History
Even before the French regime of Acadie, in l’Île Saint-Jean (present day Prince Edward Island) and in l’Île Royale (present day Cape Breton Island) – so to say, until the fall of Louisbourg in 1758 – the vaste region of Chéticamp was unknown to history. There was no permanent establishment.
Meanwhile, we must point out that the Míkmaq regularly visited the area during fishing and hunting excursions. We give credit to the Míkmaq for the origin of the name “Chéticamp”. It appears that the name is derived from the Míkmaq expression “Aotjatotj” (pronounced Aoutchadoutch), followed by numerous deformations by the Acadians and Europeens. [For more detail on this subject, see Chéticamp: Histoire et Traditions acadiennes, by Father Anselme Chiasson, Breton Books, page 6.]
We also know that the Bretons and the Basques (of France) would fish along our coasts and would also dry their cod on our lands. Furthermore, the first to establish a permanent fishing post on Chéticamp Island were the Robins (merchants from the Island of Jersey, situated in the English Channel, off the coast of Normandie). It was near 1770. Chéticampers always called these merchants “les Jersais” (deformation of Jersiais, meaning “of Jersey”). At the time, the fishing post was operational mainly during the summer and autumn season. Fishermen would come from as far as Prince Edward Island or Arichat to fish during these seasons.
It wasn’t until 1785 that a group of Acadians returned from their exile (The Acadian Expulsion from 1744 to 1763) and permanently establish themselves in Chéticamp. It’s near this time that a group of pioneers established Margaree. In 1787, a second group of pioneers came to join the first settlers in both Chéticamp and Margaree.
In 1790, five years after the arrival of the first settlers, fourteen head of families from Chéticamp were given a chart in the names of all inhabitants granting them 7000 acres of land. They themselves divided these lands into the 26 families that inhabitated Chéticamp. Finaly, after more than 35 years, they would be settled on land that belonged to them. Further generations always refered to these petitioners of the 1790 charte as the “Quatorze Vieux”. (which translates to “Fourteen Elders”, even though their average age was only 47.)
Several years later, the province of Cape Breton and that of Nova Scotia (since 1820) began granting land to Acadians living in Grand-Étang, St-Joseph-du-Moine and Margaree.
Chéticamp’s first chapel was built in 1800. Made of wood, it was constructed in "Platin". In 1810, a second church was build, this time, out of wood. It was build near the Backroads, where we can see nowadays the monument to the “Quatorze Vieux”, erected in 1955, at the occasion of the bicentennial of the Acadian Expulsion.
A third church, this time build out of stone, was erected in 1861, where we can see nowadays the second cemetery. Because of it’s situation at the sumit of a first row of hills, locals simply called it, "l’église du buttereau". [Meaning “The Church on the butterau”, “buttereau” being an acadian expression for “small hill”.]
Finaly, St. Peter’s Church (also known as Saint-Pierre’s church) was erected near the harbour, in 1892-1893, during the_cure_ of Rev. Pierre Fiset, originally from l’Ancienne-Lorette, in Quebec.
The first chapel of Margaree was erected during the arrival of the first colony. It was replaced in 1810. A third church was erected between 1856 and 1859. It was completely destroyed in 1952 by a fire caused by lightning. The present day stone temple was constructed in 1958 and continues to this day to serve the people of Margaree.
Since it’s foundation, the parish of Chéticamp held services for a vast region that spread out from Cap-Rouge (a hamlet situated in the present day Cape Breton Highlands National Park) to Murphy’s Brook (situated in Terre Noire). Certain residents had to travel 20 km to get to church. It’s thus during the _cure_ of Father Fiset, in 1879, that the region from Ruisseau-du-Lac to Murphy’s Brook was constituted as an autonomic parish. A church, entitled Saint-Joseph, was constructed the same year. "L’abbé" Guillaume LeBlanc, originally from Arichat, became the first "curé" of this new parish of Saint-Joseph-du-Moine. In 1989, this church, in which it’s attendants were so proud of, was engulfed in flames. A second church was built immediately following the fire..
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