| Preserving
Mi'Kmaq Culture
Each August, when the
sacred fire is lit at the opening
of the Panmure Island powwow,
hosted by the Mi'Kmaq communities
of Prince Edward Island, aboriginal
people from throughout Atlantic
Canada and the northeast United
States gather to celebrate the
traditions of the Island's First
Nations. Threatened by disease,
deforestation, segregation and
assimilation in the 18th and
19th centuries, the resilient
Mi'Kmaq culture is now a proud
feature of both Island and Maritime
heritage. Throughout Prince
Edward Island, traditional Mi'Kmaq
handicrafts, such as twill and
twine weave baskets, are on
display. Near the Hillsborough
River, Abegweit First Nations
reserves include Scotchfort
and Rocky Point, two of three
affiliated aboriginal communities.
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Multiflavoured
Fiddles and Jigs
Glenroy, St. Andrew's, Donagh, York-the
place names of Prince Edward Island hint
at the class conflicts, religious rifts
and old-country allegiances that are part
of the island's settlement history. But
in the 21st century, cultural boundaries
that once rigidly defined Scottish, Irish,
English and Acadian culture are disappearing,
replaced with new traditions that combine
many aspects of the Island heritage.
In a land where the lively sound of fiddle
music seems to float on the ocean breezes,
the musical traditions of Scotland, Ireland,
England, Wales and France often blend together
in a toe-tapping celebration of song and
dance:
• At Orwell Corner Historic Village,
events such as "Ceildh (Kay-lee) at
the Corner" and "Ireland Meets
Scotland" bring singers, musicians
and storytellers together in the lamp-lit
hall of a restored 1890's crossroads community.
• Irish, Scottish and Acadian traditional
musical performances are all on the program
at the Irish Hall of the Benevolent Irish
Society in Charlottetown.
• Around the Island, fiddle music from
many Celtic cultures fills the halls, cafés
and pubs of places like Rollo Bay, Monticello
and Point Prim.
Acadian Ancestry
With a remarkable resilience, challenged
by over 3 centuries of Anglo-European domination,
the francophone Acadian culture of Prince
Edward Island has endured. While only about
5 per cent of the Island population is French-speaking,
about 25 per cent claims some French ancestry.
The influence of the 18th century Acadian
era remains, with family names such as Gallant,
Arsenault and Gaudet still a part of contemporary
Island culture. In Malpeque, in the Evangeline
region of the Island, descendants of the
French colonists who once farmed the saltmarshes
of the Hillsborough River maintain the language
and cultural traditions of some of Canada's
earliest settlers.
A Prospering Lebanese
Community
In the late 1800's, Lebanese pack peddlers
were a frequent sight on the red-earth country
roads of Prince Edward Island. Trading religious
prosecution at home for a hard-earned living
in a new land, these determined early immigrants
fostered the Island's largest non-European
and non-aboriginal cultural group. Today,
Islanders of Lebanese heritage are now an
established part of the community and commercial
life of Prince Edward Island.
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