Tyler LeBlanc - Acadian Driftwood: One Family and the Great Expulsion

The Acadian story deserves to be told far and wide let this exquisite book draw you into an astonishing tale of imperial abuse and collective courage.

Lyse Doucet, BBC Chief International Correspondent

Tyler LeBlanc takes readers on a quest to uncover his familys forgotten history, a journey into the horrors of the eighteenth-century deportations that scattered his Acadian ancestors and almost destroyed their culture. Deeply researched and honestly told, Acadian Driftwood is a gritty, gripping account of a dark chapter in Canadas history and an uplifting tale of discovery discovery of heritage, of family, and, ultimately, of identity.

Dean Jobb, author of The Acadians: A Peoples Story of Exile and Triumph

With great care and an eye for well-researched details, Tyler LeBlanc tells a story of trauma by making room for personal and historical insights into the lives of the Acadians who survived the Expulsion. A tapestry of 250-year-old threads, Acadian Driftwood is stronger and more resilient than one would ever expect, let alone woven in such a careful and vibrant manner.

Simon Thibault, author of Pantry and Palate: Remembering and Rediscovering Acadian Food

Copyright 2020 by Tyler LeBlanc.

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). To contact Access Copyright, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call 1-800-893-5777.

Edited by Jill Ainsley.

Cover and page design by Julie Scriver.

On the cover: Lueurs copyright 2017 by Raymond Martin, oil on canvas, 27.9x 35.5 cm. (Photographed by Mathieu Leger). Map overlay: Carte de lAcadie, Isle Royale, et Pas Voisins : pour servir lHistoire Gnrale des voyages by Jacques Nicolas Bellin, 1703-1772. (Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library).

Map of Acadia and family tree by Emily Powers.

Printed in Canada.

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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: Acadian driftwood : one family and the Great Expulsion / Tyler LeBlanc.

Names: LeBlanc, Tyler, 1989- author.

Description: Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20190188030 | Canadiana (ebook) 20190188065 | ISBN 9781773101187 (softcover) | ISBN 9781773101194 (EPUB) | ISBN 9781773101200 (Kindle)

Subjects: LCSH: LeBlanc, Tyler, 1989-Family. | LCSH: Leblanc family. | LCSH: AcadiansNova ScotiaHistoryExpulsion, 1755.

Classification: LCC CS90.L4 L43 2020 | DDC 929.20971dc23

Goose Lane Editions acknowledges the generous support of the Government of Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Government of New Brunswick.

Goose Lane Editions

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Fredericton, New Brunswick

CANADA E3B 5X4

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For my grandfather Bob LeBlanc, the man whose life sparked my interest in this story.

This book tells the story of a settler culture that attempted to remove and erase another settler culture from lands that neither had the right to call their own. The story is one small part of a much broader history, covering events that predominantly occurred within Mi'kma'ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq People. This territory is covered by the Peace and Friendship Treaties that the Mi'kmaq, Wlastkwiyik (Maliseet), and Passamaquoddy Peoples first signed with the British Crown in 1726. These treaties recognized Mi'kmaq and Wlastkwiyik title and established the rules for what was to be an ongoing relationship between Nations. I acknowledge Mi'kma'ki, the land where I live and where this book was written, to be unceded territory.