Local Acadians take trip to Nova Scotia 400th anniversary of Canadian settlement celebrated BY Leslie Ackel COVINGTON - Locals Tommy and Lauran Boudreaux traveled to Nova Scotia, Canada, this summer to attend the Congrs mondial acadien to study their roots as Acadians and celebrate the 400th anniversary of the French people's settlement in Canada. Four centuries after its founding the province of Nova Scotia and the Acadian villages that dot its shores received some 100,000 visitors attracted to the region by a myriad of historical and cultural activities. This international gathering of Acadians in Nova Scotia this year marks the third celebration of its kind. New Brunswick and Louisiana each hosted a similar event in 1994 and 1999, respectively. These world-class meetings reunited and linked Acadians internationally, regardless of distance, time or present-day location. In 1999 the Congress was held in Louisiana between the towns of St. Martinville and New Iberia. The event is held every five years. A group of Acadians started the World Congr/s in 1994 in New Brunswick, Canada, as a pathway to following their ancestry through genealogy study. "They wanted to keep the names of the descendants alive," Boudreaux said. The purpose also is to document the deportation of the people at a time when religious persecution was reason enough to purge a country of citizens with different ideas. To separate those Acadians now living in Louisiana, the Congr/s laws officially title the French descendants as Cajuns to differentiate family locations. Lauran Charbonnet Boudreaux said the Congr/s consists of approximately 100 families who gather every five years to exchange family information. Boudreaux said some families who gathered in Canada from throughout the country this year numbered in the thousands. The Boudreaux family had 1,300 persons in attendance, with 100 of the Boudreaux family members from Louisiana. Four areas of France were represented by Boudreaus. The "x" is omitted from those names. Families of Arceneauxs, Aucoins, Babins, Bourges, Broussards, Comeauxs, Dugas, Dulongs, Heberts, Landrys, LeBlancs, Martins, Prejeans, Richards, Samsons, Savoies and Thibodeaus were just a few of the 150 French families that participated this year in the Congr/s of Acadians. The Congr/s lasted two weeks. The Boudreaux family was reunited on Cape Breton on the Isle of Madame where the first Boudreauxs homesteaded. Grand Prix and Port Royale were popular meeting places for the families. Lauran Boudreaux said she visiting old schools where genealogy accounts of her husband's family covered all four walls of the gymnasium and dated as far back as 1605. Lauran discovered that the original family of Boudreauxs who traveled to the shores of Nova Scotia were Michael and Michelle. They had 11 children and arrived in 1600. "Those Boudreauxs were sea farers," Lauran said. Michael served the little town as a judge. Some of the original Boudreauxs became farmers. Refusing to swear allegiance to England, they left Nova Scotia and arrived in places like Quebec and in Louisiana during the English persecution. Some Boudreauxs were sent back to France. Lauran said during this time the Spanish governor of New Orleans had heard of the people banished from Canada. He sent seven ships to France in order to gather these families. They were brought back to Louisiana, landing in what is now St. Martinville. The next Congr/s mondial acadien is scheduled for 2009. For more information visit cma2004.com. Genealogy News: Earl Gates