Sheila Jans, CultureWorth, Madawaska and Don Cyr, Musée culturel du Mont-Carmel, Lille sur-St-Jean
“There we are—do you see us? We’re in that vast area next to Canada, just below the St. John River at the top of the map. This is the present-day St. John Valley, settled in 1785 by Acadians and French-Canadians. This map leads some to believe that not much existed here, but at that time, it was a shared land of Wabanaki, French, Scots-Irish, British, and Americans, known as Le Territoire de Madawaska. The mountain-like ridge that the United States wanted for the boundary line was wishful thinking. By 1842, the St. John River had became the official international border, dividing families and a way of life. Though the border’s impact is real, this river valley remains a singularly distinct land of duality—of French and English language, and Canadian and American identity—where traditions and people endure.”
Osgood Carleton (United States, 1741–1816), An Accurate Map of the District of Maine, Being Part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1799, engraved and printed, with hand-applied gouache and watercolor, 52 3/4 x 37 3/8 inches. Courtesy of the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education, University of Southern Maine, American Textile History Museum Collection. Image courtesy Osher Map Library.
Sheila Jans is a development consultant and founder of CultureWorth, a consultancy based in Madawaska that focuses on strengthening communities and the economy. Sheila works throughout the U.S. and Canada, and is currently writing a corridor management plan for Maine’s first cultural byway in the St. John Valley.
Don Cyr is the founder and director of the Musée culturel du Mont-Carmel, a former Catholic Church in the village of Lille along the St. John River, which he has been restoring for the past 35 years. Don teaches history and art at the University of Maine at Presque Isle and at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics.