• Island cradled in the waves: Prince Edward Island
• Grand reunion makes festive time
• Exhibits in Port Allen celebrate Congrès Mondial 
• Congrès homecoming 
• Congres '99 kicks off, Carnival style
• A descendant helps to remember an Acadian freedom fighter
• Broussards relive past

BROUSSARD -- Madame Adele Girouard leaned over and kissed the face -- in bronze -- of her
great-great-great grandfather, the famous freedom fighter Joseph "Beausoleil" Broussard.

Even before Saturday's unveiling of the plaque honoring the man who led a four-year uprising against the British after the deportations that eventually brought the Acadian culture to Louisiana, many in the crowd of about 300 participants in the Congres Mondial Acadien Louisiane 1999 -- the Louisiana Acadian World Congress of Acadians -- were wiping tears from their eyes.

When she leaned over and kissed the bronze, they applauded.

Madame Girouard would only give her age as ''older than you'' with a smile and a soft French accent.

Her grandfather, Valsin Broussard was the grandson of Beausoleil, who founded the town in the early 1800s on land granted to his ancestor by Spanish Gov. Bernardo de Galvez in 1765.

Beausoleil and his brother Alexandre fought the British after the 1755 deportations began. They fought for four years until famine forced them to surrender.

Then they were imprisoned for four years.

They took 600 exiles in three ships to French-held Saint Domingue -- now Haiti -- and where they were forced to do unpaid labor building a naval base in the jungle.

Tropical fever decimated their numbers.

Finally, two years later, in one ship carrying 200 followers, the brothers set sail for Louisiana, believing it to be a French possession. They hoped to sail up the Mississippi to a cooler climate in the Illinois country.

They arrived in New Orleans in the midst of a transition of power to the government of Spain.

The Broussard brothers' reputation preceded them, though, and once the brilliant young Gov. Galvez -- who eventually to become viceroy of New Spain -- took possession for his country, he welcomed us with a large Spanish land grant and a special arrangement to enter the cattle business.

Ill from fever and battle wounds and already in late middle age, both brothers survived only that first summer in Louisiana. But they had brought families to their final destination.

Their graves are unmarked, somewhere on the west bank of Bayou Teche near Loreauville, according to
Broussard Mayor Charles Langlinais, citing research done by archaeologist Kerry Blanchard of Lafayette.

Sculptor Cecelia Guilbeau Soper of Lafayette designed the plaque that was dedicated Saturday. She said the likeness of Beausoleil was taken from a sketch which the Broussard family ''believes'' is their ancestor.

The marker includes depictions of the struggles of all Acadian refugees to survive in Louisiana through the centuries.

''It tells a story when you look at it," she said.

Today is the official opening of Congres Mondial Acadien Louisiane 1999 in Houma with a day-long party
downtown.

Events culminates at 6 p.m. with skydivers, then a Tintamarre -- or ''noise-making'' -- to the Civic Auditorium. There, bands from Nova Scotia and Louisiana will perform in a free concert. Between sets, there will be a ceremonial meeting of the Mi'kmaq Indians of Canada and the Terrebonne/Houma Indian tribe. Several family meetings will also take place today.

For more details, call the CMA office at 1-888-526-1999.