The Acadian Studies Institute (IEA) of the University of Moncton and the Kent Regional Services Commission (CSRK) are proud to officially launch an interesting project that concerns the history and especially the origins of the diverse communities of the Kent region. This rural area has a particularly interesting history featuring the co-habitation of Acadians, Irish, Scots, English, and Mi'kmaq over many generations. The development of several dozen communities emerged from the interactions between these different cultures and their different uses of the land and sea. The available source material on the origins of these communities and their names is very limited. Some community studies exist, but there is little historical context provided. This new in-depth study will tackle this subject in order to improve our knowledge of the area and its inhabitants, and to preserve the rich heritage of this region for generations to come.
Thanks to a grant of $25,000 awarded by the Department of Tourism, Heritage, and Culture, we are ready to launch this new research project. The team of researchers will be under the supervision of Gregory Kennedy, Research Director of the IEA, and led by Mathieu Wade, researcher and former postdoctoral fellow at the IEA. The team also includes Maurice Basque, research associate at the IEA, Stéphanie Pettigrew, doctoral candidate in history at the University of New Brunswick, and Amélie Montour, Master's student in history at the University of Moncton. During this first year of the project, the researchers of the team will conduct detailed studies in the archives and in the communities of the region in order to develop their knowledge and create an outline for an eventual book on the subject. This project is about the co-construction of knowledge where local history - written and oral - will be the primary support for better understanding the region's history since its beginnings.
The CSRK's mandate is to offer municipal services to the communities of the region such as land management, waste disposal, emergency measures, and recreational planning. The CSRK also encourages partnership initiatives at the regional level to promote economic, social, environmental, and cultural development. As for the IEA, its mandate is to position the University of Moncton as the centre of excellence in research and publication in Acadian studies. We aim to organize activities of knowledge mobilization and to promote research in Acadian studies amongst professional researchers and in the wider public.
The director of the CSRK, Paul Lang, and the research director of the IEA, Gregory Kennedy, would like to thank everyone for their support and contributions to the launch of this exciting and innovative new project.
