French settlers arrived in Acadie, the land which is now New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Maine, which was then just a vast wilderness, in the early 1600s. They built tightly knit communities in this area, but existence was meager, and times were often troublesome.
In 1755, the conquering English tore Acadian families apart and exiled almost 8000 people to communities in what is now Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. Unfortunately, the Acadians were not welcome in many of these places, so they continued south, on to Louisiana. Louisiana welcomed them with open arms the year following the exile, giving them land, seed, and provisions. The Acadians settled but did not forget their homeland. They became farmers, moss gatherers, and fisherman, and eventually came to be known as the Cajuns. Many Acadians made their way back to New Brunswick with time, and their culture is present there even today.
