Recently they have seen the arrival of British ships in the Minas Basin and the set up of a large number of tents. On this day all the village men and boys ten years old and up, from Grand Pre, the Minas, and the Canards, must attend a meeting at Saint-Charles-des-Mines Church in Grand Pre. Nathalie's brother Michel believes it would be best for them to simply leave Grand Pre and start over in Quebec, but Papa knows that they might not get permission to leave.
As it happens, Nathalie's father and brothers do not return from the meeting that night, nor the next day. Two weeks later, with their men still not home, Nathalie's family learns that Major-General John Winslow presided over the meeting in which he claimed the Acadians were disloyal to King George. As a result their lands, homes and animals were to be confiscated. When the men pleaded to be allowed to leave Acadia and move to Quebec, instead "Winslow ordered the unmarried men and boys to be separated from their fathers and brothers. Then, in groups of fifty, surrounded by armed soldiers who pointed their bayonets at the prisoners, they were marched to the shore." Despite the pleas and cries of the young men they were placed on five ships which sailed away. Then the married men were placed on other ships in the bay.
As it happens, Nathalie's father and brothers do not return from the meeting that night, nor the next day. Two weeks later, with their men still not home, Nathalie's family learns that Major-General John Winslow presided over the meeting in which he claimed the Acadians were disloyal to King George. As a result their lands, homes and animals were to be confiscated. When the men pleaded to be allowed to leave Acadia and move to Quebec, instead "Winslow ordered the unmarried men and boys to be separated from their fathers and brothers. Then, in groups of fifty, surrounded by armed soldiers who pointed their bayonets at the prisoners, they were marched to the shore." Despite the pleas and cries of the young men they were placed on five ships which sailed away. Then the married men were placed on other ships in the bay.
As the women are telling what happened, soldiers arrive at Nathalie's home and order them to pack their belongs and leave. They are taken down to the shore of New Minas Basin where their neighbours and friends are forced into large dories. Witnessing families being separated, Nathalie links her arms with those of her sisters, Isabelle and Agnes.
For three days Nathalie and her sisters and maman wait on the shore. On the third day they are told to get ready to leave on the Elizabeth. Nathalie's mother suddenly realizes that the prized bottle her mother had given her is not with their possessions. Nathalie decides to leave and run back to their home to retrieve the precious bottle. While she is searching for the bottle, Nathalie encounters Brigitte Boudrot and her older brother Basile from Riviere-aux-Canards. Brigitte tells Nathalie that she cannot return to the shore because it is now too dangerous. So they make their way to a hidden dory along the shore where a family friend had hidden supplies.
Once they retrieve the supplies the trio head into the forest, away from the shores. However, because Basile has an infected wound on his arm, their progress becomes slower and slower. He was wounded saving his sister from a British soldier intent on raping her. Eventually Basile becomes feverish and is no longer able to travel. They are found by Mi'kmaw hunters on their way back to their camp after taking down a moose. Nathalie, Basile and Brigitte are taken to the Mi'kmaq camp further into the Sipekne'katik territory. There they find a camp of five birch bark wigwams located near a lake.
Once they retrieve the supplies the trio head into the forest, away from the shores. However, because Basile has an infected wound on his arm, their progress becomes slower and slower. He was wounded saving his sister from a British soldier intent on raping her. Eventually Basile becomes feverish and is no longer able to travel. They are found by Mi'kmaw hunters on their way back to their camp after taking down a moose. Nathalie, Basile and Brigitte are taken to the Mi'kmaq camp further into the Sipekne'katik territory. There they find a camp of five birch bark wigwams located near a lake.
Basile is treated by an elderly woman named Musikisk Pukwik'l which means Sky Eyes because her eyes are blue. As Basile struggles to recover, Nathalie and Brigitte are welcomed into the tribe and participate in the feast celebrating Wowksis jij's feat of killing a moose. Nathalie soon develops a strong bond with a young Mi'kmaw girl, Nipk Amu who is of similar age.
After a week, with Basile now recovered and the Mi'kmaq preparing to move their camp further inland, Nathalie, Basile and Brigitte continue their journey southwest to the Cheboque River where they seek refuge. At Cheboque Point, Basile meets Alain Bain, the smithy and tells him they are refugees from the British who have rounded up the people from Riviere-aux-Canards, Grand Pre and Port Royal to Cobequid. The villagers have been deported to unknown destinations, possibly France and New England. Jacques Amirault and son Ange, meet Nathalie, Basile and Brigitte at the smithy. While Basile decides to continue his journey, it is arranged that Jacques Amirault and Ange will bring Nathalie into their family while his sister Brigitte will stay with Alain's mother and sisters.
