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Sunday, August 30, 2009

LE GRAND TINTAMARRE 2009

My first visit to Caraquet was in 2005, and I missed the Tintamarre because I didn’t know about it. For the past four years I’d seen photos and videos of what happens in Caraquet every 15th of August, and I was determined not to miss it this time. I hated missing the second part of our conference, but I couldn’t bear the thought of being away from all the noise and excitement on the town’s main street. (Click on the photos to enlarge.)

The normal driving time from Bathurst to Caraquet is just under an hour, but this was not going to be a normal day. There were predictions of record crowds and horrendous traffic; I was told by a few people that the trip back could take up to three hours on a “normal” Tintamarre day. This year, however, the Tintamarre coincided with the World Acadian Congress as well as a beautiful Saturday, so it would be far worse—so they said. I went to the local RCMP office a couple of days before to ask for their advice, and they were surprisingly optimistic. “Give yourself an extra 15-30 minutes”, the officer said. He even assured me that I wouldn’t have any difficulty getting back to the Hôtel Paulin; there would be a detour but the street in front of the Paulin would be open.

I decided to prepare for the worst and allow lots of extra time; we even had a change of clothes in the car in case they weren’t letting traffic through after all. Traffic didn’t start getting bad till we reached Grande-Anse, and even then it wasn’t so bad; we made it back to the Paulin in about 90 minutes—and there was even a space in the parking lot for us.

The atmosphere in Caraquet was electric. Acadian flags had been flying everywhere for a couple of weeks already, but it was different on the 15th. This was the day that everyone had been waiting for, and it seemed that everyone was wearing some version of the Acadian flag, from simple T-shirts to body paint to elaborate costumes. There were group costumes, family costumes and individual costumes.

The Grand Tintamarre itself wasn’t due to start till 6:00 p.m., but the party was in full swing well before we joined. The street was packed; we made our way to the Place du Vieux Couvent to check out the entertainment, and it was Les Frères Michot from Louisiana playing traditional Cajun music—just fiddle, accordion and guitar.

One couple got up to dance, then another, then another, and then there were half a dozen Cajun couples dancing. One woman was proudly draped in the Acadian flag of Louisiana. They were back in l’Acadie after two and a half centuries, and what wonderful music they had brought with them!

At the food stands they were selling everything from ployes to gumbo, and the main stage was set up for the big show later that evening. The street was getting more and more crowded, as people were streaming in from all possible directions but no one was leaving.

The street seemed to be at its maximum capacity at 6:00 p.m. when the Tintamarre itself actually started. I was expecting the difference in noise level to be minimal, as it was already noisy. I was mistaken. There were many kinds of noisemakers (ours were loud screaming things painted in the Acadian colours—we blew into them) including boat horns, ambulance sirens, cow bells, police whistles—if it made noise someone probably had one.

Somehow this mass of people was actually moving as well; it seemed impossible to cross the street, yet there were streams of people who were steadily moving from one point to another. There were currents in the crowd, although it was far from obvious where they were headed. There seemed to be a parade, but there was no orderly procession of floats. We saw a ghost ship go by with what appeared to be a crew all painted white, and then we saw the Mourant family pushing their representative on a bed as doctors and nurses tried to revive him (I was still wondering how Mourant got to be a family name).

At 7:00 p.m. the noise suddenly lessened and the crowd started thinning a bit. What was the point? Was there some deeper meaning attached to this collective primal scream? Was it a reminder to the rest of the world that Acadians are still around? Was it a show of Acadian solidarity? Maybe there is a deeper meaning, and maybe it’s just an excuse to have a big party.

According to L’Acadie Nouvelle two days later there were 50,000 participants at the Grand Tintamarre. This was not only the biggest Tintamarre ever, it was also the most Acadians ever gathered together in one place. Deeper meaning or not, it was a lot of fun and an amazing event.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

ANNOUNCING TWO NEW DELEGATES...

We are very pleased to announce that we have accepted two new delegates to our organization. The first is Lawrence Thériault who is teaming up with Marie Thériault Shaw to represent the Auguste and Evenie Thériault Great-Branch. Lawrence is a genealogist and in fact, is responsible for alot of the work in developing the genealogy for his branch. He lives in Nova Scotia with his family and keeps himself very active in the affairs of Terriot genealogy.

