| Franco American Women Take Pride
in Their Ethnicity
By Debbie Achey FASWSTFinalProject
Long before it was fashionable to claim one's ethnicity, Franco American women held strong to their culture and their heritage. Even when doing so brought forth pain and discrimination, Franco American women chose subtler ways to hang onto their culture. Stories were told about Franco descendants which helped to pass down the traditions that kept Franco-Americans together. Even if Franco-American women were physically separated from the land they knew, the French language they spoke or the lifestyle they lived in Canada, they survived in an ever changing society in America. That same society despised differences and subscribed to the theory of assimilation where all people were encouraged to be alike. Franco American women developed a strength and character similar to females of different cultural backgrounds. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow writes of one such woman who refused to be discour- aged by the unfair hand that fate dealt her. Evangeline is the story of the deportation of Acadians and with that separation of the French people from Acadia came the separation of Evangeline from her fiancé', Gabriel. Such a heart wrenching tale like no other of Evangeline's sacrifice is told by Longfellow. Evangeline Bellefontaine was a woman, pure of heart who took consolation in her faith and believed that God had a plan for her life, even if that plan required that she search her whole life long for her Gabriel. She is described as, "but a celestial brightness- a more ethereal beauty shone on her face...when she passed, it seemed like the ceasing of exquisite music." At the end of her life, she is reunited with Gabriel, only to kiss his dying lips and still she thanked God for their last moments together. Sacrificing her entire life without questioning the reason might be compared to the nuns who willingly gave their lives to the church and to God. Whether it be the Ursulines who originated from Quebec and gave up their lives to work as teaching nuns or the Hospital Sisters of the Mercy of Jesus from Quebec who ministered as nurses in the hospitals, each group consisted of women from French backgrounds. Although not all nuns were cloistered, their contributions were important in that they offered hope to people who had no hope, namely the sick, the poor, and the dying. These women persisted in the face of adversity, opening schools in colonies and maintaining nursing care in hospitals. One such sister, Marguerite d. Youville was the first woman of Canadian origin to be canonized a saint in 1990 and was considered the Mother of Universal Charity. Most women of Franco American origin had little difficulty giving up their own desires or needs for God. The Roman Catholic Church, therefore, had more than enough Franco American women to care for the flock. While priests and bishops remained in positions of authority in the Catholic Church, Franco American women accepted their positions in life much like Evangeline. In those positions of subservience women managed to be leaders in their religious communities, fulfilling needs for self-esteem and acting as positive role models in their schools and communities. Another such woman who derived strength and courage from her Franco American background was Pelagie. Antonine Maillet chose to construct a female character who was capable of accepting loss and disappointment in her life, yet resilient enough to march onward for her cause. Pelagie could also be likened to Jesus Christ with her oxcart that reminds us of Christ's cross which symbolized the lengths to which one Franco American woman would go to achieve her goal. Maillet challenges us to be Pelagies in our own lives, in circumstances which appear fruitless or hopeless, always forging ahead for the greater cause. The sheer determination with which Pelagie approaches the challenges in her life can certainly be admired yet respected because it is that same determination that preserved the Franco American culture wherever the Francos went. Keeping the Franco American culture alive by means of an oral history is relayed in Celeste DeRoche's article, "I Learned Things Today That I Never Knew Before: Oral History at the Kitchen Table." Many of us can relate to the kind of kitchen table sharing that occurs in Franco homes today. (As hard as I try to move the conversations and the people into our living room, the more people dig their heels in and remain seated around the kitchen table sharing their stories!). As vital as oral histories are, they can also be fragmented and limited based on the storyteller's recollection or particular biases. Franco American neighborhoods were important female networks for Franco-American women. Friends and family provided the structure by which women could rely on in times of stress and difficulty. DeRoche says, "Grace's memory...reveals the dominance of family in the lives of ethnic women...The actual meaning, content and boundaries of family relationships are crucial to understanding the role the family played in Franco women's lives." After interviewing Nancy Lamontagne, a Franco American teacher from Waterville, Maine, the idea of preserving family structure at all costs was apparent when Nancy quit high school as a senior at age 18. She married so that she could reestablish her family home with a man she did not love, just so that she could take her sister in to live with them after their parents' deaths. This kind of sacrifice was done without thinking of the consequences such an action might perpetuate in the long term. Nancy was the oldest daughter of Franco American parents and remembers thinking that nothing was as important as family. Still today Nancy treasures occasions with her family, and looks forward to the times when she can reconnect with her Franco roots on Christmas Eve, birthdays and other celebrations. A real sense of entrepreneurship was discovered inside of Annette, the Pioneer Woman told by Lee Single-Nadeau when she, too, stumbled across calamity after calamity during the course of her lifetime. Even when Annette experiences the unbearable loss of two husbands, her home, and her mother, she still manages to rise above her situation, managing a successful general store and discovering an inner strength that carries her through the rest of her life. Relying on that inner strength is one of the messages the author, Lee Nadeau-Single portrays in her attempt to unveil the courage Franco American women exhibited in the 1700's and continue to exhibit today. Grace Metalious writes about the courage and strength of Franco American women in "No Adam in Eden." Her account of three generations of Franco women appeared harsh and disturbing to read, yet contained a realism as well. Monique's character sheds light on the disillusionment felt by the Franco Americans when they left Canada looking for a better life in the United States, only to discover that the American dream of success was so far away. Large families left their farms in Canada in search of better opportunities in America and ended up in mill towns, laboring long hours with low wages and no benefits. Children often worked to help support their families at young ages. Grace Metalious writes about the impact such adult like expectations could have on a child in the character of Monique Montambeault. She writes, "Monique went