New Brunswick

===Figures in the U.S.===
* [[William Arceneaux]], Louisiana historian and president of the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana
* [[Beyoncé]], singer and descendant of [[Joseph Broussard]].
* [[Kathleen Blanco]], first female governor of Louisiana
* [[Melinda French Gates]], philanthropist
* [[Dudley J. LeBlanc]], senator from Louisiana
* [[Phoebe Legere]], artist
* [[Dustin Poirier]], Former UFC fighter of Acadian descent from Louisiana, 1x Interim [[UFC Lightweight Champion]] holder
* [[Zachary Richard]], singer/songwriter from Louisiana
* [[George Rodrigue]], artist
* [[RuPaul]], drag queen, television host, singer, producer, writer, and actor
* [[Austin Theriault]], stock car driver

==See also==
{{Portal|France|North America|History}}
* [[Acadian cuisine]]
* [[Acadian culture]]
* [[Acadian folklore]]
* [[Acadian Renaissance]]
* [[Aquitani]]
* [[Chiac]]
* [[French-Canadian Americans]]
* [[History of Nova Scotia]]
* [[Iberians]]
* [[Paul Carmel Laporte]]
* [[List of francophone communities in Nova Scotia]]
* [[Louisiana Creoles]]
* [[Military history of Nova Scotia]]
* [[Occitania]]
* [[Occitans]]
* [[Acadians in Quebec]]
* [[Acadian diaspora]]
* [[Religion in Acadia]]
* [[Mass media in Acadia]]

== Citations ==
{{reflist}}

== References==
* {{cite book |last=Dupont |first=Jean-Claude |year=1977 |title=Héritage d'Acadie |location=Montreal |publisher=Éditions Leméac |language=fr |url=http://www.ourroots.ca/toc.aspx?id=12096}} {{dead link|date=November 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}
* {{cite book |last=Faragher |first=John Mack |title=A Great and Noble Scheme: The Tragic Story of the Expulsion of the French Acadians from Their American Homeland |url=https://archive.org/details/greatnoblescheme00fara |url-access=registration |year=2005 |publisher=W. W. Norton |isbn=978-0-393-24243-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Frink |first=Tim |year=1999 |title=New Brunswick, A Short History |location=Summerville, New Brunswick |publisher=Stonington Books |edition=2nd |isbn=978-0-9682-5001-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Mosher |first=Howard Frank |title=North Country: A Personal Journey Through the Borderland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e3MIBAAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 |year=1997 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=978-0-544-39124-6}}
* {{cite web |last=Scott |first=Michaud |title=History of the Madawaska Acadians |url=http://members.tripod.com/~Scott_Michaud/Madawaska-history.html |access-date=2008-03-05}}.

==Further reading==
* Chetro-Szivos, J. ''Talking Acadian: Work, Communication, and Culture'', YBK 2006, New York {{ISBN|0-9764359-6-9}}.
* Cordasco, Francesco. ''Dictionary of American Immigration History'' (Scarecrow, 1990), pp.&nbsp;1–5, brief overview. [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer00cord online]
* {{cite book|last=Deveaux Cohoon|first=Cassie|title=Jeanne Dugas of Acadia|publisher=Cape Breton University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-1-897009-71-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Griffiths|first=N.E.S.|author-link=Naomi E. S. Griffiths|title=The Acadian Deportation: Deliberate Perfidy Or Cruel Necessity?|url=https://archive.org/details/acadiandeportati0000grif|url-access=registration|year=1969|publisher=Copp Clark|isbn=978-0-7730-3100-5}}
* Griffiths, Naomi. ''From Migrant to Acadian: a North American border people, 1604–1755'', Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2005. {{ISBN?}}
* Hodson, Christopher. ''The [[Acadian diaspora|Acadian Diaspora]]: An Eighteenth-Century History'' (Oxford University Press; 2012) 260 pages [http://www.h-france.net/vol13reviews/vol13no153banks.pdf online review by Kenneth Banks]
* [[Dean Jobb|Jobb, Dean]]. ''The Acadians: A People's Story of Exile and Triumph'', John Wiley & Sons, 2005 (published in the United States as ''The Cajuns: A People's Story of Exile and Triumph'') {{ISBN?}}
* Kennedy, Gregory M.W. ''Something of a Peasant Paradise? Comparing Rural Societies in Acadie and the Loudunais, 1604–1755'' (MQUP 2014) {{ISBN?}}
* Laxer, James. ''The Acadians: In Search of a Homeland'', Doubleday Canada, October 2006 {{ISBN|0-385-66108-8}}.
* Le Bouthillier, Claude, ''Phantom Ship'', XYZ editors, 1994, {{ISBN|978-1-894852-09-8}}
* Magord, André, ''The Quest for Autonomy in Acadia'' (Bruxelles etc., Peter Lang, 2008) (Études Canadiennes – Canadian Studies 18).
* {{cite book|last=Runte|first=Hans R.|title=Writing Acadia: The Emergence of Acadian Literature 1970–1990|publisher=Rodopi|year=1997|isbn=978-90-420-0237-1|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/writingacadiaeme0000runt}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|wikt=Acadian|n=no|q=no|s=no|b=no|v=no|d=Q415054}}
* [http://biographi.ca/en/theme_acadians.html Thematic project on the Acadians at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130205115042/http://www2.umoncton.ca/cfdocs/etudacad/1755/entree.cfm?&lang=en 1755: The History and the Stories]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120716160050/http://www.museeacadien.ca/english/index.htm Musee acadien and Research Centre of West Pubnico]
* [http://www.pitres.us/pitregenealogyancestors.html Jean Pitre circa 1635]
* [http://www.acadians.org/ New-Brunswick and Nova Scotial Acadian Portal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123160806/http://www.acadians.org/ |date=23 November 2021 }}
* [https://archive.org/details/acadiansofmadawa00colluoft Acadians of Madawaska, Maine]
* [https://archive.org/stream/historicalsketch00bibluoft#page/156/mode/1up Quit rents paid by Acadians (1743–53)]

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