Les débuts du missionnaire Sigogne en Acadie
For those of you with roots in Southwestern Nova Scotia:
This folder contains a copy of Guy-Marie Oury O.S.B.’s 1975 article entitled, “Les débuts du missionnaire Sigogne en Acadie.” This article appeared on pages 43 to 86 of “Number 40” of “Les Cahiers des dix.”
According to an article entitled, “Guy-Marie Oury (1929-2000),” which was written by Claude Galarneau and published in 2001 on pages 19 to 21 of “Number 55” of “Les Cahiers des dix,” Guy-Marie Oury O.S.B. was born on October 29, 1929 in Tours, France. He became a Priest in 1954 and obtained a degree in theology at “l'Université d'Angers” in France and he later taught Canon Law and Liturgy. In 1981 he was appointed Chaplain of the nuns of Westfield Vermont. He was called back to Solesmes, France in 1998 and became advisor to Father Abbot and master of novices of the abbey. Guy-Marie Oury O.S.B. devoted himself to the research of Religious History and published 50 volumes and approximately 200 articles and he collaborated for 35 years with the review, “L'Ami du clergé (now “Esprit et Vie”).” He died on November 12, 2000 at the “l'abbaye de Saint-Pierre de Solesmes” in France.
So, based on this background information, we can easily conclude that Guy-Marie Oury O.S.B. was a very educated and knowledgeable man in the area of Religious History. So, I firmly believe that what he wrote in “Les débuts du missionnaire Sigogne en Acadie” can be considered highly reliable information, especially given the fact that he provides proper citations and quotations in this work.
Now that I’ve provided this background information, it’s time to explore why I believe “Les débuts du missionnaire Sigogne en Acadie” in an important document.
Well, its importance lies in what’s written on pages 54 and 55, as this is where Guy-Marie Oury O.S.B. discusses the difficulty that Père Jean-Mandé Sigogne experienced with the “Sang-Mêlés (“Mixed-Bloods”)” of Southwestern Nova Scotia during Père Sigogne’s time spent there in the early 1800s.
The first important excerpt from this article can be found on page 54 and is as follows:
“… Parmi les familles françaises du Cap-Sable, il s'en trouve de sang-mêlé; les Acadiens de pure race vivent en paix avec elles, mais les méprisent extrêmement et se croiraient déshonorés si leurs enfants venaient à contracter avec eux une mésalliance. M. Sigogne s'étonne et s'indigne de ce racisme latent qui lui paraît renverser les principes chrétiens fondamentaux…”
This loosely translates to :
“… Among the French families of Cape Sable, there are mixed-bloods; Acadians of pure race live in peace with them, but despise them extremely, and would think themselves dishonored if their children come to contract with them a misalliance. M. Sigogne is astonished and indignant at this latent racism which seems to him to overthrow the fundamental Christian principles…”
I did not include the excerpt provided by Guy-Marie Oury O.S.B. to support this statement, as I already discussed the excerpt from Père Jean-Mandé Sigogne’s January 26, 1800 letter written to Monseigneur Pierre Denaut from Baie Sainte-Marie, Nova Scotia in “Folders #11 and 146” of this collection. Hopfully, it’s become obvious that the “Sang-Mêlés (“Mixed-Bloods”)” of Southwestern Nova Scotia in the early 1800s were ostracized by their peers simply because of their mixed-race ancestry.
A second important excerpt from “Les débuts du missionnaire Sigogne en Acadie” can be found on page 55 and is as follows:
“… Le missionnaire revient sur ce sujet quelques années plus tard, tant cela lui semble anormal…”
This loosely translates to :
“… The missionary returns to this subject a few years later, as it seems abnormal to him…”
So, it appears as if this prejudice inflicted upon the “Sang-Mêlés (“Mixed-Bloods”)” by the “Pure” Acadians of Southwestern Nova Scotia during Père Jean-Mandé Sigogne’s time there was something that did not sit well with him. The reference for the excerpt used by Guy-Marie Oury O.S.B. to support this claim is the April 29, 1809 letter written by Père Sigogne to Archbishop Joseph-Octave Plessis, which was discussed in “Folders#146 and 148” of this collection.
