Welcome to the Encyclopedia of French Cultural Heritage in North America! As you browse the site, you will learn about the heritage of French-speaking North America, as well as about its history and diversity. Get to know the people who preserve and cherish it, discover the places where it finds expression and become familiar with the trends that have shaped and influenced its evolution throughout history.

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Mid-Lent in Cheticamp, circa 1945, © the Société Saint-Pierre Collection (Les Trois Pignons), Cheticamp, Nova Scotia

By Arsenault, Georges

Mid-Lent Traditions in Acadia

The Mid-Lent celebration remains a vibrant living tradition in several Acadian regions of Eastern Canada.  In Cheticamp and Saint Joseph du Moine on Cape Breton Island, in Fatima on the Magdalen Islands, and in Natashquan and Pointe-Parent in Quebec's Côte Nord region, the annual Mid-Lent outing is a rich tradition that has survived since the arrival of the first settlers.  On Prince Edward Island, in the Tignish and Palmer Road parishes, a number of families have kept alive another tradition:  the annual visit of the mysterious Mi-Carême [Mid-Lent] a mythical [female] figure who brin...

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The English version of the Encyclopedia of French Cultural Heritage in North America is online since December 15th, 2009. It features an ever growing number of articles, documents and resources on the heritage of French-speaking North America.

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