Culture and history

The Mi’kmaq people moved seasonally throughout Mi’kma’ki which stretched from present-day Cape Breton Island to the Gaspé Peninsula, including Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, much of New Brunswick, parts of Newfoundland and into the state of Maine. The Mi’kmaq helped the French settlers adapt to their new environment, forging a close relationship with the settlers and an alliance with French officials. Following the influence of Mi’kmaq Grand Chief Henri Membertou, who was baptised at the French settlement of Port-Royale in 1610, most adopted Roman Catholicism. Each year during the French regime there was an important annual gathering of the Mi’kmaq and French at Port la Joye. Leaders and Elders came from various parts of Mi’kma’ki to renew their alliance with the French.

After the fall of Fortress Louisbourg to British troops from New England in June of 1745, a detachment of these forces moved north to take possession of Isle Saint-Jean, burning the settlements at Port la Joye and Trois-Rivières (now Brudenell Point). Isle Saint-Jean fell under British Rule from 1745 until 1748. By this time, Acadia had been under British rule for more than thirty years. With the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, the Island returned to French possession, marking the start of a decade of renewal. Due to mounting tensions in British-controlled Acadia, Isle Saint-Jean received an influx of Acadian refugees from the mainland, increasing the Island’s population to an estimated 4 350. In 1755, the Great Upheaval saw most mainland Acadians deported to the Thirteen Colonies. The Acadian Odyssey that ensued included subsequent migrations from Virginia to England, a return for some to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, as well as migrations to Quebec and Spanish-controlled Louisiana.

In 1758, the British took possession of Isle Saint-Jean for a final and decisive time and ordered a mass deportation of the French and Acadian population. Colonel Lord Andrew Rollo arrived at Port la Joye to issue the terms of take-over to the French commandant and deployed a contingent of his forces to gather the approximately 4 350 French and Acadians living on Isle Saint-Jean. While approximately 3000 were assembled at Port-la-Joye for deportation to France, a significant number located in Malpeque escaped deportation. Oral history suggests that they were assisted by Mi’kmaq in evading the British. Others escaped by fleeing to the mainland in their own vessels. More than half of those deported perished en route, many drowning when three of the thirteen transport vessels sank, and others from dehydration and malnutrition aboard the overcrowded and undersupplied vessels or shortly after their arrival to French ports.