What the Life of Marguerite Guedry Can Teach Us about Choosing Community in 18th-Century Acadia and Mi’kma’ki
Presentation Type
Poster
Presentation Type
Submission
Keywords
Colonial Ghosts, Acadia, Mi’kmaq, Alternate Atlantic, Marguerite Guedry, Paul Guedry, Belonging, Louisbourg, Eighteenth century Atlantic world, Nicole Gilhuis
Department
History
Major
History, International Business
Abstract
The British founding of Halifax in 1749 and settlement of Lunenburg in 1753 disrupted a region where Europeans had lived for generations within indigenous Mi’kmaw kinship networks. Building on Dr. Nicole Gilhuis’s research into families who lived in these parts of Acadia and gravitated towards Mi’kmaw communities, this project explores why the Guedry family represents a story of “colonial ghosts”, those who moved between native and European worlds while remaining largely invisible in official records. This project specifically dives into how they ultimately failed to reintegrate into French colonial life. By examining the annulment of Marguerite’s 1755 marriage to French officer Jules de la Noue at Louisbourg and her subsequent disappearance from the archival record, alongside evidence that de la Noue and her own brothers later appear in Louisiana, while her father, Paul, withdrew into Mi’kmaw kinship networks in Nova Scotia, this study highlights the different paths within a single family. It seeks to explore why Marguerite could not, or chose not to, return to colonial society, and how “colonial ghosts” like her ultimately determined their place of belonging and community.
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Nicole Gilhuis
Funding Source or Research Program
Academic Year Undergraduate Research Initiative
Location
Waves Cafeteria
Start Date
10-4-2026 1:00 PM
End Date
10-4-2026 2:00 PM
What the Life of Marguerite Guedry Can Teach Us about Choosing Community in 18th-Century Acadia and Mi’kma’ki
Waves Cafeteria
The British founding of Halifax in 1749 and settlement of Lunenburg in 1753 disrupted a region where Europeans had lived for generations within indigenous Mi’kmaw kinship networks. Building on Dr. Nicole Gilhuis’s research into families who lived in these parts of Acadia and gravitated towards Mi’kmaw communities, this project explores why the Guedry family represents a story of “colonial ghosts”, those who moved between native and European worlds while remaining largely invisible in official records. This project specifically dives into how they ultimately failed to reintegrate into French colonial life. By examining the annulment of Marguerite’s 1755 marriage to French officer Jules de la Noue at Louisbourg and her subsequent disappearance from the archival record, alongside evidence that de la Noue and her own brothers later appear in Louisiana, while her father, Paul, withdrew into Mi’kmaw kinship networks in Nova Scotia, this study highlights the different paths within a single family. It seeks to explore why Marguerite could not, or chose not to, return to colonial society, and how “colonial ghosts” like her ultimately determined their place of belonging and community.