Cover of the book Le Tapis de Grand-Pré. Story written by authors Réjean Aucoin, Jean-Claude Tremblay. Illustrations by Herménégilde Chiasson.
-by Rosie Aucoin-Grace
Inspired from a story written by authors Réjean Aucoin and Jean-Claude Tremblay (winners of the France-Acadie Literary Prize), Le Tapis de Grand-Pré is about an unfinished hooked rug, the only remaining vestige of the Grand-Pré church, burned down by the English in 1755 during the deportation of the Acadians. A wonderful blend of fantasy, tradition, and adventure, this story touches the hearts of children and adults of all ages and cultures. On Christmas Eve, young Rose-Marie and Constant embark on a nighttime chase with Johnny à Minou, the magical postman, to discover the twelve strands of wool they need to complete the magical carpet of Grand-Pré. Flying among the stars in Johnny à Minou’s bag, they visit the four corners of Acadia. Each stop brings them closer to the conclusion not only of their quest, but also to their ancestors, the Acadians of Grand-Pré, deported in 1755.
I thought it would be interesting to go back to the very beginning. Senator Réjean Aucoin, son of the late Eddie (à Médéric and Henriette) of Chéticamp, spoke enthusiastically of the project in a recent interview with Philippe Haché (Le Ciné-Club de Chéticamp), “It started in the early 1980s when I was working for Radio-Canada and I was unable to come home for Christmas. My mother decided to make me a beautiful, hooked rug displaying a church but with an unfinished cross. One thing led to another, and a storyline began to emerge. The missing pieces of yarn, the tradition of the hooked rug and so forth. The pieces of yarn would have been dispersed with the Acadians in 1755 during the expulsion and it would take magic to return the yarn to finish the Le Tapis de Grand-Pré.”
“Myself and Jean-Claude Tremblay applied for grants from the Arts Council for funds to publish a children’s book and little by little, the French version of the book came to fruition in 1986. Later, the second version of the book was translated into English and there was also a reprint of the French version,” says Senator Aucoin. He continued, “Film director Phil Comeau heard of this story and contacted me, interested in making a film of Le Tapis de Grand-Pré. A company from Montréal, Vie le Monde came to Chéticamp to film this production. Le Tapis de Grand-Pré was the first film toured by this company in the Maritimes. Eventually, Le Théâtre Populaire d’Acadie was presented as a theatrical production which also toured throughout the Maritimes and at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. In 1990, the film even made its way to Les Jeux de la Francophonie in Morocco. So, there was a book published which won le Prix France-Acadie in 1987, there was a film, a theatre production, and the story was broadcasted on Radio-Canada and Radio CKJM. I would say that for those who participated in production of the film, in one way or another, it was certainly an exciting experience! It would be great to see the film redone. One thing in the film, they dubbed the voices because the production company said we did not speak a standard of French suitable for the international market – that was a decision by the company that we never accepted so if we could redo the film, it would be great to have the original voices of the actors with our Acadian accent.”
With a chuckle Senator Aucoin shared a few of the scenes in the film, “We were filming during holy week and needed to do a scene in the church sacristy and mass was a 6:00 p.m. We finished just in the nick of time with about half an hour to take down all the props and put everything back in its proper order. We also did a scene in the former glebe house of Saint-Joseph-du-Moine which no longer exists. We emptied the refrigerator, removing all the contents and spreading them on the floor for the scene where Governor Lawrence returns looking for the twins, he had thrown everything on the floor and tied up Suzanne (played by Patricia à Willie Tom Muise) and shoved her in the refrigerator. Of course, we tidied up everything after the scene. As well, the scene with again Suzanne on the four-wheeler in search of the hooked rug. It was her first time driving an ATV.”
“The first version of the story was presented on Radio Canada in Moncton for a week, then the idea of writing a book came into play. It was also great to hear the story broadcasted on Radio CKJM with voices from people from Chéticamp. This recording probably still exists, and my wish would be for it to be broadcasted yearly. Today 40 years later, it is as popular because it is Christmas every year – for the children and the adults. Some adults have approached me and asked if it was true that I wrote the story, or some saying I did not know you wrote this book. It brought tears to my eyes. It is true that if our ancestors of Grand-Pré had been able to celebrate Christmas in 1755, it would have been an important event but sadly were not able to,” says Senator Aucoin.
“Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the 40th anniversary gathering of the film Le Tapis de Grand-Pré viewing in Chéticamp. I wish for everyone who participated in the film in one way or another, that it was a memorable evening, reliving a very exciting experience,” concluded Senator Aucoin.
Imagine this all started with a rooked rug designed and created by Henriette Aucoin. In some whimsical way, it would seem the magic began with each pull of the loops of yarn. I would like to think the spirits of our Acadian ancestors were nearby, edging her on and somehow played a huge role in bringing this story to life.
(Derived from an interview between Senator Réjean Aucoin and Philippe Haché with permission. See article “Le Ciné-Club de Chéticamp presents Le Tapis de Grand-Pré film celebrating its 40th milestone” for more to this story.)