Voici the Valley – Alliances and Adversities: Shifting of Affairs
The complete Voici the Valley Audio Story (available here) includes a thorough historical account of the deportation of the Acadian people from the Maritime Provinces in 1755, the territorial disputes that ensued, and the eventual settlement of the Valley in 1785 by Acadian refugees. This brief excerpt explains how, in the wake of the 1842 treaty that established the border, residents of the south side of the Valley—now a part of the United States—turned to the Catholic Church to provide social services, schools, and hospitals. The Church, rather than their new government, shaped their lives and culture. The photo at right by Don Cyr shows the angel on the tower of the former Catholic church, Notre Dame du Mont-Carmel, now the Musee culturel du Mont-Carmel in Lille, Maine.
