iles-de-la-madeleine

 The Iles-de-la-Madeleine Population

The civilized make up of Iles-de-la-Madeleine is approximately 12,500 people and more than 90% of these are from the French speaking culture. The rest originated from the British Iles.  Of the French culture the greatest majority of the people on the islands have their roots in what was once called Acadia - New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

After the great deportation, in the mid 1700’s, a group of these Acadian’s, who had been sent to France, chose to return to the new world. They had been born here and Old World France was as alien to them as another world would have been.  They came to Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the Archipelago of islands given to France with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, in 1763. After living here for a while, the Acadians felt unwelcome because the French considered them perhaps not traitors but unworthy of France French connections.

In the 1760’s a few Acadian families took refuge on the islands to escape deportation.  Soon they were joined by others from around the Maritime region. Richard Gridley had come to exploit the fisheries in the area and had brought a number of Acadian men with him.  Around 1793, approximately 250 Acadians left Saint Pierre and Miquelon and struck out in boats with a Normand missionary called Abbe Jean-Baptiste Allain. They arrived at Amherst and settled 70 to 80 Acadian families on the Iles-de-la-Madeleine.

The Story of Green Paint

About a hundred years ago, the community of Fatima, like most of the islands was relatively poor. The cedar shingled houses and buildings were rarely white-washed or limed and even more rarely painted. The gray walls were stark against the green pastures and blue skies.

This one particular year, a ship came ashore not far from Fatima, on the hospital beach. As with most shipwrecks, the spoils go to the people who salvage what the sea did not take. But in this one case, the cargo of the ship remained intact through the entire wreck. The ship’s insurance company decided to take and auction the cargo off, but when they went to reclaim it, the entire cargo was gone. The agent went around to homes and asked if anyone knew anything about the missing cargo, which apparently were many gallons of green paint. No one had any idea about the missing cargo.

However, the next year, homes and buildings began to mysteriously turn green as if overnight.  It seemed no one could remember where the green paint came from.

 The Fascination With Color

As time went on, color became an object of the islander generations.  The people expressed their desire for color in the fields of art, design and even in their music. But the most predominate way the islanders show their love for color is in their homes.

When asked what the most memorable part of the Iles-de-la-Madeleine is, a visitor may say the food, the scenery, or the activities.  But just as often, a visitor to the islands will say they were taken by the color of islander homes.