Also, Matthieu Thériault has joined our ranks to team up with Marie Lisette Turbide Medley to represent the Julien and Angélique Thériault Great-Branch. Matthieu lives in New Brunswick with his wife, Manda. (Check the history of this most unusual branch in our 'Migration from Acadia' section. You will find it interesting.) The two are expecting a child very soon. We met Matthieu for the first time at the Second Conference where he wasted no time to participate and contribute. Soon, you will be hearing from Matthieu regarding the continuation of a project that we started four years ago: our important Branch Photo Histories project. We need to continue that project for each of the 85 branches that we currently have in our Archive.

Following a short period of planning and getting our tools together, Matt will be in touch with our delegates to offer advice on how to start and then will follow-through by working with them to begin composing their Branch history... This history will be documented and kept in our Archive as well as published on our website of course where our children, grandchildren and descendants generations from now will enjoy this important work.

We look forward to working with Matthieu and Lawrence and we appreciate their willingness to take on our interests, our mission and our goals. Welcome, gentlemen!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

MORE ACTION FROM OUR 2nd CONFERENCE...

One of the topics on our agenda for the Second Conference was to continue the good work that MizMo (Aline Theriot Meaux) of Abbyville, Louisiana started with her wonderful short stories of life 'On the Bayou' in her growing years. MizMo is our delegate for the Telesphore and Maria Theriot Great-Branch.

Discussing this with Gérard, our delegate for the Gustave and Helene Thériault Great-Branch of Nova Scotia, he arranged with the production company and the author Monsieur Gerard d/Entremont, to allow us to make available on our website, their oral history of southwest Nova Scotia.

Happily, a new section has been created for our website which is titled "Shores of Nova Scotia" and it currently presents three recording sessions that we used for testing and review with the author. Now that Gérard has obtained permission from the production company and the author, we will post the rest of M. d'Entremont's delightful and most interesting '...le coin de l'HISTOIRE ACADIENNE du sud-ouest.'

Checkout "Shores of Nova Scotia" and come back later to listen to the additional sessions. There are a total of three CDs which contain a total of 36 sessions.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

ACTION FROM 2ND CONFERENCE...

At our Second Conference in Bathurst, Gérard made the point that we should make our Introductory brochure available on our website so that other Terriot family organizations (e.g., Association des Thériault d'Amèrique, Association des familles Thériault du Nouveau Brunswick, and ...de la Nouvelle Écosse) could use this document to distribute to their membership as a way of getting to know each other. I have completed that action and here is what I did.

I expanded our former "Goals and Policies" section to an "All About Us" and I added the Introductory brochure to the section. I also added a link for a downloadable ADOBE PDF file of our Introductory brochure. Take a look at it and let me know if that does the job.

Monday, August 17, 2009

ON THE WAY TO THE CMA...

Well, here we are... now in Moncton and on our way home after we visit some very good friends and family here. The CMA is all done but the shouting. The 'grande rencontre' of the Terriot family is all done including the shouting and our Second Conference of the Terriot Acadian Family Society was concluded with alot of follow-up work to be done. I will be posting a next article on the entire experience but first I must make note of a very happy occasion and a surprise occasion at that.

On Thursday, the first day of the Terriot reunion, I was approached by a young man who introduced himself as Daniel Theriault who of course I recognized as son of one of our founding delegates, Adrien who so well represented the Charles and Methaide Great-Branch for so many years before he was deceased. Adrien was one of the principals who we relied upon in the early formative years of the Society for good advice on many key issues.

Well, it was a grand occasion to 'catch up' with Daniel. We had corresponded before a few years ago and he generously contributed a history of his branch for our Research section. But it was great to see him in person and to learn that he and his family are doing well.

Of course, since we had not yet found a replacement for his father, I asked Daniel if he would be willing to take his father's place as delegate of the Charles and Methaide Great-Branch, to which he readily agreed. So, I would like to report that the Charles and Methaide Great-Branch will now be represented by Daniel Theriault of New Brunswick. Soon, Daniel will send us a short biography on himself that we can include in our Summary of Great-Branches document for the benefit of all of our delegates.

A day or two later, I received an e-mail from Daniel with a brief message but more importantly, with an attached photo of Charles and Methaide with their daughters which I have included in this posting. Thank you Daniel... we will add this photo to the Great-Branch Photo History that your father created several years ago. At your convenience, send us the names of the daughters, and where the photo was taken and also the date of the photo if you have that information. We look forward to working with you in the future on matters pertaining to the Charles and Methaide Great-Branch. We will be in touch!

Monday, August 10, 2009

FROM PETIT RUISSEAU, NS...

