Origin and the beginning

Kakonang...in the Algonquin language or Kakwanak... in the Cris language? Well, there are many versions out there such as Kakoua-nak but in the 21st century and over 331 years of history, this village's name is without a doubt Cacouna where there are still porcupines.

When the white people arrived, the Aboriginal population of the region which included the Papinachois was already declining.  Sickness and the attacks from the Iroquois were the main causes for this decline.

1. Until the XVIe century, the Maliseet were living in New-Brunswick; their territory extended west towards the Saint-Jean river. Their members originates from the Wabanaki Confederation which regroups the Penobscots, the Passamaquoddy, the Abénaquis from Maine and the Micmacs. Partly nomadic, they lived from the land by hunting and fishing, but they also grew corn. The main  Malécite community, Médotec, was located by the Saint-Jean river.

In 1694, at the contact with the Europeans , the pest wiped out most of the population killing 120 Maliseet; the remainder of the community abandoned the village for a while.

The Maliseet were allies of the French during the colony wars: they have been considered a major element for the French defence. In 1728, however, the Maliseet ratified a peace treaty in Boston with the English and, in accordance with the accord, the New England Indians of Nova Scotia were accepting the British sovereignty on Nova Scotia . The resentment of the Maliseet towards the English lasted until the capitulation of Quebec city, in 1763. In 1828, Thirty families formed an establishment at Viger, a concession of 3 000 acres of land divided in lots of 100 acres) close to Rivière Verte in the Gaspé region; hence the name of today's Maliseet de Viger.

Based on the policies at the time, it was decided that the Maliseet would settle there for good and the government would provide seeds and foods. These measures failed and due to a lack of occupancy by the Maliseet, the Canadian government bowed to the settlers pressure interested in those fertile lands and Viger was given back in 1869 (see the treaty). In 1876, the federal government created the Whithworth reservation, then the one at Cacouna in 1891 then built some houses.  The Maliseet were resisting the sedentary way of life; the Canadian and Quebecois population almost forgot their existence on the Quebec territory because the Maliseet were so few and dispersed.

True to their traditional way of life, the Maliseet still refuse to be confined to a reservation, no one actually lives permanently on either federal reserves of Whithworth and Cacouna.

The last of the Maliseet (to have lived on the reservation) at Cacouna, Mr. Joseph Launière, enjoyed the general esteem of villagers.  He died and was exhumed in Cacouna on 24 August 1972, at the age of 86 years old and 1 month.  Since then, the Maliseet reservation of Cacouna is inhabited.

Ps: You may also read about the land history of the reserve and a brief history of the survey of its limits. Source: Natural Resources Canada

Leparc Seigniory

23 December 1673

2. When did the white explorers and the missionaries, come to our location for the first time?  We are reduced to speculations on the subject.

As for the missionaries, starting in 1650, they were busy on the north and south shores of the Saint-Lawrence river, they crossed the river with more ease than we seems to be able to do today. 

But we have to wait until 1673 to get out of the speculations. On December 23 of that same year, the West Indies Company conceded three seigniories known as:

• Verbois: Saint-André 

• Chesnaye: Rivière-du-Loup

• Leparc: Kakouna.

Read below the terms of that concession:

"the West Indies Company, on the request made by Sr. Daulier du Parc, to concede to his person, land in New France, along the great St Lawrence river, on the south side, to be had from the limits of the sieur de la Chesnoye concession on the Rivière-du-Loup, on an expanse of two"lieues" of frontage and two "lieues" in depth, with fishing and hunting rights and ownership of the lakes and rivers, mines which may be found on the said concession, and the island of the said St Lawrence river, to its front: Us,  directors of the said company, recognizes the importance for the good and growth of the colony, of New France, well off individuals with good intentions to set up  establishments, have on behalf of the said company, given and conceded, by these acts to the said sieur Daulieu Duparc, the said continence of land in New France, along the great St Lawrence river, on the south shore to be had from the limits of the sieur de la Chesnoye concession on the Rivière-du-Loup,on an expanse of two" lieues" of frontage andtwo " lieues"in depth, which will be known from now on as "Le parc", with the ownership of mines, of lakes and rivers found on the said concession, of the islands on the said Saint-Lawrence river, to its front, furthermore, all fishing and hunting rights found on the concession, for the said sieur Daulier Duparc, having cause to benefit in perpetuity of the said concession as his propriety and seigniory, to the effect by which we have revoked and will revoke with this act any other concessions which would have been done by us or others of the said piece of land, supposed it would not be actually be cleared (worked on). To the charge of the said sieur Daulier Du parc and his descendants of the faith and retribution which they will have to give to the said  company, at each transfer of owner, at fort St. Louis of Quebec, or in the city of Paris, at the general office of the said company, with one gold écu which will be paid during the said tribute, for which the act will be expedited , and again to the charge and condition that the said sieur Saulieu Duparc will start in three years the clearing of the land of the said concession, of which the survey will be done and the boundaries marked in the said time, at fault of the execution, the charge of the land will be regrouped in a concession to be reunited to the domain of the said company who will dispose of it as it wishes, for which subject the said sieur Saulier Duparc or other may not pretend to any compensations, for which conditions were accepted by the said S. Daulier Duparc. In faith we have signed these acts, countersigned by the secretary general of the said company, and sealed with the coat of arms, in Paris on twenty-third day of December one thousand six hundred and seventy-tree."

(Signed) BILLANZANI ET DAULIER.

 Below, By the Company,  

A. DAULIER DESLANDE

With pariah, and sealed with the company coat of arms 

The Acadians

At the time of the deportation in 1758, many Acadians families sought refuge in the woods of the  St Jean river in Nouveau Brunswick. 

When an English armed expedition was sent to push them out of the woods, some families made on foot their escape from deportation, among which was a group lead by Michel Bergeron followed the same direction that the Maliseet took around 1679 and escaped towards the Témiscouata lake via the Portage trail and arrived in Cacouna after many months of walking through the woods and took over plot of land not conceded.

Amongst these, we can find members of the Cyr, Cormier, Daigle, Hébert (from de Beaubassin), Fournier and Mercure families. Many families deported to Massachusetts and some refugies who came out of the woods in New-Brunswick joined them.