Acadian Adaptations in North and South America

Summary

The tragedy of the deportation of the Acadians from their homeland by the British in the 1750s was compounded by their exploitation by the French government at the conclusion of the Seven Years War. French imperial policy focused on settling and developing portions of tropical colonies such as French Guiana with Acadians and Europeans in order to minimize slave labor.  Although more than 9,000 colonists perished upon their arrival in La Guyane, a few hundred Acadians survived in extended coastal and riverine settlements north of Kourou.  Here, creolized agricultural and fishing communities offered an alternative to the plantation regime. This paper compares the physical evidence for Acadian settlement systems and environmental relations in Acadia and in French Guiana and explores their possible impact on Acadian adaptations in Louisiana.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015   •
• Making waves: A celebration of the scholarship and influence of Marley Roberts Brown III

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 169