| Sunday's activities leading
up to the official grand opening evening celebrations attracted local and
visitor interest.
About 400 people braved the early
morning heat to hear the outdoor French Mass at Southdown Plantation House
at 8 a.m. Sunday morning. |
John
Joe Sark, captain of the Grand Council for the Mi'kmaq tribe and its spiritual
leader, waves an eagle feather and some healing smoke over the crowd Sunday
night at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center.
Photo by CINDY SKOP/THE
COURIER. |
The Rev. Roch Naquin, a Catholic priest from Isle de Jean Charles,
celebrated the French Mass, assisted by the Rev. Eloi Arsenault of
Prince Edward Island, Canada. This is Arsenault's seventh visit to
Louisiana, since he gives a French Mass every year in Pierre Part.
"It's like rediscovering our cousins," Arsenault, a descendant of
Acadians who stayed on Prince Edward Island, said after Mass.
The congregation that gathered at Southdown Plantation was a
combination of local people and out-of-towners. Sitting in a row of
folding chairs, a group of people from Canada waited for Mass to
begin.
"I'm not of Acadian descent, but I'm a French Canadian," said
Hélène Lachapelle Nevin, of Cornwall, Ontario. As a French
Canadian, Nevin said she realizes what it's like to be in the
minority.
"Anytime you get a chance to be in the majority, it's a treat," Nevin
said about the Congrès Mondial Acadien.
Sitting with Nevin was Agathe Brunet, vice president of the
Association Canadienne des Franco-Ontarions of Ottawa, Ontario,
and Paul Chauvin, an organizer for the upcoming 2001 celebration of
300 years in Windsor-Detroit area.
"We're still fighting to have our province recognized as both French
and English," Brunet said.
Before Mass began, a procession of flags from the United States,
France and Canada were brought up to the plantation house to the
singing of each country's national anthem. "The Star Spangled
Banner" was sung in French.
After Mass, some stayed to have breakfast while others headed
downtown to the Mardi Gras Promenade at the Bayou Terrebonne
Waterlife Museum.
Newcomers to Louisiana warmed up fast to the idea of catching
Mardi Gras beads as costumed members of the Krewe of
Terreanians provided the patented toss.
The Rev. Roch Naquin of Isle de
Jean Charles in Terrebonne Parish and the Rev. Eloi Arsenault of Prince
Edward Island, Canada, conduct the French Mass which took place Sunday
morning at Southdown Plantation.
Photo by CINDY SKOP/THE COURIER. |
Audrey Blanchard-Williams and
Bill Williams of Houston said
during Sunday's festivities that they were planning on attending
the Blanchard family reunion in Pierre Part this Saturday.
"We were in New Brunswick five years
ago just after they had the reunion there," Audrey Blanchard-Williams explained.
Other visitors traveled from a little
farther away than Texas.
Cousins Robert Surette and Danny
Surette made the trip from their home in Nova Scotia. |
"We just wanted to know if there were any Surettes down here,"
Robert said. They haven't found many, he said, because they
weren't deported with the other Acadians.
"We were never deported as such. We hid in the woods," Robert
Surrette said about his Acadian ancestors. "We did meet some
Surettes yesterday who had come here directly from France."
Surettes or no, Robert said they're both enjoying their time in
Louisiana.
"It's friendly. People are very nice," he said.
Amy Wold is a staff writer at The Courier. She can be reached at
850-1148 or by e-mail at hdcnews@nytimes.com.
|
CMA Newspaper Articles - August 2
Articles