A final important excerpt from this article can also be found on page 55 and is as follows:
“… Le problème des métis était propre au Cap-Sable; à la Baie point de familles au sang mêlé, au moins de notoriété publique; cela pourrait indiquer une différence dans l'origine, encore mal connue, des deux groupes acadiens; la Baie serait peuplée de familles revenues de la Nouvelle-Angleterre une dizaine d'années après la déportation; au Cap les Acadiens descendraient surtout de familles réfugiées dans les bois auprès des Indiens, vivant à l'orée de la forêt, en des sortes de caches à demi enfouies dans le sol.41… ”
This loosely translates to :
“…The métis problem was unique to Cape Sable; at the Bay there are no families of mixed blood, at least of public notoriety; this could indicate a difference in origin, still poorly known, of the two Acadian groups; the Bay would be populated by families returning from New England about ten years after the deportation; At the Cape the Acadians would descend mainly from refugee families in the woods near the Indians, living on the edge of the forest, in sorts of caches half-buried in the soil.41… “
So, this excerpt is important because it not only strengthens the argument that there were two entities of “Acadians” in Acadia, both Pre- and Post-Deportation (the “Pure”/”Stereotypical” “Acadians” as we’ve come and known to love, and the ostracized/seldom heard of “Sang-Mêlés (“Mixed-Bloods”)”).
What’s also worth noting is that Guy-Marie Oury O.S.B. used the term “métis” when referring to the latter-mentioned group, especially when we know from other Folders of this collection that Père Jean-Mandé Sigogne used the term “Sang-Mêlés (“Mixed-Bloods”)” to refer to this category of “Acadians.”
This excerpt also appears to be supported by the genealogies of the present-day descendants of the “Acadians” of these two communities, as those who have deep roots in the Cape Sable region tend to be able to trace to multiple inter-marriages in their family trees whereas those from the “Bay” tend to have very few, if any inter-marriages in their family trees. However, it’s also worth noting that this may simply be a difference in public knowledge of mixed-race ancestry.
One final thing worth noting about this excerpt is that Guy-Marie Oury O.S.B. suggests that the difference in the ancestries of the residents of the two communities may have been due to where they and/or their ancestors were deported to, if they were deported at all. I find this problematic, as he states that the more “Pure” “Acadians” of the “Bay” tended to have been deported to New England and that the “métis” of Cape Sable hid/their ancestors hid in the woods with the “Indians” and escaped Deportation altogether. We know from other documentation found in this collection that this is not entirely true, as we’ve seen that the mixed-blooded children of “Joseph Mius d’Azy I” and “Marie Amirault” were mostly all deported to New England from the Cape Sable region (except for “Joseph Mius d’Azy II” who travelled to New England with his family after being deported to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and returned to the Cape Sable region approximately 10 years after they were deported. We’ve also seen similar in relation to the mixed-blooded “Doucets” that settled in Southwestern Nova Scotia Post-Deportation and members of both of these mixed-blooded families (“Mius” and “Doucet”) had settled in both the Cape Sable and Baie Sainte-Marie regions by the time Père Jean-Mandé Sigogne had arrived in Southwestern Nova Scotia as well. Therefore, this theory is not entirely valid.
In conclusion, despite the differences of ancestry between residents of the communities of Baie Sainte-Marie and Cap-Sable in the early 1800s, it’s become obvious that the “Pure Acadians” of both communities wanted absolutely nothing to do with the “Sang-Mêlés (“Mixed-Bloods”).” Therefore, I strongly believe that we can conclude that there were two separate entities of “Acadians” in Southwestern Nova Scotia during Père Jean-Mandé Sigogne’s stay there and he found this separation to be “abnormal” and against the values of the Catholic Religion. Despite his many, many efforts to try and eliminate this prejudice, Père Sigogne’s efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. It’s amazing how easily hatred and prejudice can be perpetuated, isn’t it?
