Historical society secures rural New Brunswick burial site to preserve history

A historical society has purchased land in rural New Brunswick that’s home to the unmarked graves of Acadian and Mi’kmaw people dating back to the 1700s.

The plot of land is about an acre in size and is situated in Cap Bimet, N.B., on the shores of the Northumberland Strait.

For the president of the committee, it’s the fulfilment of a dream decades in the making.

“This land is important because it’s our ancestors. They settled here,” said Stella Boudreau, the president of the Cap Bimet Historical Site Preservation Society.

Boudreau, 87, said she became interested in the land in 1983 when she discovered that her own ancestors were buried there.

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A retired Université de Moncton historian used parish records from the former chapel on the site to help identify the names.

“There’s 61 people that we know, we have that on the registry. But there’s at least 40 young people, young children being buried, and the rest is adults,” she said.

“I think it was important to honour them, to really have this land.”

The society raised $200,000 to purchase the privately owned plot, along with contributions from the municipalities of Cap-Acadie and Shediac.

Boudreau, who grew up down the road, has made inquiries about purchasing the land in the past but said the owner didn’t want to sell at the time.

“I was wondering if one day … I knew down deep in my heart that we were going to get the land somehow,” she said.

Now, the committee will get to work to clean up and revitalize the cemetery. They eventually want to create a walking path with plaques that explain the history of the land and the families who lived in the area.

“We have plans and we are going to have it cleaned, that’s the first step this summer. And then we are going to have someone to help us with the concept,” Boudreau said.

As for how it feels to finally move on with the project, she simply said, “It feels very good.”