to work as an apprentice spinner at the Northeast Manufacturing Company. It was the end of her dream and the end of her childhood." Millwork was almost cultish with boarding houses being operated religiously and on schedule. At 4:30 a.m. mill bells were rung to wake the boarding house keepers, 5:30 a.m. breakfast was served, workers were to report to work at 6:30 a.m. with a half hour lunch break at noon, and at 7:30 in the evening the mills closed for the day, with supper at eight o'clock and lights out by nine-thirty in the evening. Such regimented work schedules forced young Franco American women to grow up too quickly, and so Monique was confronted with a harsh reality at the tender young age of fourteen. Rather than object to her father's request for her to go to work at the mill, Monique simply complied with his request. Like the Roman Catholic Church and its patriarchy required parishioners to do, Franco women obeyed and accepted their lot. The hard work ethic was firmly ingrained in Franco women on the farms in which they came from in Canada. The transition to a different work environment within a mill was also accepted. Mill owners took advantage of the Franco women's willingness and ability to work hard, taking pride in their work, and not complaining while performing their job. Their simple unquestioning attitude helped to perpetuate the Roman Catholic Church's belief that such efforts would not go unrewarded because the ultimate reward would occur in the next world to come, in heaven. Yvonne Dionne from "Amoskeag: Life and Work in an American Factory City," says, " I hated working in the mill. It was terrible in the spinning room...And the roaches around there! They had closets to put our clothes in, and we'd have to shake out our clothes to make sure there weren't any roaches to take home with us." The disappointment felt by Monique in "No Adam in Eden," about not returning to school was also felt by Yvonne Dionne 150 years later, yet the acceptance with which Franco women denied their very selves to be part of the larger goal was the same. "We were brought up in a large family, my father was a weaver and a loomfixer--and as soon as one girl was old enough, she went to work. That was the way. The oldest one started and the rest of the family followed suit. We didn't feel bad about not going to school because nobody could afford to. Our parents were too poor...It did bother me at one time when I was at Sacred Heart School because I had good marks," commented Yvonne. Susann Pelletier, a poet from Lewiston, Maine, from Denis Ledoux's "Lives in Translation: An Anthology of Contemporary Franco American Writings," writes about the Franco Americans' migration to America in her poem entitled, "Immigrant Dream:" "Back then, the city where I was born
In many of the course readings the Franco people were ashamed of their differences and refused to speak or learn the French language. This was evidenced in Grace Metalious' "No Adam in Eden" when children were born of Franco parents and given English names. Angelique was treated like a second hand citizen when she dated Bill, and was called derogatory names by Bill's father. Angelique was good enough to have sex with, but not good enough to marry. This was portrayed in Metalious' work when Frederick Endicott said to Bill, "You want to fool around with some girl, go right ahead. But remember this. We don't marry girls like that, so watch your step. The Endicott men don't marry Canucks." In another reference Endicott advises, "If you're old enough to rip off a little piece of Canuck tail you're old enough to drink." This same type of discrimination was aimed at a young French girl in Rachel Field's "Calico Bush." Marguerite LeDoux was a "Bound-Out Girl," who was sold into bondage to the Sargent family for six years and in return was given food, shelter, and clothing. She was penalized by the English family for her differences in language and Field writes, "and the fact that she was French had stood in her way. Several women had come to look her over, only to dismiss her with head shakes when they discovered her birth." In the Sargent's eyes she was just another pair of hands and feet. "And so long's she ain't the contrary kind we'll overlook where she was born and raised," was uttered by them when they signed the papers for Marguerite LeDoux to accept passage to America. This kind of offhand remark was said again and again in reference to Marguerite's heritage. Her French background not only frightened the Sargent's but also was equated with the savagery of the Indians they encountered on American soil. Aunt Hepsa became Marguerite's dear friend and confidante and celebrated and encouraged Marguerite's differences from the English. She found great delight in the language and in the songs that Marguerite sang in French. Without Aunt Hepsa's love and support, poor Marguerite would have been crushed by the animosity aimed at her. Such camaraderie was shared in their experience as women, a bond which eluded to the shared similarities instead of the apparent differences. Finally Lanette Landry Petrie comes full circle in her picturesque display of family and priorities in "My Mother's Walls." In a book so full of emotion and history, Lanette introduces us to her family. Each member contributes to the family's sense of identity, all parts of the whole. In almost every display, God or Jesus Christ is given the place of honor in the arrangement of pictures. The order of importance and reverence is given to their Creator. As the family grows, so, too, the walls grew. More and more pictures adorned the walls of this Franco woman's home. Some of the grandchildren of Lanette Petrie said, "For all of us it gives us a sense of belonging, a continuance from our past to our future....it's a work in progress and that we are a family evolving, with deep roots in our French Catholic heritage, and a strong will to survive." Throughout all of the stories of the Franco American women portrayed, whether in fact or in fiction, many common threads were woven to form the fabrics of Franco women's lives. Their priorities remained the same with God, family, and work described as the essential components of life, in Canada or in America. A determined spirit, a willingness to succeed, and a desire to find a better life were all immigrants' dreams, yet to remain as dedicated and committed to living in a country that did not value the differences of culture was a thorn that continually pricked at the hearts of Franco women. Instead of focusing on the discrimination they experienced, they banded together as Franco women and worked toward the common goal of assimilating in a country that did not respect differences. Holding on to the parts of the culture that could not be erased by those who chose to close their minds and hearts to the rich contributions Francos offered in their communities was difficult indeed. Yet receiving the encouragement and support from fellow Francos in their communities proved to be the essential component of succeeding in America. Learning to dance on mill time, maintaining a sense of humor, and accepting the choices others made for them, Franco American women continued to thrive and survive in America. Their strength and fortitude still shines through today in the rich history they gave us, the history that permeates the culture and the walls of most Franco American homes today. |