Kouchibougouac Removal, Resistance and Remembrance at a Canadian National Park by Ronald Rudin (review)

This book is the only detailed historical survey of the making of Kouchibougouac National Park in New Brunswick, the removal of its former residents, resulting works of art, and subsequent changes in government policies, changes in Acadian nationalism, and in the park itself. The basic thesis is that the lifestyles of those described as “poor” were not respected, making those removed a symbol of Acadian resistance and survival rather than the meek descendants of the mythical Évangeline.

It is set in the historiographical context of “high modernism,” interpreted by James C. Scott as the idea that the lives of the poor and their way of living make them inferior individuals, unworthy of respect for themselves or for their lifestyles. Its relevance to New Brunswick Acadians and the changes made by the province’s first Acadian premier has not been directly explored elsewhere, though the divisions among Acadians of the time are examined in works on the student rebellions and the Parti Acadien by J.Y. Thériault (“The Robichaud Period and Politics in Acadia,” Canadian Institute for Research on Regional Development, 2001) and by Joel Belliveau (Le Moment “68” et la reinvention de L’Acadie, Univérsité d’Ottawa, 2014) who argue that Acadians had to decide whether to become part of the existing system to improve their situation or create their own separate economy, society, and government.

The disrespect shown to the former residents of Kouchibougouac has been recognized in literature concerning the development of other North American parks, presenting a wider question on the extent to which human activity is a part of nature and the extent to which it is the enemy of nature. Ronald Rudin expands his own work on Canadian national parks and the value of art and literature in creating a vision of past events, some degree of reconciliation, and possibly changing both attitudes toward the events and government policies. The latter included some political and provincial games of “good cop, bad cop” such as the province blaming the federal government for park policies forbidding fishing. Rudin includes an analysis of the comparable case in Quebec at Forillon National Park where the use of the courts and the power of the Quebec vote led to a 2011 apology from the federal government “to the people whose properties were expropriated” and “for the unconscionable manner in which they were treated.”

Rudin draws on extensive research, citations from relevant government documents, and interviews with thirty former residents to make his argument. The growing gap between many of the new Acadian elite that was part of the government of Louis Robichaud and those living off the land and the fisheries is convincingly documented here. As Rudin points out, it is unfortunate he was not able to obtain interviews with that governing elite. The reader is also shown some civil servants who were moved to greater sympathy with the former residents and gradual changes in the elite attitude leading to some compromise. Another innovative aspect of the book is its interpretation of the role of Jackie Vautour, the Acadian who chose to stay in the park and who seized most of the press coverage for himself. Evidence given by Rudin suggests some former residents resented, rather than admired, him. The material on the lives of the residents after they were removed and the degree to which they accepted their situation is also new, including a surprising conclusion of another couple who were allowed to stay in the park. Rudin could have added that since the former residents, down to the third generation, have been granted free access to the park they have almost taken over one wilderness camp site in the summer.

Illustrations of the art, people, and places involved add to the value of the book, and there are no problems in text or presentation. The study is well organized around the three basic themes with useful...