Acadians celebrate Christmas traditions with songs, stories and that special cookie

AsChristmas approached in the late 1800s, Acadian children on P.E.I. would look forward to one special present a cookie made from white pastry, perhaps left over from making bread, called a naulet.

Island historian Georges Arsenault calls it "cousin of the gingerbread man."

"They would put raisins for the eyes and buttons for the coat and that's the gift that the kid would get from his godparents," he said.

"Santa Claus hadn't discovered the Acadians at that time that's in the 1860s up to the 1900s something like that. So it was quite special for kids to get a naulet for Christmas."

The nauletwas one of the traditions kept alive on Sunday at the Acadian Museum of P.E.I. in Miscouche.

Dozens of people attended the event, organized by the Sister Antoinette DesRoches Historical Committee. It also included traditional Acadian Christmas songs and stories.

Eleven-year-old Doriane Ondoua of Wellington was among the people enjoying the festivities.

"I made decorations for my Christmas tree, and I made cookies and I made a drawing and I made a portrait and I put a bunch of different stickers on it and I made it pretty."

The event has not been held for the past few years due to COVID-19. Last year, it had to be cancelled the day before the event due to an outbreak.

Sunday's "perfect" celebration made up for it, said Noella Richard, site manager for the Acadian Museum.

"I'm so glad that we can uphold this tradition because it was done in years past and it was always quite popular."