The New Acadia Project

Proget Nouvelle Acadie

 The New Acadia Project is a multidisciplinary research effort designed to systematically locate, identify, and investigate the eighteenth-century homesteads and unmarked gravesites of Acadian exiles in south-central Louisiana.

In 1765 Joseph Broussard, also known as Beausoleil, led a group of 193 Acadians to New Orleans.

The colonial government of Louisiana provisioned the Acadian families and directed them to settle in the Attakapas District along the banks of the Bayou Teche.

Within months of their arrival they were afflicted with a virulent epidemic, possibly yellow fever. As many as 34 died between the summer and winter of 1765, including Beausoleil and his brother, Alexandre Broussard.

These pioneers and founders of Nouvelle Acadie were buried at the places they had initially settled, known as le dernier camp d'en bas, premier camp d'en bas, and camp Beausoleil.

The Acadian camps and gravesites are thought to be located on the Teche Ridge, between St. Martinville and New Iberia, in the vicinity of the present-day village of Loreauville.

New Acadia Project Steering Committee
Acadian Heritage & Culture Foundation, Inc.
203 South Broadway - Erath, Louisiana 70533
337-233-5832

http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~mar4160/nap.html