Franco-American Women Keeping the Tradition Alive
 

By Michele Schmidt
 

What differentiates one culture from another is often found in its language, cuisine, religious beliefs and music.  Often these cultural strongholds are lost when people immigrate to other areas, especially the United States, which is perhaps the largest melting pot of cultures in the world.  Unfortunately, when these traditions are lost, the history of a people is erased.  Maine for example, has a long history of French Canadian/Acadian immigration.  As these people assimilated into the larger American culture, their language and other traditions were beginning to disappear as the older population died and the younger generations lost interest.  But, as history has shown, these francophones were not a people who let go of their culture very easily.  One aspect of their culture, music and dance, is experiencing a revival in the State of Maine, thanks in part to several women who are keeping the music traditions alive.
 

HISTORY OF FRENCH MUSIC AND DANCE IN CANADA
 
 

During the early part of the sixteenth century the French began their immigration to the shores of the Northern Atlantic Coast of North America.  Particularly, they settled in along the shores of Northern Maine, the Southern Gaspe Peninsula, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (Lambrecht & Graves, 1999). Meanwhile, the English were establishing colonies in the New World. By the early 1700's the English, won over Acadia and by 1755 deported the French Acadians, since they were unwilling to take the oath of allegiance to the English King (Daigle, 1982). Many of these Acadians settled in Louisiana, but many came back to resettle in Acadia.

Those that returned years later found that Scottish immigrants had settled in the area.  In the Quebec area, many Irish came to settle during the potato famine of the 1800's. (Lambrecht & Graves, 1999).  As these cultures mingled, so did their music and dance.  Acadian music and dance is full of Scottish influences and Quebecois' has more of an Irish influence.  As the Acadians and Canadians filtered down into New England during the early twentieth century some of the New England styles of music and dance were incorporated. (Daigle, 1982).

Yet some traditions resonate throughout French culture worldwide.  These include chanson a repondre and the fiddle as being the instrument of choice (Lambrecht & Graves, 1999).  Florence Rose Martin, an Acadian chanteuse, remarks that even when she goes down to Louisiana, she will hear a song that she sang as a child, perhaps with a little change in verse and melody.
 

FLORENCE ROSE MARTIN

 Florence Rose Martin, is a proud French Acadian who is helping to keep the traditions of her culture alive through preserving the traditional music she grew up with.  I met Florence one wintry January day at her daughter Daurene's home in Topsham, Maine. Also present were Darlene, (Florence's oldest daughter), Daurene's 5 children and Jeff "Smokey" McKeen, a musician and oral historian.  She welcomed me with a wide smile and immediately brought out her notebook of pictures of quilts she has laboriously sewn by hand.  They were all so beautiful it was not hard to see why she was so proud to show them off.

Florence was born March 15, 1938 in St. Agathe, Maine in the heart of the Saint John Valley.  The people of St. Agathe are primarily of French ?Acadian descent (Michaud, 1972).   Florence was the eldest of eleven children born to O'Neil Elphege Martin and Albertine Marie Chasse.  Her father passed away in 1967 and her mother lives in what was the old convent in St. Agathe, now a home for the elderly.  Florence grew up on her grandparents' potato farm.  Her grandparents also ran a store on the property and her father had a cobbler shop.  She recalls a log cabin on the property that was used to store supplies for the store.  It was in this cabin that some of Florence's fondest memories of her early childhood are found.  The store was the social gathering place in town and Florence fondly remembers how starting about "6 at night, people would start coming in. They would bring "their guitars, harmonicas, accordions and fiddle and sit me up on the counter" People would start singing "the old French songs".  "I would love it" recalls Florence, "because I didn't have to go to bed!"  Florence remembers that song was a constant presence in her everyday life.  She states that "they told me I was singing before I could talk. If I was awake I was either humming or singing."  This earned her the nickname "La Grondeuse" (the hummer).  Florence was a natural for learning songs, she states, "I would hear a song one time and I would know it, my mother was the same way."  Together, Florence and her mother became the keepers of the old songs, by writing the text down on paper.  Many of these songs were "complaintes" a tragic or plaintive ballad (Michaud, 1972).  Her father was also musical, but he would only sing one line of a song, so Florence often thought that he was making up these songs, until when she was older and actually heard the whole tune being performed.  While most of the songs her mother would sing were ballads, the songs the men would sing were often more comical in nature.

Florence was educated at the local convent school, Notre-Dame de la Sagesse (the Daughters of Wisdom order) in Ste. Agathe.  During her years in school she learned how to read and write English, but she could not speak the language, as French was the primary language in both home and school.  Upon graduation, she was invited by her aunt to move to Lewiston, where she met and married Richard Paul Laliberte in 1958.  She and her husband ran a Franco-American social club where she continued to be involved in traditional Franco music, as well as  "hillbilly" music.  They also founded and managed a local "Club des Raquetteurs" a snowshoers club popular in the early 1970's and only open to people of Franco-American descent.  Early on, the members were not only required to be of Franco origin but also had to speak french recalls Florence.  Often Florence was called upon to sing some of the old French songs.

