Neskik Mskoto’q/Scoudouc
Large meadows
Artists
Herménégilde Chiasson
Margaret Labillois
Scoudouc
River of the same name.
Schoudouc, Squidouc, Squédouc, Schadouc.
Which means: Large meadows.
Not far from the wooded area of Aboujagane who evokes a pearl necklace.
Also close to the Massif of the great mosquito.
Scoudouc was built in 1808.
The church Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur is watching over
There was the railroad Saint-Jean-Scoudouc-Pointe-du-Chêne.
Then the worship of the Virgin Mary who appears around 1883.
With a statue installed on the main road.
And ethnological studies in 1896 on those Marian appearances by Father Bourgeois.
We then published the Maître Guillaume.
Like any other place, progress comes in town with the electricity in 1926.
And the land is fertile with the strawberry picking, corn, peas and beans.
We say that in the sky of Scoudouc, three stars close to the Pole Star represent three Mi’kmaqs gone in a canoe towards the Great Bear.
But they never got to their destination...
However Mourir à Scoudouc and the work of Herménégilde Chiasson opened up a path of twilight and of light to demonstrate that the Acadians will get there.
That the Acadian rebirth can go with the sun who dances in the sky blue when appears Virgin Mary.
Herménégilde Chiasson
Grand-Barachois, N.B.
Herménégilde Chiasson holds a BA from the Université de Moncton, a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Mount Allison University, a Master of Fine Arts from the State University of New York and a diploma from the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs in Paris. He has published over 50 books, written forty plays, directed over fifteen films and participated in over 150 exhibitions. A Fellow of the Royal Canadian Academy, the Royal Society, and an Officer of the Order of Canada, he was awarded the 2017 Strathbutler Award from the Sheila Hugh MacKay Foundation.
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The work he created for the Irreducible Roots exhibition was inspired by the Mi'kmaq origin of the name "Scoudouc".
The first painting presents the familiar profiles found in some of the artist's works. The heart of the triptych: a sky crossed by a presumed Amerindian writing. Then, as the climax of the whole, haughty Amerindian figures, from the tip of the headdress to the ample fold of the geometrically patterned cape, dominate the space of the painting.
Margaret Labillois
First Nation
Eel River Bar, N.B.
Margaret Labillois was born in 1923 and is a highly respected First Nations Elder. She was the first member of the Eel River Bar community to graduate from Dalhousie Convent School.
In 1970, Margaret Labillois was appointed Chief of the Eel River Bar First Nation, becoming the first Aboriginal woman to hold this position in New Brunswick. She served two terms as Chief.
After her time in politics, Margaret Labillois focused her efforts on reviving Mi'kmaq culture and language. She enrolled at Lake Head University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. In 1982, she graduated with honours.
She established a Native Language Program in her community to teach and revive Mi'kmaq culture.
Her extraordinary involvement has made Margaret Labillois a reference in the promotion of First Nations cultural values.