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Franco-Ontarians have founded an array of institutions to ensure their long-term cultural survival. By patronizing them, Franco-Ontarians are communicating their desire to belong to the community, to distinguish themselves from the majority, and to be recognized as part of a distinct cultural entity. Based on Habermas' notion of the public space and on Breton's concept of institutional completeness, this study aims to explore how Franco-Ontarians regard the value of institutions as public spaces which affect the nature of Franco-Ontarian identity. Surveys and interviews were conducted with patrons of the francophone theatre centre La Nouvelle Scene, to gather information on motivations and expectations in associating with such institutions. This study's main finding was that Franco-Ontarians don't accredit their sense of identity to the substance of La Nouvelle Scene's activities, but rather to its very presence within the community's boundaries and to the consequences that this presence entails.

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<p> This dissertation presents a collection of personal stories collected by the author from the lobster fishermen of Meteghan, Nova Scotia. This corpus is not a complete inventory, but it helps us to begin to understand the evolution of this Acadian village. The author wondered: Since fairy tales no longer exist in their current repertoire, why not give value to the life histories that exist? This research required an observational transformation in order to notice, preserve and present the treasure that is the oral tradition in this region.</p><p> The author presents the fishermen's stories based on the concept of the <i> ethnotexte,</i> generating the sense of a written discussion between all the participants. The author uses a minimal level of interpretation of her own, allowing the voices of the informants to shine. This allows the text to be more faithful to the experience, since without sound, there is already a deviation of a natural phenomenon, the performance. The protocol used for the transcripts balances between the fidelity of the recordings and the text's accessibility, while preserving the maritime vocabulary and archaic words. </p><p> The author presents eleven themes, ranging from old fishing techniques, to tricks and superstitions. Since fishing is the main industry in this francophone minority community, the author reveals the cultural importance found within the stories, like the testimonies of the old ways of living and fears for the future, which represent a poetic mix between tradition and modernity. </p><p> Having conducted extensive field work, the author concludes that Acadian folklore in the area is not threatened, but has instead evolved. The author has succeeded in letting these fishermen speak, which helps to illuminate the enigma of the modern Acadian identity. Although subject to the imposed imperatives of modernity, Acadians are pragmatic, and at the end of the day, they honor family and the stability of the village first.</p><p> This is a region rich in heritage. The importance of ethnology seeks not to find solutions but to preserve this information. With a sense of urgency to capture the oral histories, this kind of research enriches this community's culture.</p>

This thesis examines a constitutional amendment adopted by the State of Maine in 1893 as part of an electoral reform package. It stated that any man who could not read the State Constitution in English or write his name on or after January 3, 1893 was not qualified to vote. Although some of the amendment's supporters claimed the measure would raise the quality of the state electorate, most supported it because it targeted immigrants, more particularly, French Canadian immigrants. Anglo-Republicans who supported the amendment discriminated against French-Canadians, who were Catholic, spoke French, and chose acculturation rather than assimilation. The amendment was meant to disenfranchise a large proportion of these voters, as many of them were illiterate, French speaking migrants. However, the impact of the amendment proved to be limited. It did not affect Franco-American allegiances to politicians or political parties they thought best supported their wants and needs. This may be why the amendment was quickly forgotten and is not mentioned in any published history of Maine. Statistics collected from the 1910 census, English and French language newspapers of Lewiston, and an out of state newspaper provide much of the primary sources for this work.

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