As Nathalie grows to love the Amirault family, she never gives up hope of finding her own family again. But as a second deportation further south, separates her from her bretrothed, Nathalie is determined to not just survive but reunite both with the man she loves and her family.
Discussion
Nathalie is a fictional story based on the real lives of two Acadian families, the Belliveaus and the Amiraults who were forcibly expelled from their homes in Nova Scotia in 1755. The author, Debra Amirault Camelin writes in her Author's Note that she is an "eleventh-generation Belliveau and ninth-generation Amirault, born in Canada. Nathalie Belliveau and Ange Amirault are my fourth great-grandparents." Amirault Camelin based her story, Nathalie, on "factual breadcrumbs mixed with educated fabrication."
Not much historical fiction has been written about the Acadian expulsion that seems now largely a piece of forgotten Canadian history. The Acadians arrived from France in 1604 and settled in the New Minas Basin - in the Bay of Fundy as well as the eastern edge of the Annapolis Valley. The area became known as Acadia, with its capital of Port-Royal. The Acadians were an industrious people who were able to turn the marshy areas into fertile farm fields through the use of dykes. Most Acadians were farmers. Unlike other European settlers, the Acadians formed a strong friendship with the Indigenous Mi'kmaq.
But in 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht gave the French land in Acadia to the British. At first it seemed that as long as the Acadians remained neutral, all would be well. However, the construction of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island and Fort Beausejour on Isthmus of Chignecto angered the British who countered with their own forts. In the summer of 1755, Governor Charles Lawrence demanded that the Acadians take an oath of allegiance to the British. When they refused, he ordered the deportations. It was also believed that the British coveted the well developed and prosperous farms and fertile land of the Acadians. So on September 5, 1755, Colonel John Winslow rounded up the Acadian males over the age of ten and placed them aboard ships bound for the British Colonies. Although some resisted and fled into the forests, in the end about ten thousand Acadians were deported between 1755 and 1763. Thousands of Acadians died from drowning when their ships sank, from disease or starvation on board the ships that took them to the British colonies or the Caribbean. Many more suffered from poor living conditions in the colonies.
In Nathalie, Debra Amirault Camelin effectively portrays the plight of the Acadians who were forcibly removed from their homes, suffering the loss of their farms and most of their possessions, with women and children separated from husbands and fathers, and in some cases never reunited. Readers will come to understand just how devastating the expulsion was to the tight-knit Acadian families.
But Nathalie is not only a portrayal of the brutality of the British but also of the tenacity and resilience of the Acadians. This is seen in many of the real-life characters in the novel: Basile almost loses his life protecting his sister Brigitte, Ange and Dittou travel to the English colonies to find Nathalie's parents, Nathalie signs on for extra years as a servant in order to protect Ludivine.
In what seems to be an effort to appeal to teen readers, Amirault Camelin imagines the romance between Nathalie Belliveau and her betrothed, Ange Amirault. It involves a description of the Catholic couple engaging in a night of passion when they reunite on Captain Soudan's ship in 1763. Although entirely possible, it's also probably unlikely, as Amirault Camelin imagined it. Young couples were often well chaperoned during this era and it's likely this would have been the case when Nathalie was brought on board the ship. Captain Soudan would have felt himself responsible for protecting Nathalie, the daughter of a man whom he was very good friends with.
In Nathalie, the latter chapters of the novel do focus on the young couple's relationship and in particular, Nathalie's mother's apparent understanding of her actions with Ange. This seems to be a case of applying twenty-first century morals and attitudes to an era that was very, very different from our own. This makes Nathalie a novel best suited for older teen readers.
Overall, Nathalie is a realistic portrayal of the tragedy and triumph of the Acadians, with a touch of romance that may appeal to older readers. The author has included several maps showing the main settlements of Acadia, the districts of the Mi'kmaq and the destinations of the two Acadian expulsions. There are also family trees of the Belliveau and Amirault lineage.
Book Details:
Nathalie. An Acadian's Tale of Tragedy and Triumph by Debra Amirault Camelin
Vancourer, B.C. : Ronsdale Press 2023
Nathalie. An Acadian's Tale of Tragedy and Triumph by Debra Amirault Camelin
Vancourer, B.C. : Ronsdale Press 2023
365 pp.
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