Curatorial essay
The juxtaposition of one human collective or individual to another, whatever similarities or differentiations may be revealed, can be a slippery slope when formulating narrative. The potential for omissions and obscurities in interpretation and description become amplified, whether done so inadvertently or otherwise, and thus elevates the risk(s) for inaccuracies in the portrayal and an inappreciativeness of the human subject in focus.
The Acadian migrants from the land of Evangeline, as well as their French-Canadian and Franco-American counterparts, who settled and have inhabited the Madawaska Territory and the wider region that is the Saint John Valley – thereby becoming neighbors of these regions’ indigenous communities of the W’olastoqiyik and Mi’kmaq, are amongst the oeuvre of human societies and cultures who have befallen misleading depiction. Narratives historically, and even contemporaneously, have withheld or otherwise sustained the perception of this regionally-unique Francophonie social collective as isolated and detached from the wider worlds and networks of their times, thereby emphasizing if not epitomizing their lack of sophistication, rudimentariness, and resistance to change. Addressing such contrived distortions has been the subject of academics and historians alike since the final quarter of the twentieth century, whose efforts have stoked a greater consciousness of this group’s distinguishing complexities and systemic entwinements.
La vie encore avidly couples these efforts.
A lasting exhibition of the Musée culturel du Mont-Carmel, La vie encore draws from the institution’s permanent collection of Acadian and Québécois folk and decorative objects, furniture, and fabrics. In foregrounding their characteristics, visualities, and utilities, La vie encore frames and thematically situates these works within the context of the Seven Sacraments – the visible rites integral to Roman Catholicism that signify important moments and stages throughout the lifespan of Catholic practitioners.
Along with language and family, religion constitutes a major component of the Acadian, French Canadian, and even Franco-American identity, with this religion principally being Roman Catholicism. The sphere of influence of the Church, however, has extended far beyond religious matters within the Francophonie community of the Saint John Valley, long before and since the ruthlessly calculated events of le Grand Dérangement. The institution became a pivotal purveyor of their cultural continuity given its instrumental provision of charitable, educational, and healthcare services that sustained the well-being and development of these communities. The Church also served as their principal militant-like proponent, proving effective in countering the discriminatory and assimilationist policies and practices both British and American imperialist empires devised to suppress such French-speaking peoples with. The Church thus aided in the prevention of the complete cultural erasure of these groups – most distinctly the Acadians.1 2
Religion, as with language and family, has bounded the Valley’s Francophonie community together, and the importance of religion to the individual can be recognized across the lifespan stages in human growth and development. The Musée culturel du Mont-Carmel considered it suitable if not essential to reflect such a long-held and enduring attachment within its collections, seeing that the present Musée is the site of the former Notre-Dame du Mont-Carmel. This has served as the underlying impetus for La vie encore.
Within the exhibition, first glances can be made of hand-carved, hard-pine infant cradles and dollhouses, motherly rockers, traditional Acadian board games, school desks and chairs, and hand-woven linens and garments of a young woman’s trousseau – accentuating the lifespan stages of birth through early adolescence. For the Acadian historically, the Sacraments of Initiation unfold within these periods, consisting of Baptism, Eucharist (First Communion), Confirmation, and the beginnings of atonement (Penance). These rites, according to Roman Catholic dogma and doctrine, help to lay the foundation for a Christian life, where individuals, often at young ages, are formally received by the Church and become full members. These rites are also foundational for the other Church sacraments that are to be pursued or otherwise encountered in time as one matures.
Further accentuating these formative years are kids Mass play-sets. Carved from hard-pine to resemble the structures typical in the church sanctuary, these sets contain miniature-sized, gold-plated brass objects and vessels evocative of the more true-to-life forms utilized in Roman Catholic religious services, such as the communion cups, ciborium, monstrance, host makers, and linen clothes (e.g., the corporal and pall). One of the two Sacraments of Service is implicit here – Holy Orders. Francophonie youth in the Valley were greatly encouraged by their families to pursue vocations within the Church, such as joining the Priesthood or a religious order(s), in their more mature years. These vocations buttressed the continuity of the Church and its community mission(s) whilst expanding regional access to and providing opportunities for employment within the sectors of education, healthcare, and social welfare.
