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March/April 2004 issue	In this issue Table of Contents Feature: The singing forest In-depth: Boreal birds The Inside Story Editor’s Notebook Reverberations Explorer À la carte Mosaic

Photo: Jon Wayne Brown

On western Newfoundland’s Port au Port Peninsula is a francophone enclave of little more than 225 people living in three communities. While their numbers may be small, their roots run deep: this year marks the 500th year of French presence in Newfoundland, and the people of Port au Port plan to celebrate.

Maintaining the language and culture of their French, Basque and Acadian forebears hasn’t been easy for the residents of la Grand’Terre, l’Anse-à-Canards and Cap Saint-Georges (or Mainland, Black Duck Brook and Cape St. George, as they are officially known). In a region where the fisheries, a limestone mine and two French-language schools are the main employers, many must leave home to find work. But after a generation of assimilation, francophone culture is "experiencing a renaissance on the Port au Port Peninsula," says Catherine Fenwick, executive director of l’Association régionale de la côte ouest.

The founding of cultural associations in the 1970s and the opening of the first francophone school on the peninsula in 1989 have helped "foster pride" among youth whose parents may no longer speak French, says Fenwick. And some former residents, like Fenwick herself who studied at Université de Moncton, are returning to Port au Port after pursuing a French post-secondary education elsewhere. For the descendants of French and Basque fishermen and Acadian exiles, it’s an encouraging sign of cultural revival.

Monique Roy-Sole

For the rest of this story, visit your local newsstand or go to our store to buy this issue.

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