News and Reflections: Antonine Maillet, famed author of "La Sagouine," has passed away at age 95 (February 17, 2025) -- February 20, 2025

A New Brunswick news release by the Canadian Press, dated February 17, 2025, carried the sad news: "Antonine Maillet, author and proud raconteur of the Acadian people, dead at 95."

Reading further, I came across the following statement about the author, and one of her most famous works: "Her play “La Sagouine,” first performed in 1971 with Viola Leger in the title role, was a massive success, helping to instil pride in Acadians and contribute to a cultural revival."

A quote from the author, dating back to 2010, revealed much about her tenacity as a writer and her commitment to authenticity: "... Maillet spoke about overcoming a “triple handicap” in literature: being a woman, Acadian, and of short stature. “Being short, that amuses me! But if I have one claim to fame, it’s that I took the Acadian language from oral tradition to the written word.”

A comment: The chapter, "On the Census," from La Sagouine is a must-read for anyone with Acadian lines or an interest in how Acadians came to be in North America.  I read "On the Census" when I was coming to terms with my own family roots as a family researcher and found the author's humorous, if not sardonic, treatment of the often delicate topic of Acadian "nationality," as portrayed by census takers of the time, a healing balm of a sort.

Maillet truly "hit the mark" when she observed:

Couldn't have been easy, being deported like that and not to think you lost something important along the way.  Takes a lot out of you, a trip like that..." -- Antonine Mailette, (English translation).

Sources and references:

• Originally posted: https://dna-genealogy-history.com/travel-by-ancestry/antonine-maillet-famed-author-of-la-sagouine-has-passed-away-at-age-95-february-17-2025
  
• See news release: https://www.ctvnews.ca/atlantic/new-brunswick/article/antonine-maillet-author-and-proud-raconteur-of-the-acadian-people-dead-at-95/