Article on the New Acadia Project in The Advocate by Richard Burgess

Researchers seek to unravel mystery of early Acadiana settlers

The Search for the Lost Settlement

Archaeological Expedition of the New Acadia Project Begins

The New Acadia Project (NAP) has launched the first archaeological expedition to find and investigate the 1765 homesteads and unmarked burials of Acadian émigrés in south Louisiana. The search for the lost settlement, referred to as Nouvelle Acadie or New Acadia, is long overdue. In 2015 it will have been 250 years since the arrival of the Acadian families led by Joseph Beausoleil Broussard. Despite the present-day popularity of Cajun culture and prominence of the Acadiana region, there has surprisingly been no previous attempt by archaeologists to locate the initial homesteads of the Acadians or the unmarked graves of more than 34 people who died soon after their arrival in Nouvelle Acadie.

The Summer 2014 NAP Archaeological Expedition made a gradual start, with fieldwork delayed for several days by thunderstorms, torrential rains, and flooding in surrounding communities. Time spent in the Archaeology Lab at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette was used to prepare for fieldwork, including a project orientation, organization of equipment and supplies, and completion of required paperwork. On Friday, May 30, the field crew traveled to the Village of Loreauville and began fieldwork.

The small but intrepid survey crew of the NAP Summer 2014 Archaeological Expedition
makes its way into the field: Maegan and Christian in Loreauville.

The search for New Acadia encompasses many miles along the natural levee of the Bayou Teche, known as the Teche Ridge. The project area is located along the Teche Ridge between St. Martinville and New Iberia, in the vicinity of Loreauville and a section of the bayou once called Fausse Pointe.

A view of the Bayou Teche, looking towards Loreauville.

As the project area is immense, areas of particular interest for archaeological investigation must be identified through additional research. This research includes previous historical and archival studies, interviews with local residents in order to construct oral histories, and analyses of cartographic and geographic information on the landscape. One of the locations of interest was identified based on interviews as a possible place of unmarked burials, known by local residents for the large and beautiful Live Oaks on the property.

Live Oaks on the Teche Ridge.

The crew from UL Lafayette spent much of the first day in the field establishing a survey grid and preparing to conduct remote sensing with a Cesium Magnetometer. A rectangular area was laid out with stakes and geophysical data collected along 20-meter long transects.

Maegan collects remote sensing data with a portable Cesium Magnetometer.

Once the data are collected, the files are uploaded to a PC and a map is produced showing magnetic anomalies or potential subsurface disturbances. Preliminary analysis of the data collected on May 30 suggests one or more anomalies in the area surveyed. It is too early to identify or determine the cause of such anomalies. The crew will be returning to the field to collect additional data from this area, adjacent areas, and other places of interest.

Two abandoned historic cemeteries have also been identified through ethnographic interviews as high priority areas for archaeological and historical investigation.

 Two overgrown and abandoned family cemeteries along the Bayou Teche (above and right). Both cemeteries are known or reported to contain interments dating from the nineteenth century, only three generations after the first Acadians arrived in the region and established their Nouvelle Acadie.

Are there earlier, yet unmarked graves at these little known places?

The search for New Acadia will continue in the coming weeks. Updates will be made here when available and as time allows. 

All of the places of interest and sites mentioned here are located on privately-owned property for which trespassing is illegal. It is also a violation of State law to excavate or disturb human burials, whether in marked cemeteries or unmarked graves. The research described here is made possible only with the permission and generosity of the land owners.

The New Acadia Project is being funded through private and public donations, made possible by the fundraising efforts of the NAP Steering Committee, the Famille Beausoleil Association, and Acadian Heritage and Culture Foundation, Inc.  Additional support is needed for equipment and staff. You can support the New Acadia Project by contacting the Acadian Heritage and Culture Foundation, Inc. at the Acadian Museum or the New Acadia Project Fund at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Foundation.

Iberia Parish Council approves $50,000 for NAP

News Update: 

The Iberia Parish Council voted unanimously last night to officially approve a $50,000 donation to the New Acadia Project, which it had first authorized last week.

Mayor Al Broussard of Loreauville, Chairman of the New Acadia Project Steering Committee, was instrumental in requesting the needed funds.

Following an earlier $25,000 contribution by the McIlhenny Family Foundation, plus other donations from the private and public sectors, the New Acadia Project Steering Committee has now raised well over the $77,248 for a Cooperative Agreement with UL Lafayette. 


The NAP is on Facebook at Projet Nouvelle-Acadie/New Acadia Project

New Acadia Project Cooperative Agreement

A cooperative agreement between the Steering Committee of the New Acadia Project and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is soon to be finalized. The agreement will support the initial goals and objectives of the project, most notably the initiation of archaeological fieldwork to locate the first homesteads and unmarked burials of Acadians who arrived in south Louisiana in 1765.

 Jean Francois de Civrey, “cure de la nouvelle Acadie” recorded the burial of 44 Acadians in 1765, at places referred to as camp d’en bas, dernier camp d’en bas, and Camp appellé Beau Soleil. Joseph Broussard, “Commandant les Acadiens des Atakapas,” was interred at the latter location on October 20th. A staunch defender of the Acadian resistance to deportation, having led his family and friends to a new and unfamiliar land, was buried in a seemingly solitary grave within sight of the Bayou Teche. Its location, and the places where the Acadian families built their first homes, called Nouvelle Acadie by Jean Francois, remain unknown today.

The search for the New Acadia settlement is long overdue, having been identified as an important goal in a report to the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development 30 years ago. As 2015 commemorates 250 years since the arrival of Acadian families in a region that would eventually become known as Acadiana, the launching of the first expedition of the New Acadia Project in the summer of 2014 is likely to attract widespread interest. Updates will be posted as preliminary site reconnaissance, mobilization, and fieldwork begin.

Additional information can be found on Facebook at Projet Nouvelle-Acadie/New Acadia Project. The New Acadia Project cooperative agreement is made possible by donations being raised by the Steering Committee. Funding is needed for student research assistants and staff, equipment, supplies, and transportation. Is the search for New Acadia of interest to you? If so, the Steering Committee has partnered with The Acadian Heritage and Culture Foundation, Inc., to raise necessary support. Donations to the New Acadia Project can be made at the Acadian Museum or through the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Foundation New Acadia Project Fund.

In the news May 8, 2014

IPC OKs $50,000 for Acadia Project (The Daily Iberian, May 8, 2014)

Op Ed April 14, 2014

Acadian history should be unearthed before it is too late to find it (The Advertiser, April 14, 2014)

Minor setback

New Acadia Project not to be supported by the Louisiana Board of Regents ITRS Grant

 10 April 2014

Reviewers of proposals for the Louisiana Board of Regents Industrial Ties Research Subprogram (ITRS) surprisingly did not recommend funding of the New Acadia Project. Nevertheless, plans are being made to move ahead with the New Acadia Project without ITRS support. 

Whatever the reasons for the ITRS grant not being awarded, many people in Louisiana, and especially Acadiana, are very interested in knowing where the initial 1765 home sites and unmarked burials of New Acadia are located, would like to learn more, and think it would present exceptional opportunities for economic development.

In the author's opinion, the out of state reviewers lacked the expertise in culture, history, and cultural economy to fairly evaluate the proposal and its potential for contributing to economic development.

Updates forthcoming...