Florence recalls that even as a young child, she would write down the songs that were sung to her and that were common around her home.  In 1990, she made a two- notebook set of these handwritten songs (over 130), "I know over 600 songs", that she donated to the Ste. Agathe Historical Society.  When I met with Florence she had one of the notebooks with her.  To hear some of the songs from this notebook, please listen to the cassette tape accompanying this paper. 

CINDY LAROCK

Another woman helping to preserve the Franco-American music and dance heritage is Cindy Larock of Lewiston.  Cindy is the daughter of a Franco-American father and a "Yankee," mom, whose ancestry can be traced to John Adams.  Her father died when she was 8 years old and she has not traced her Franco lineage, but believes her father's family came from Quebec.  "My grandmother was a Marcoux" and believes her last name has been Anglicized from LaRoche or LaRoque. 

After, Cindy graduated from Bates College, in Lewiston Maine in 1975 she became interested in contradances that became popular with young people during that time when many "back to the landers" migrated to Maine.  This led to her interest in Franco music and dance.  She became involved with the Maine Arts Commission Traditional Art Apprenticeship Program, where she was instrumental in bringing French ?Canadian musicians into the area.  She herself is a step-dancer and guitarist. 

In a recent telephone interview, Cindy recalls that while Lewiston has a large Franco-American population she wasn't seeing many of them at the contradances that she attended.  The only time you would hear any Franco music was at the Festival de Joie held in the summer.  Here you would hear the traditional songs and dance the traditional gigue (jigs and reels), but it was mostly the older folks who knew any of the dances and songs.  Cindy is reviving these traditions and also the French step dances. "Step dancing has become very popular since Riverdance (the Irish step dance tour)" says Cindy, "but french step dancing is more casual."  She explains that in Irish step dancing the body is held erect and the arms are straight at the sides with most of the movement from the knees down.  In French step dancing, the movements are more casual and the body has a looser form, incorporating the arms as well as the legs in the dance steps. 

Currently, Cindy is working with schools in the area teaching French ? Canadian social dancing to the children in hopes that exposure to the traditions will renew an interest in a culture that is very much ingrained in Maine.  Cindy can be reached at The YWCA of Central Maine in Lewiston.  Phone her at 795-4050 ext. 13 for more information.

KEEPING THE CULTURE ALIVE

Florence and Cindy are only 2 of many women around New England that are involved in keeping the traditional songs alive.  Ida Roy also from the St. John Valley has recorded over 240 songs that have been passed down from one generation to the next (Freeberg, 1989).  Others include Connie Cote Lambert and the Laurendeau Sisters.  In 1993, the Portland Performing Arts, Inc. sponsored a New England Tour called French Connection: Music and Dance of the French ? Speaking World, that brought together french musicians and dancers from Brittany, France, Cajuns from Louisiana and franophones from New Brunswick and Maine for concerts and soirees in order to bring exposure to this rich culture that lives among us.  Today, in Portland, Maine there is a Center for Cultural Exchange, a non-profit organization whose mission is to bridge the gap between the diverse ethnic groups that make up the State of Maine population. 

These women and many more like them are guaranteeing that even while the current generation of Franco-Americans are immersed in American culture, they come from a rich heritage that has little to be forgotten.  As they become more exposed to these traditions, they will learn from whence they came and carry the torch onward.
 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

North Atlantic Region National Park Service. (1992).  Acadian Culture in Maine. Boston.

Daigle, Jean. (1982). The Acadians of the Maritimes:  ThematicStudies  Moncton; Minister of the Environment. 

Freeberg, Ernie. (1989, November).  Voice of the Valley. Down East Magazine, v36n4 p. 78

Graves, James Bau. (undated). Kitchen Music. Franco-American Music Traditions.  University of Southern Maine:  Lewiston-Auburn College

Graves, James Bau. (1996). The Good Songs: French in America.  House Island Project. Portland Performing Arts, Inc.

Lambrecht, Winnie and Graves, James Bau. (1999). French Connections:  Music and Dance of the French-Speaking World.  Center for Cultural Exchange Study Guide:  Quebec and Maritime Canada.  Portland, Maine.  P4

Larock, Cindy.  Telephone Interview 27 January 2001.
 
Martin, Florence Rose.  Interview 23 January 2001.  Topsham, Maine.

Michaud, A.J. (1972).  An Acadian Heritage from the St. John River Valley. Madawaska:  Valley Publishing Co. Inc.

Pelletier, Susann. (undated). Keepers of the Song.  University of Southern Maine: Lewiston-Auburn College.