In the 17th century, a group of French settlers that would come to be called Acadians settled an area in present-day Northeastern Canada. Though already occupied by First Nations people such as the Mi?kmaq, the Acadians cohabitated the land in relative peace, creating a community in then-New France relatively untouched by European powers.
That is until French and British imperial interests put the Acadians squarely at the center of a geopolitical conflict that would lead them to be ethnically cleansed by the British and displaced in what is called The Great Upheaval or Le Grand Dérangement. They forced thousands of Acadians out of the area, with many getting deported to New England and Europe. Some settled in nearby French Canada, and many went south to Louisiana, and their descendants would become known as Cajuns.
