The Contexts of Acadian History, 1786-1784

Martin L. Nicolai is a history lecturer at Queen’s University.

This collection of essays on early Acadian history, written by one of
the foremost scholars in the field, represents a methodological
introduction to what Griffiths calls her future “big book” on the
Acadians. In these essays, she challenges many of the stereotypical
images of Acadian society that still abound in both popular and academic
works on the subject. Her principal theme is that the complexity of
Acadian society has been underestimated, and that the many contexts of
Acadian history—social, economic, spatial, and cultural—must be
recognized. The Acadians, she maintains, did not live in a void; this
multi-ethnic community was part of the colonial world, and interacted
and intermarried with outsiders on a continual basis. Indeed, the author
argues, the image of “the Acadian” must be tempered by a realization
that the community was composed of individuals with their own personal
aspirations, lifestyles, and ambitions for property and prestige.
Differences in settlement patterns, housing, wealth, social class, sex,
and occupation need to be examined further, and even the role of the
Catholic Church must not be taken for granted.

Griffiths also discusses the development of an Acadian political elite
and political culture. Most of all, she stresses that Acadian history
prior to 1755 must not be seen simply as a preparation for the
deportations. The Acadian community flourished under British rule, and
had an extremely confident sense of its “rights,” which, in tandem
with the Acadians’ strong kinship network, effectively reinforced the
Acadian identity during and after the diaspora. Calling on feminist
theory, Griffiths argues that the Acadians should be seen as
“survivors” rather than “victims” of the deportations, a concept
that may go too far in some respects.

The sheer quantity of important questions raised here makes this one of
the most significant works on Acadian history in recent decades.
However, Griffiths raises more questions than she answers, and one
finishes the book with a sense of frustration at having one’s appetite
whetted without the meal being served. Although serious scholars will
look forward with relish to her mysterious “big book,” this shorter
work provides a valuable guide to early Acadia and the state of its
historiography.