P.E.I. Acadian community commemorates 1758 deportation
Published Friday December 12th, 2008
Special event tomorrow will remember the hundreds who perished
CHARLOTTETOWN - The mid-1700s were troubled times for Acadians living in the new world, culminating with the deportation of thousands in what is now known as Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
The Great Deportation or "Grand Dérangement" of Island Acadian settlers took place in 1758, a few years after the deportation of Acadians and French settlers on the mainland, and proved even more tragic by the large loss of lives from sickness and drowning.
About 3,000 Acadian settlers were loaded onto ships bound for far away destinations. Sadly, two ships each carrying 300 or more settlers sank during a storm Dec. 13, 1758, off England. There were no survivors. The Dec. 13 date has been designated Acadian Remembrance Day by Acadians.
Historians estimated that as many as 1,700 of the 3,000 perished during or shortly after the deportation. Another 1,100 settlers on the Island managed to escape the same fate by hiding.
Tomorrow, the Société Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin is organizing commemorative ceremonies marking the 250th anniversary of the Great Deportation from Île Saint-Jean, the tragic loss of lives and the strength and survival of the Acadian people.
The ceremonies beginning at 2:30 p.m. in a heated tent at the Port-La-Joye-Fort Amherst National Historic Site of Canada at Rocky Point across the harbour from Charlottetown.
The seventh Acadian Odyssey Monument will be unveiled as part of the ceremonies. The monuments recall important events in Acadian history and survival. The others monuments are located in Dieppe, Miramichi, Caraquet, St. Basile, Miquelon and Halifax.
Well-known Acadian Island singer Angèle Arsenault and soprano singer Suzie LeBlanc, formerly of New Brunswick, will perform. There will also be a presentation of redevelopment plans for the Port-La-Joye-Fort Amherst site.
The first Acadians to settle on Prince Edward Island arrived in 1720.
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