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In West Chezzetcook, N.S., National Acadian Day is about more than the festivities, says Rébécca-Sarah Potvin. It was about preserving culture.
Potvin is the executive director of historic site L’Acadie de Chezzetcook, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
“We wanted to make it bigger, share more about our history here at L’Acadie Chezzetcook,” she said in an interview at the event.
“We’re here to share stories, we’re here to share what happened to the people of this community.”
Dozens gathered to commemorate the milestone with music, a barbeque as well as demonstrations of Acadian traditions like butter churning and clam shelling.
Canada’s Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Marc Miller, Central Nova MP Sean Fraser and Coun. David Hendsbee were also in attendance.
L’Acadie Chezzetcook chair Cameron DeBaie said the 30th anniversary marks an important step forward in the revitalization and preservation of Acadian culture and the French language in Chezzetcook.
“Growing up, my grandmother spoke French but wouldn’t speak French in public. My mother never learned French,” said DeBaie.
“This next generation that is growing up really values their roots.”
Cameron DeBaie and Rébécca-Sarah Potvin helped plan the event and spoke about the importance of preserving Acadian culture. (Kheira Morellon/Radio-Canada)
Shirley Doucette Lowe is a community member and volunteer at the Acadian House Museum. Residing in Grand Desert, she recalls the formation of L’Acadie Chezzetcook in 1996 and has been a part of its preservation work ever since.
Like DeBaie, she said there’s a renewed passion among the community’s youth.
“We are sort of a minority and in this particular community, people of my generation lost the language,” Doucette Lowe said. “So it’s really important for a place like this to talk about the culture and to bring back the language.”
One way that’s happening, she said, is at the French school in Porter’s Lake Ecole des Beaux-Marais. The school was taken over in 2011 by Conseil scolaire acadien provincial, which administers the province’s French-language schools.
In 2023, Premier Tim Houston announced plans to build a new school for francophone students in the community.
Until recently, though, Potvin said francophone students would often spend the summer months not speaking much French. So the community reinstated its French summer camps.
DeBaie recalls taking part in a French camp in Chezzetcook 15 years ago as a child. The camp stopped being offered shortly thereafter, he said, but now it’s made a comeback.
Willow DeBaie, DeBaie’s nine-year-old niece, said her sister is taking part in the camp this year and she looks forward to joining in the future.
“It means a lot that I know a lot of different languages and when I grow up, I would like to teach my kids it,” she said.
Potvin said while the festivities are one day only, there are opportunities year-round for Nova Scotians to learn more about West Chezzetcook and the province’s Acadian history.
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