History of the Acadians

Geographically part of Southwestern Nova Scotia, the region of Par-en-Bas is located in the Municipality of Argyle. This region has a strong population of approximately 3,600 Acadians. The area encompasses 1,519 square kilometers and the population is mostly located along the coast, namely in the villages of East and West Pubnico, Argyle, Sainte-Anne du Ruisseau, Surette Island, and surrounding areas such as Tusket, Quinan, Plymouth, Wedgeport, and Butte des Comeau.

The region of Argyle is unique historically, given that the Acadians were already occupants of many of these lands before the Great Upheaval (the Acadian Deportation of 1755-1763). As of 1767, several families (Amirault, Belliveau, d'Entremont, d’Eon, Mius, etc.) returned to reclaim a part of the territory. The people of this region are very attached to their cultural heritage. Even today, they converse with each other using vocabularly from their ancestral French language. To name but a few expressions, Par-en-Bas Acadians refer to their eyebrows as “les eusses”. They also count differently from most Francophones, saying “septante” for “seventy”, “huiptante” for “eighty” and “nonante” for “ninety”.