The landscape of Grand Pre

The Landscape of Grand Pre by Karen Cook - Nestled among the trees as the wildflowers blow in the summer breezes in the Annapolis Valley Nova Scotia... more

by Karen Cook

Title

The landscape of Grand Pre

Artist

Karen Cook

Medium

Photograph - Original Not For Sale.

Description

The Landscape of Grand Pre by Karen Cook - Nestled among the trees as the wildflowers blow in the summer breezes in the Annapolis Valley Nova Scotia with the stunning glimpse of Cape Blomidon in the far distance is the National Historic Site of Grand Pre.

The marshland and archaeological sites of the Acadian people are located near the Minas Basin, an inlet of the Bay of Fundy. It was here that the Acadians built their dykes and aboiteaus (wooden sluice system) to keep the salt water of the Bay of Fundy away from their fertile farmland..land that is still in use to this day.

This UNESCO World Heritage Site shows the adaptation of early European settlers to their new life in North America. It is also a memorial to the events of the Expulsion of these Acadian peoples and the survival of the human spirit.

Grand Pre is a National Historic Site of Canada located in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia and is dedicated to the memory of one history's most tragic events/ The event is referred to the Expulsion of the Acadians, the Great Expulsion or the Great Deportment.

The Annapolis Valley was settled mostly by French in the 1600s. The area was known as Acadia and the people were peaceful farmers, building farms on land they reclaimed from the sea with dykes. Over the years the territory changed hands between the French and the English until in the mid 1700s the territory was firmly in control of the English.

The Acadians were ordered to swear an oath of allegiance to England, even though they were known for their neutrality in conflict. They refused.

One Sunday morning in September 1755 all the men and boys over the age of 10 of the Acadian communities were herded into their local churches and told they were being exiled or expelled from the area, their homes would be burnt and their lands destroyed. Resistance was met with the threat of death. By the time England and France had made peace with each other, more than 12,000 Acadians had been forced from their land. Families were separated and many of those forced to leave died from starvation, imprisonment or drowning in an escape attempt. In some communities the death rate was over 50 per cent.

They were deported to other English colonies, the Caribbean, and France. Some found their way to Louisiana where they stayed and became known as "Cajuns". Many years later, some of the Acadians returned to Nova Scotia and resettled lands elsewhere, near the town of Yarmouth and along the Bay of Fundy coast which is now referred to as the "French Shore' and is home to a proud and vital Acadian community where the heritage is celebrated and cherished.

In 1847 the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published a poem called Evangeline, and the story of the Expulsion became known through the English speaking world. His fictional heroine Evangeline became a folk legend and people descended on the area to visit Grand Pre and see what was remaining of her home. All that remains of the original village which was burnt to the ground by the English troops is the dykelands and a row of old Willow trees.

The Grand Pre park and its memorial Church is dedicated to the remembrance of the Explusion and was built in the early part of the 20th century and became a National HIstoric Site in 1982. In 2012 it was dedicated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a memorial to Acadian way of life and deportation. Family records, list of names, artifacts of the time and other memorabilia are on display in the park.

On a personal note - I am proud to say that my parents are of Acadian descent.

In July 2020 a print of this image was sold
In June 2021 a print of this image was sold

Featured in the Fine Art America group
Red Maple Gallery

Uploaded

March 10th, 2019