A folk story in Acadian Roots by Dottie Hutchins and Paul Cyr

Among the activities at the World Acadian Congress (Le Congrès mondial acadien 2014), in Madawaska and the St. John Valley, this August, is the opportunity to seek out Dottie Hutchins, so she’ll sign a copy of her book Acadian Roots: Images of the St. John Valley, with photographs by Paul Cyr.

a bilingual publication

Beautiful collection of color stories and photographs by Dottie Hutchins and photographer Paul Cyr

Among the interesting and entertaining stories included in this commemorative collection is a Native American Maliseet legend, contributed by Lise Pelletier, who also translated the text into French for the book’s bilingual publication.

Thanks to Dottie Hutchins, with her permission, I found this story entertaining, so we agreed to share with readers of this blog, as it’s published in Acadian Roots, translated by Lise Pelletier.

The Legend of MALOBIANNAH By / Par Lise Pelletier

For centuries, Maliseets occupied the territory of Madawaska, their main village situated at the mouth of the Madoueskak (Mada- waska) River. Their enemies were the Mohawks who hunted them and destroyed their villages. In a surprise attack one day, the Mohawks raided the Maliseet village and killed the entire population, including the chief Pemmyhaouet.

The only survivor was Malobiannah, who had been the fiancée of Pemmyhaouet’s son.

The Mohawks promised she would live ,if the young woman led the warring party to the nearest Maliseet village of Aukupaq. Instead, Malobiannah led the forty canoes and three hundred warriors along the Waloostook (St. John) to the Grand Falls, nicknamed “the great destroyer”. When the Mohawks heard the thundering noise, it was too late to avoid the abyss. Malobiannah perished along with her captors, avenging her people.

La légende de MALOBIANNAH Depuis des millénaires, les Malécites occu- pent le territoire du Madawaska, leur chef-lieu situé à l’embouchure de la rivière Madoueskak (Madawaska). Les Mohawks étaient leurs plus grands ennemis. Un jour, les Mohawks at- taquèrent leur village, tuèrent tous les membres de la tribu y compris le chef, Pemmyhaouet. La seule à survivre le massacre fut Malobiannah, la jeune fi ancée du fi ls du chef. Les guerriers promirent à Malobiannah qu’ils l’épargneraient si elle les conduisait au prochain village Malécite, Aukupaq, car ils ne connaissaient pas le grand fl euve Waloostook (Saint-Jean). Malobiannah acquiesca et conduisit les trois cents guerriers et quarante canots sur le fl euve jusqu’au Grand-Sault, surnommé le « grand destructeur ». Lorsque les Mohawks entendirent le rugissement des chutes, il était trop tard pour éviter l’abîme. Malo- biannah périt avec ses ravisseurs, se sacrifi ant pour venger son peuple.

Also, for those attending Le Congrès, don’t forget to purchase your electronic wrist admissions bracelet online at the website  http://cma2014.com/en/

For more Acadian Roots information, contact Dottie Hutchins at hutchins.dottie@gmail.com

 

Juliana L'Heureux

About Juliana L'Heureux

Juliana L’Heureux is a free lance writer who publishes news, blogs and articles about Franco-Americans and the French culture. She has written about the culture in weekly and bi-weekly articles, for the past 30 years.