Students' exhibit opens at Acadiana Memorial

BY RANDY LOUIS, THE DAILY IBERIAN

ST. MARTINVILLE — There is a new exhibit on display at the Acadian Memorial that looks at Acadian history from a new prospective.

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Unveiled by four Louisiana State University graduate students Monday night at the Acadian Memorial, the exhibit highlights a range of subjects from the historical significance of the Acadian farmers, the science behind their farming methods, as well as the ecology of the Nova Scotian landscape.

The exhibit is titled “Farming the Wetlands of Old Acadie: 17th century reclamation to present-day restoration” and also includes coastal restoration projects currently functioning in former Acadian territory. The Acadian Memorial is the sixth stop for the ‘Old Acadie’ wetland exhibit created by Melissa Baustian, Whitney Broussard, Russell Fielding and Jennifer Lasseigne.

“These four graduate students from LSU decided to show the history of the farming techniques and styles of the Acadians when they were first in Nova Scotia,” said Brenda Comeaux Trahan of the Acadian Memorial and Museum. “In September of 2006, the group traveled through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick experiencing the Acadian culture while studying the ecology of the salt marshes for agriculture by early Acadians and how the land use has shifted over the past 300 years following the deportation of the Acadians. Also they learned how present-day restoration techniques are being applied to these marshes.”

Trahan said the exhibit also offers a French and English version of the story of the marshes from the late 1600s to present.

“This exhibit will interest farmers and teachers because it covers the scientific means of farming, and the restoration because it is still going on there,” Trahan said. “I want to invite teachers to bring their students to this exhibit on a field trip to learn more about a system of farming in this area when the Acadians arrived.”

Broussard and Lasseigne said they had fun while working on the exhibit.

“We learned a lot of things while doing this activity,” Broussard said. “I learned in particular how the old Acadians farmed the old salt marshes. I am hoping everyone will like the exhibit and learn more about the Acadians.”

Lasseigne said everyone is proud of this exhibit.

“This educational exhibit was really fun,”she said. “Before we put this project together we knew a lot of things about the Acadian culture and there was a lot of things we did not know. I must say how impressed I was about how great farmers the Acadians were. The same techniques farmers used 300 years ago are still being used.”

Lasseigne said one technique used by the Acadians were when they crafted a tree trunk and strategically placed it within marsh drainage to carry water underneath the dike that drained the land seaward. “Today much of the diked wetlands are good agricultural land in Canada and some wetlands are being restored in their natural condition,” she said.

Charles and Sharon Monlezun of Lake Charles witness the unveiling of the exhibit and said they were impressed with the students’ work.

“This is some good work the students have done researching coastal science,” Charles Monlezun said. “I think it is very important to this area. This is a good experience for the students and they did a really good job”.

Sharon Monlezun echoed her husband comments.

“This is exhibit is very informative,” she said. “I hope everyone who sees the exhibit is enlightened. This is a wonderful exhibit beginning with the photographs on to the documents and it is really informative.”

The exhibit is open to everyone until Nov. 30. Teachers can scheduled a field trip to see the exhibit by contacting Trahan at 394-2258 or 394-2233.