Our Maine Street's Aroostook Issue 36 : Spring 2018 | Page 10

Acadian Archives /
Archives acadiennes
by Lise M. Pelletier
Where does the name “Acadie” come from? D’où vient le nom «Acadie»?
The history of Acadia starts in 1524, at a time when
France, Portugal, and Spain were hoping to discover a
western route to Asia. The Italian navigator Giovanni
Verrazano (1485-1528) embarked on this quest in
1524 for the king of France. Verrazano traveled along
the Atlantic coast, from Florida to Cape Breton,
thereby proving the continuity of the littoral and the
inclusion of Newfoundland to the North American
continent. When he arrived in Washington in April,
he found the area so lush that he named it “Arcadie”,
after the ancient Greek paradise. Later in the XVIIth
Century, the name was written without the “r” and
describes the lands situated in the continental Nova
Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.
(Landry, Nicolas et Nicole Lang, Histoire de l’Acadie
Septentrion 2001) L’histoire de l’Acadie commence en 1524, à une
époque où la France, le Portugal et l’Espagne
espéraient découvrir une route occidentale vers l’Asie.
Le navigateur italien Giovanni Verrazano (1485-
1528) s’est lancé dans cette quête en 1524 pour le
roi de France. Verrazano a voyagé le long de la côte
atlantique, de la Floride au Cap-Breton,