WHEREAS, Acadian culture holds great significance in the Saint John Valley and throughout the State of Maine; and

WHEREAS, in 1604, French settlers established the first European settlement in Maine on St. Croix Island; and

WHEREAS, these settlers were adaptable and resilient, turning hardy wilderness into fertile farmland using nutrients from the sea; and

WHEREAS, during “Le Grand Dérangement,” between 1755 and 1764, more than 10,000 men, women and children were forcefully removed from the region at the hands of the British governors and moved to southern colonies and British prisons, with some escaping and becoming refugees; and

WHEREAS, in 2003, a Royal Proclamation was signed in Canada that acknowledged the wrongs committed in the name of the English Crown during the Acadian deportation of 1755 – 1764, and this proclamation sets July 28th of every year as “a day of commemoration of the Great Upheaval”; and

WHEREAS, Acadian families first arrived in the Madawaska region on June 28, 1785, decades before Maine achieved statehood; and

WHEREAS, today, more than a third of the population of the State of Maine are of French descent – mostly of Quebecois and Acadian origin; and

WHEREAS, Franco-Americans and those of Acadian heritage have contributed greatly to the history and cultural heritage of the State; and

WHEREAS, residents who are fluent in both French and English are of great cultural and economic value to the State, and French is the primary language for thousands of Maine residents and a second language for thousands more; and

WHEREAS, French – and by extension Acadian – culture is celebrated throughout the State with events such as Franco-American Day;

NOW THEREFORE, be it resolved that I, Janet T. Mills, Governor of the State of Maine, do hereby proclaim June 28, 2025 as

Maine Acadian Day

throughout the State of Maine, and I urge all citizens to observe this day with appropriate ceremony and activity.

In testimony whereof, I have caused the Great Seal of the State to be hereunto affixed GIVEN under my hand at Augusta this twenty seventh day of June Two Thousand Twenty-Five