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Savoie-Savoy forge ties at
reunion
By Marsha K. Sills, Daily World,
8/8/99
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GRAND COTEAU - Savoys from all parts of Louisiana, Texas and Canada
made their pilgrimages to the beautiful and sainted grounds of the Academy
of
the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau Saturday, Aug. 7.
Over 500 descendants of Francois Savoie and Catherine LeJeune of Martaise,
France congregated in the air-conditioned gymnasium while cajun music played
in the background.
"Is there a Small Coteau?" joked New Brunswick-native, Wilfred
Savoie. "This is a very enchanting area. They couldn't have picked a better
area."
"We were at the opening in Houma," he said. "Since then we've met a large
number of very generous and hospitable people. The generous reputation
of the
Cajuns, we live it when we come here."
This is Savoie's third trip to Louisiana. His first, 10 years ago,
was to celebrate Mardi Gras in Eunice.
"And we're probably coming back," he said.
The Renaissance, a local performance troupe, demonstrated authentic Acadian
dances dating back to the 1800s and a mock-traditional Cajun wedding
complete with a broom-dance by the bride and groom's unmarried siblings.
"Everyone's been visiting. With all we have, the music, the
entertainment, the genealogy, they really come here to visit, to meet new
relatives and those they haven't seen in awhile. I met two cousins I hadn't
seen
in 40 years this morning," said Sylvia Savoie-Hanks, publicity coordinator
for
Rendez-Vous des Savoies/Savoys, the association formed two years ago to
organize the event in conjunction with the Congès Mondial Acadian.
"Our last regular family reunion was last August with 110 people," said
Dale
Savoie, president of the association. "We've had a real big turnout today,
but we
would have had a good time if only 100 people showed up."
Warren Perrin, president of Council on Development of French in Louisiana
or
CODOFIL, was invited to speak to the family. He said he had planned to
discuss what the CMA means to the people of Louisiana, but reading the
newspaper before coming to the reunion made him change his mind and his
speech.
"There are seven myths that the press continues to perpetuate that need
to
come to a stop," he explained.
The first myth, he said, was that the Acadians were deported
because they refused to take an oath of allegiance to the British. Perrin
said he
found a document containing the pledges of an entire town of Acadian families
who pleaded allegiance to the throne, yet were still deported. He said
he
believes that this proves the deportation was because of ethnic cleansing
and to
rid the region of the Catholic Acadians who were occupying profitable land,
which denounces another myth of the poor, illiterate Acadians.
"They were the richest farmers in North America," countered Perrin. "And
20
percent were literate, which is comparable to any frontier land in that
time. As
a matter of fact, they developed a network of correspondence to find their
families."
Perrin continued to explain that the term, "Grand Derangement," has been
thrown around too much. He said the term was created by the British to
lessen
the stigma of their actions. Perrin said there was no large migration as
the term
implies, but rather the deportation was a diaspora.
"They were scattered into the wind like dust. Some never reunited with
their
families," Perrin said.
Another misconception Perrin said he found was the common belief that the
deportation was excused because it was wartime.
"Factually, that's baloney," Perrin said. "The French and Indian War began
in
May of 1756. Ninety percent were deported before the war started. Also,
the
British people and government were not in favor of the deportation. The
governing British occupying Acadie ignored the law to achieve their objectives
to steal the land."
Perrin compared the trials of the Acadians to that of the Jews as
he countered the opinion of those who believe that the deportation was
not that
horrific.
"One-third died. That's the same proportion of Jews," Perrin said. "And
when
the deportation ended we couldn't return. The treaty forbid it."
Currently, Perrin has filed a petition against the British
government and queen for an apology for the act of deportation. On Aug.
13 at
3 p.m. in the new federal courthouse, the petition will go before a 15-judge
panel in a mock trial.
"We've got to educate people. History has been glossed over in
books, but the times are changing," Perrin said.
"I believe he'll get the apology," said Dale Savoie. "This is not
to create more hate, but to realize what we went through and the spirit
of how
we went through it. We continue to have horrible treatment of people because
we don't understand history. Bringing it into people's faces will help
them
understand."
The richness of the Cajun heritage cannot be disputed. Wilfred
Savoie agreed that the culture must be kept alive, especially in Louisiana.
He
commented that he finds the younger generation in his native New Brunswick
are more responsive to Cajun music than in Louisiana.
"I think the young people need to have their own music in Cajun
culture," Savoie explained. "Our young musicians have a modern vision of
Cajun music. I'm amazed with Zachary Richard and other modern cajun bands,
who are so popular with the young people where I'm from. They flock to
the
concerts. I don't see that here. The survival of French language will depend
on
the young people. It's not just language, but culture and much of that
culture is
music."
The family closed their day with a Mass celebrated in French in the Academy's
chapel. |
