"The “Créoles” (“Creoles”) of Caraquet, New Brunswick in the Nineteenth Century." Courrier du Canada 1867
319. The “Créoles” (“Creoles”) of Caraquet, New Brunswick in the Nineteenth Century: This folder contains a copy of the Monday, February 04, 1867 issue of the Québec newspaper entitled, “Le Courrier du Canada, Journal des Interest Canadiens.” The importance of this issue lies in an article found on pages 01 and 02, which is properly entitled, “Les Provinces Maritimes.” This article was written by a man simply named “Jean-Baptiste” therefore, I’m unable to provide any biographical information concerning this man.
That being said, it’s now time to begin our discussion concerning “Les Provinces Maritimes.” The importance of this article lies in an excerpt found in the fifth and sixth columns of the article on page 01. This excerpt concerns the origins of the inhabitants of Caraquet, New Brunswick and is as follows:
“… La population de cette paroisse, d’après son langage et ses coutumes, semblerait descendre de différentes sources. Les uns ont le langage des anciens Acadiens, d'autres celui de nos compatriotes. Ce dernier l'emporte sur l’autre et l'on sont déjà la vosinage du Canada. On peut donc sans se tromper de beaucoup, dire que la population actuelle de Caraquette se répartit comme suit par rapport aux origines. Un tiers appartient aux infortunés Acadiens de la dispersion; un autre tiers descend des Acadiens et Canadiens établis de l’autre côté de la Baie, en Canada; le reste peut appartenir à des pêcheurs français venus ici autrefois de France ou des îles St. Pierre et Miquelon. Les premiers se sont fixés dans le bas de Caraquette et se sont mariés avec les filles des aborigènes. C'est pourquoi les descendants de Canadiens et d'Acadiens, qui se sont emparés du haut de la paroisse, leur donnent le nom de créoles…”
This loosely translates to:
“… The population of this parish, according to its language and customs, seems to come from different sources. Some have the language of the ancient Acadians, others that of our compatriots. The latter takes precedence over the other and we are already creating Canada. It is therefore safe to say that the current population of Caraquette is distributed as follows in relation to origins. A third belong to the unfortunate Acadians of the dispersion; another third comes from Acadians and Canadians living across the Bay in Canada; the rest may belong to French fishermen who came here formerly from France or the islands of St. Pierre et Miquelon. The first settled in the bottom of Caraquette and married the daughters of the Aboriginals. That is why the descendants of Canadians and Acadians, who seized the top of the parish, give them the name of creoles..."
This excerpt is very important for two reasons. The first of these reasons being that it clearly demonstrates that the inhabitants of Caraquet, New Brunswick were divided into groups based on their ancestries. These divisions resulted in variations in language as well.
The second, and greatest importance of this excerpt lies in the fact that “Jean-Baptiste” asserts that “Les premiers se sont fixés dans le bas de Caraquette et se sont mariés avec les filles des aborigènes. C'est pourquoi les descendants de Canadiens et d'Acadiens, qui se sont emparés du haut de la paroisse, leur donnent le nom de creoles” (“The first settled in the bottom of Caraquette and married the daughters of the Aboriginals. That is why the descendants of Canadians and Acadians, who seized the top of the parish, give them the name of créoles”). This is a very important assertion because it suggests that the original non-Indigenous inhabitants of Caraquet “sont mariés avec les filles des aborigènes” (“married the daughters of the Aboriginals”), which would therefore, mean that the offspring of these “original” inhabitants were of mixed-blood. Therefore, the descendants of these original intermarriages were known as “Créoles” (“Creoles”).
In conclusion, although we’ve already seen throughout this collection that the original non-Indigenous inhabitants of the Caraquet, New Brunswick region had intermarried with the local First Nations Peoples and produced mixed-blooded offspring, “Jean-Baptiste’s” Monday, February 04, 1867 article entitled, “Les Provinces Maritimes” is still a very welcome addition to this collection because it not only provides further documentation to suggest that the region of Caraquet, New Brunswick can be considered a historical “Métis community,” but it also provides a new term to refer to these people, and their descendants as. Therefore, the children produced by these original intermarriages and their descendants can also be referred to as “Créoles” (“Creoles”).