Received an interesting article from Gérard Thériault, our Delegate for the Gustave & Hélène Great-Branch. The article, which is from ''Le Courrier de la Nouvelle Écosse" and written by Damien Douillard, focuses on the recent work of Serge Patrice Thibodeau to translate the Lieutenant Colonel John Winslow personal journal written by Winslow during the Great Eviction from 28 February through 19 December 1755. He was encourage in this work by John Mack Faragher and others. To summarize the point of the article which is written in french, Thibodeau is able to detect certain aspects of Winslow's character based on his precise language and careful writing. As expressed by Thibodeau, Winslow wrote to be read... his sense of history is very apparent. Although Winslow finds his assignment distasteful, it is not sufficient in Thibodeau's judgement that history excuse Winslow. Whenever matters of state take precedence over matters of humanity, we may be guilty of crimes against humanity, Thibodeau says.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

CMA 2014 TO BE IN L'ACADIE DES TERRES ET FORÊTS

Just received word from a cousin, Mike Cyr in Edmundston regarding the CMA's decision for its next venue. Word is that it will be l'Acadie des Terres et Forêts, the Madawaska region!

L'Acadie Nouvelle confirms in an article that the CMA 2014 will be in the Madawaska region.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

L'ACADIE DES TERRES ET FORÊTS...

Earlier this year, as I was working with my friends of the St-John Valley to prepare for the two launchings of my book "DESTINATION: MADAWASKA" (See Note 1 below) in Edmundston, NB and at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, I received the news from Louise Martin of the Maine Acadian Heritage Council that the valley had undertaken to invite the World Acadian Congress to come to the St-John Valley for the CMA 2014.

I was very pleased to hear this news because the St-John Valley, while a very significant part of the post-Great Eviction Acadia in the United States and Canada, is not well known and has alot to offer to the World Acadian Congress in terms of history (since 1785), resources (two local universities), major access (Interstate 95 and TransCanada) and points of interest that makes the area an attractive prospect for this event.

Well, just today, I received an e-mail from Karen Theriot Reader, our delegate from California, bringing my attention to a video. I just finished reviewing it and it is fantastic. However, it is in french. But at least for those who are bilingual, or french, this video will be very interesting to watch. It was great to see some of my old friends (Rosaire and Judy Paradis from Frenchville, and Lise Pelletier from the Acadian Archives at the Univerisity of Maine) and even a cousin-in-law, Paul-Émile Soucy from St-Basile. Take a look...

Note 1: For more information on the book, see our press release on 14 February 2009 in our OLD "LA JASEUSE" NEWS STORIES... 2004 through Feb 2009 below or e-mail us at terriot@terriau.org.

Le monde d'icit from AcadieDesTerres&Forets on Vimeo.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

THE THERIAULTS OF NEW BRUNSWICK

As we are into the final days of preparation for the Terriot Reunion in Bertrand, New Brunswick, I am sure that Monsieur Camille Thériault, Onil Thériault and their team are very busy in their preparations to make sure that we all have a good time. At least from our little organization, the Terriot Acadian Family Society, a hearty thanks to the New Brunswick team that is working hard to make the reunion happen. We look forward to seeing them finally. I've included a photo (click on photo to enlarge) from their website of Onil's team shown at the end of the meeting table...

MIZMO'S NEW BOOK

Catching up with one of our delegates from down Louisiana 'on the Bayou', I learned that she has begun to work on a new book. Her name is Aline Theriot Meaux, delegate for the Telesphore-Maria Theriot Great-Branch. We call her MizMo for short. As you know, she is the one responsible for our "On the Bayou" section of our website. The short stories in her section describe life growing up in southern Lousiana in the 20's -40's. Each story is a gem. Her new book is an autobiography. She has a wonderful and big family and many, many friends, so this will be an interesting book. We'll let you now of her progress. Good luck, MizMo!

Monday, August 3, 2009

THE CMA 2009 IS COMING FAST!

We've been looking forward to the CMA 2009 for the past five years and now, it's upon us! Well, we're looking forward to the fun and we're looking forward especially to the Thériault Reunion and of course to our 2nd Conference of the Terriot Acadian Family Society which will be held Saturday, 15 August from 10AM until 4PM. Later, we will help with the Tintamarre celebrations of course. We will wrap up with John Mack Faragher at a Conference on Sunday afternoon, 16 August. Sometime during those few days, we must take time to visit the Acadian Historic Village in Caraquet.

Our Conference agenda is packed and we have some great topics from the very beginning. We closed off our reservations today. Here is our program.

We'll see you when we return from New Brunswick!