The Saint John Valley experienced a fluorescent emergence of Catholic religious orders particularly of women throughout the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Many of these orders migrated to the region from locations both near and afar; from those of Québec to as far as La Rochelle and the Loire Valley of western-central France. The former Notre-Dame du Mont-Carmel and its parish were one of a select few sites in Northern Maine to welcome the arrival of France’s Les Filles de La Sagesse, The Daughters of Wisdom, who dedicated their lives to the service of the Church and to the community by embracing vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.3
The other Sacrament of Service entails the ritual of Matrimony. The exhibition’s arranging of home furnishings and housewares consisting of dry sinks and armoires, bed linens and feather mattresses, kitchen tables and ironware, are reflections and extensions of the covenant and bond formally instituted through this rite. Such objects served as constant reminders of the shared union between spouses, for the home became regarded as a sort of microcosm for the Church, or “domestic church.”
The Sacraments of Healing, consisting of Penance and Conciliation (e.g., Confession) and Anointing of the Sick (formerly Extreme Unction) are pursued throughout the remainder of one’s life up to earthly departure. Nearing the displays of home furnishings and housewares are an arrangement of a pine casket encircled within Paschal candlestick holders and headstones recovered from the neighboring Mont-Carmel Cemetery that bear the maiden and marital names of former female parishioners.
La vie encore accentuates the connections of the Saint John Valley’s Francophonie culture to the institution of the Church within its framing of the Seven Sacraments. The institution’s wider connections, networks, and systemic entanglements that traversed globally held weight in influencing and sustaining the living traditions of the French cultures who have historically lived, worked, and otherwise frequented the region that is the Saint John Valley.
The English translation of “la vie encore” can be read as “life again,” and La vie encore aims to instill amongst its onlookers a renewed awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the Francophonie culture and identity(s) – both past and enduring – that, though not exclusively “Acadian,” “French-Canadian” or “Franco-American,” have nevertheless made an indelible imprint upon the regions and legacies of Northern Maine and southern New Brunswick.
— Mason McBreairty, Head of Curation & Advancement
Object Gallery ~ Coming soon!
La vie encore Receives National Acclaim
For its outstanding efforts in the conservation and preservation of Maine Acadian culture and history, La vie encore became a humble recipient of the Phoenix Award in 1999. This national accolade was conferred to the institution by the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), a professional networking organization comprised of the travel industry’s most experienced travel content creators, publishers, and public relations experts from the United States, Canada, and beyond.
The Phoenix Award recognizes destinations, individuals, organizations, governments and firms that have made exemplary efforts in environmental, cultural and/or historical conservation, preservation and beautification of tourism sites. The award was established by SATW in 1969, and only a select few are bestowed the award by the organization worldwide. The Musée culturel du Mont-Carmel was one of four national recipients of the award in 1999.
La vie encore is made possible with the generous support of the Quebec-Labrador Foundation and the Maine Acadian Heritage Council.
We acknowledge and extend a special thanks to Allison M. Ouellet who led the project’s direction, and to the following respective individuals who supported the project’s assembly, coordination, and interpretation: Joseph Donald Cyr, Sheila Jans, Berthe Parent Garcia, Paul Gutman, Terry Helms, Adam Pelkey, Daniel Picard, Linda Theriault, and Thomas Tremblay. Further recognition is paid to Carmen Daigle, John Dionne, Alice Gendreau, Claudette Morin, Lucille Parent, and Normand Parent for their photographic contributions and for their efforts in conducting regional interviews throughout the St. John Valley.
- Craig, Béatrice, Maxime Dagenais, and Paul E Taylor. The Land in between : The Upper St. John Valley from Prehistory to World War One. 1st pbk. edition. Gardiner, ME: Tilbury House, Publishers, 2009, p. 318-319. ↩︎
- Mercure, Prudent L, and Roger Paradis. Papers of Prudent L. Mercure : Histoire Du Madawaska. Madawaska, Maine: Madawaska Historical Society, 1998, p. xliii. ↩︎
- Craig, Béatrice et al., p. 320-326. ↩︎