Public Archaeology and Community Outreach

The New Acadia Project (NAP) is a publicly funded, grass-roots effort combining archaeology, history, and applied anthropology in a multidisciplinary, collaborative investigation of eighteenth-century Acadian settlement of Louisiana. A cooperative agreement has been established between the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette) and the NAP Steering Committee, which has led a widely successful fundraising effort to support this research. 
    In 1765 Joseph Beausoleil Broussard led a group of more than 200 Acadians to the Attakapas District in present-day Iberia and St. Martin parishes. These settlers were part of the forced expulsion of Acadians from Nova Scotia during the second half of the eighteenth century. More than 34 died in the months after their arrival, including Beausoleil and his brother, Alexandre. 
    The founders of New Acadia were buried at the places they settled, thought to be located somewhere along the Bayou Teche near present-day Loreauville. The burials were recorded by Father Jean-François de Civray as being located at premier camp d'en bas, dernier camp d'en bas, and camp Beausoleil. The gravesites and homesteads remain unmarked and unknown two and a half centuries later, in the heartland of Acadiana.

Goals and Objectives 
    There have been no previous archaeological investigations of New Acadia and very few studies of Acadian archaeology in Louisiana, despite the importance of Acadian heritage and culture. This is the first systematic effort to identify and study the initial home sites of New Acadia. The goals of the NAP are: 

1. Advance existing knowledge of the history of Acadian settlement by locating and studying the original homesteads and associated unmarked burials.
2. Delineate and understand the settlement patterns and households of New Acadia.
3. Examine the changing relationships between history, identity, and landscape.
4. Promote development of the cultural economy of Louisiana and the region through cultural resource management (CRM) planning and heritage conservation related to Acadian history and culture.

    The first three goals are related to the objectives of producing historical and cultural information on New Acadia through archaeology, oral history, and archival research (see illustration below). What did the first Acadians eat? What things did they bring with them? What kind of shelters did they build? Such new and unique information will be of great interest to archaeologists, historians, and scholars. 
    For many Louisiana residents there are other, more profound reasons for discovering and studying the New Acadia settlement: the rediscovery of heritage and cultural identity. New prospects for commemoration will produce previously-unrealized opportunities for development of the cultural economy. Besides cultural tourism, economic development can be promoted through businesses and heritage industries that capitalize on culture.

Methods 
    The project goals and objectives will be accomplished through archaeological survey and site testing, historical and archival research, oral histories and genealogies, public outreach, and community engagement. Each line of investigation will be a collaborative effort in public archaeology, public history, applied anthropology, and CRM planning.

1. Archaeological Survey, Geophysical Remote Sensing, and Site Testing.
2. Historical and Archival Research.
3. Oral Histories and Genealogies.
4. Public Outreach and Community Engagement.

    The identification of old cemeteries through interviews and oral histories has been useful in selecting areas of high priority for archaeological survey. Geophysical remote sensing has been done at two locations, including one abandoned family cemetery. These sites are located on the Teche Ridge in the vicinity of Loreauville. The cemetery is thought to include the burials of descendants of Joseph Beausoleil Broussard, who was buried at one of the first home sites of New Acadia. While the immediate objectives do not involve excavation or disturbance of any human remains, the New Acadia settlement is known to be associated with unmarked graves. Family cemeteries dating from the nineteenth or twentieth centuries may also contain the unmarked graves of earlier ancestors, which may in turn lead investigators to the original 1765 homesteads of New Acadia.

Requirements for Success 
    The NAP will only be advanced through the cooperation and collaboration of property owners. All of the places of interest and sites being visited 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. This research is made possible only with the permission and generosity of the land owners.
    As a project being carried out in the public interest and reliant on public support, all those involved in this study are interested in community engagement and participation. As research progresses this might include visiting sites and viewing collections, partnerships with schools and cultural organizations, and opportunities for volunteers. Among the more immediate requirements for the project to succeed are:

1. Permission from property owners in the Loreauville region to investigate land, especially along the Teche Ridge.
2. Invitations to look at artifacts previously collected by local residents from gardens, backyards, and plowed fields.
3. Input and involvement in understanding local history, land use, and genealogy.
4. Resources and financial assistance.

What would it mean for the 1765 homesteads and graves of New Acadia to be found? What interests and concerns do people have in searching for these places? What plans might be made for investigation and future commemoration? Merely asking these questions raises issues of CRM planning and heritage conservation. If the stated goals are accomplished, what are the possibilities for economic development?

 

The New Acadia Project is made possible through public and private donations, including Iberia Parish and the McIlhenny Family Foundation. You can support the project by contacting the Acadian Heritage and Culture Foundation, Inc., at the Acadian Museum in Erath (337-233-5832; acadianmuseum.com) or the New Acadia Project Fund at the ULLafayette Foundation (337-482-0700; ullafayettefoundation.org). NAP is on Facebook and online at louisiana.edu and newacadiaproject.blogspot.com.

Questions and Concerns? Contact Mark A. Rees, PhD., NAP Principal Investigator at rees@louisiana.edu (337-482-6045) or Maegan Smith, NAP Graduate Assistant, at mas5855@louisiana.edu.

Outfitting the New Acadia Expedition

The New Acadia Project is using a portable Geometrics Magmapper G-858 Cesium Magnetometer for remote sensing. The magnetometer has one sensor, rather than two, which would make it a gradiometer. This device can also be used in tandem with a GPS, providing locational and mapping capabilities.

Magnetometer in carrying case.

Magnetometer in use near an abandoned cemetery on the New Acadia Project.

The New Acadia expedition would be greatly facilitated by the use of a gradiometer equipped with GPS, as manufactured by Geometrics, or a Fluxgate Gradiometer manufactured by Bartington Instruments. Electromagnetic resistivity would provide added capabilities in performing fieldwork and accomplishing the stated goals of research.

Archaeologists working on the New Acadia Project are currently using two vehicles to transport themselves and equipment into the field.  







While not the ideal field vehicles, the crew manages to carry all of their equipment in the trunks and back seats of a 1998 Toyota Corolla and 2005 Hyundai Elantra (shown on the right).




The project would certainly benefit from the use of a larger, off-road vehicle more appropriate for fieldwork (see below).

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.