- Brayon
Brayons are a
francophone people inhabiting the area in and aroundEdmundston ,New Brunswick ,Canada . In French, they are called _fr. "les brayons" or feminine _fr. "les brayonnes", and both terms are also used as adjectives, as in "brayon culture", or _fr. "la culture brayonne".) Given their location in New Brunswick, a CanadianMaritime Province , they are considered by many to beAcadians . Conversely, given their proximity toQuebec , many Acadians consider them to be non-residentQuébécois .The Brayons view themselves as neither Acadian nor Québécois, affirming that they are a distinctive culture with a history and heritage linked to
farming andforestry in theMadawaska area, unlike both the primarily maritime heritage of the Acadians and the ancestral St. Lawrence Valley history of the Québécois. The Brayon dialect of French is essentiallyQuebec French pronounced with a more characteristicallyAcadian French accent.This view of uniqueness led (at least jokingly) to the founding of the République du Madawaska during the
Aroostook War , wherein some Brayons, disgusted with the actions of both British and American interlopers on their ancestral lands, declared themselves allied with neither, and independent. Of course, the “République” was never formally recognised, and was ultimately split by theWebster-Ashburton Treaty into American and Canadian parts.The spirit of the République du Madawaska lives on, at least in the hearts and minds of local residents. The "République" has its own flag (designed in 1938) that flies in and around
Edmundston . [In a curious historical note, the flag of the "Republic" apparently resembles an "American" flag raised byJohn Baker during the Aroostook War. See " [http://www.upperstjohn.com/people/JohnBakerMemorial.htm Under his own flag] ".] The honorary "Président de la République" (President of the Republic) is the sitting Mayor of Edmundston, and there is a small "Musée de la République" (Museum of the Republic) in Edmundston dedicated to Brayon history. The heritage of "les Brayons" is celebrated annually in the "Foire Brayonne ", a music and cultural festival.Notes
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