Ste-Anne-du-Ruisseau is a community in
Municipalité Argyle Municipality in the
Canadian province
Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...
of
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
.
Name
Originally known as "Eel Brook", an English translation of the
Mi'kmaq
The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...
name for this place which was "Wiplomesgokum", meaning "place of eels, but they were poor and lean". The name was changed in the 1950s to reflect the name of the local parish, Sainte-Anne. Ruisseau is a French word meaning "a small brook."
History
The village was settled in 1767 by
Acadians
The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French colonial empire, French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern Americ ...
who escaped
deportation
Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...
and those who returned to Nova Scotia from exile. The original settlement was in an area now called Pointe-à-Rocco, where the initial settlers built a chapel and a few homes. The first Roman Catholic church in Yarmouth County was built in the community in 1784. It was replaced by a larger church in 1808, but this church was destroyed by fire on March 23, 1900. A new church was built the same year. A replica of the original chapel was built to commemorate the early settlement. The parish of Sainte-Anne is the oldest Acadian parish in Nova Scotia.
Four families are considered to be the first settlers here, who leased from a Rev. Breyton in 1773. The families were headed by Pierre LeBlanc (a descendant of
Daniel Leblanc), brothers Louis and Pierre Mius (descendants of
Philippe Mius d'Entremont), and
Pierre II Surette.
The first church built in the community was erected in 1767. Sainte-Anne du Ruisseau became the first Catholic parish in Yarmouth County, founded in 1799 by Father Jean Mandé Sigogne.
[Yarmouth Recreation]
Église Ste-Anne - Church of St. Anne
Accessed November 28, 2019. In 1808, the old church was replaced to serve a growing population. The present church was erected in 1900, replacing the earlier structure which had burned. It is a municipally designated heritage building.
[Tourism Nova Scotia]
Ste-Anne Church
/ref> Striking in appearance, it was built in Romanesque style and features two towers and original paintings on the ceiling and sanctuary walls.[
]
References
External links
Eglise Ste-Anne Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ste. Anne Du Ruisseau, Nova Scotia
Communities in Yarmouth County
Unincorporated communities in Nova Scotia