Maine
Resurgence of French in Maine gives francophones hope, but fears, challenges remain
From the left: Dr. Fern Desjardins, Cathie Pelletier, Richard L’Heureux, Cecile Thornton, Denis Ledoux, and Doris Bonneau attend a Francophonie Day event at the Maine State House in Augusta, Maine on March 12.Juliana L’Heureux/The Canadian Press
For decades, Cecile Thornton had little motivation to speak French. Born into the minority francophone community in Lewiston, Maine, she says she and her family were often the target of ridicule.
“I was ashamed of my francophone roots,” she recalled in a recent phone interview in French. “There were a lot of people who laughed at and mocked us.” Thornton, whose maiden name is Desjardins, married an anglophone and didn’t teach her children French. It eventually disappeared from her daily life, and she says she lost her ability to converse in the language as a result.
That changed in 2016, when she began attending French-language meet-ups led by local immigrants from West Africa. Thornton says those conversations inspired her to reconnect with her mother tongue. “The African community helped me feel proud to be Franco,” she said.
Now 68 years old, Thornton has become an advocate for French speakers in Maine, one of several members of the state’s francophone community striving to preserve their language and heritage. They hope a wave of recent African immigration and a growing recognition of the state’s Franco-American population will spark renewed interest in their cause. But the number of French speakers in Maine is dwindling, leading some to fear for their future.
Like Thornton, many francophone Mainers decided not to pass down their language in the 20th century. Children who did speak French faced further repression. A 1919 state law that banned education in French “had a long-term impact on how people perceived the value of their language,” said Patrick Lacroix, director of the Acadian Archives, housed in the University of Maine at Fort Kent. Maine only repealed the rule in 1969.
U.S. Census Bureau data underline the francophone community’s growing vulnerability. The agency estimated that about 30,000 of the more than 1.3 million people in the state spoke French at home in 2022, down from 33,000 in 2018 and from more than 40,000 four years before that.
Don Lévesque, a 76-year-old member of the centuries-old Acadian population in northern Maine, says his outlook on local efforts to promote French changes daily. “Sometimes I’m optimistic, sometimes I’m not,” he confessed in an interview.
Lévesque is the president of Le Club Français in the town of Madawaska on the border with New Brunswick, where he now lives. Founded in the 1990s by a group of residents concerned about the survival of their language, Le Club Français now offers French pre-kindergarten and elementary after-school programs, as well as conversational French courses for adults, he said.
Next, the organization wants to create more opportunity for Maine Acadians to develop social lives in French, through such things as community suppers or movie nights. Le Club Français is also planning cultural excursions into New Brunswick, Lévesque said.
But engaging younger residents is a challenge, he admitted. “Sometimes I feel like a dinosaur,” he said. “The French speaking dinosaur in an English world.”
A second French-speaking population, in Southern Maine, descends from Canadian immigrants who worked in the area’s many mills in the 19th and 20th centuries. Jan Sullivan, a native francophone who leads a French conversation group at the Franco Center of performing arts in Lewiston, says African newcomers have “reawakened” the language in the community.
Though immigration has fuelled a welcome boost to French, it might not be enough to save the language, Sullivan warned. “I think it’ll survive for a few more years, several more years,” she lamented. “But eventually, I’m afraid it’s dying.”
Others are resisting the narrative of a culture in inevitable decline. Among them is Susan Pinette, a University of Maine professor and director of its Franco-American Center in the town of Orono, one of several institutions in the state working to publicize the community’s history. In an interview, she said the centre aims to counter portrayals of language and cultural loss by highlighting ongoing Franco-American activism.
“The community is changing and that’s a good thing,” she said. “We don’t want (to be) a museum piece of something that’s stuck in the past.”
Lacroix agreed that what he called the “doom and gloom” narrative often ignores the grassroots efforts that have helped enhance the visibility of Maine’s Acadian community and organizations like his that foreground Franco-American heritage. “I think increasingly we are getting the attention of people in the state, which is really the first step even before we can start asking for greater support,” he said.
On Tuesday, the Maine legislature hosted a small ceremony to celebrate the state’s Francophonie Day. In its resolution proclaiming the holiday, the body cited a “resurgence in the use of the French language and a heightened appreciation of Franco-American heritage throughout the state.”
Despite the challenges facing French in Maine, Thornton said she remains hopeful for its future. She also encouraged Quebecers to cherish their connection to the language.
“If people in Quebec, they hold on to their French, they teach their children French, it’s going to be a very good thing for the language,” she said.
As someone who is completely obsessed with oysters, summer seafood spots, and the excitement of trying a brand-new restaurant, I’ve been counting down the days for Ladyfish to open in Portland. There’s just something about a seasonal pop-up that makes it feel extra special, and Ladyfish already feels like the place everyone will be talking about this summer.
Where Is It Located?
Located at 425 Fore Street in Portland’s Old Port, the restaurant officially opened on May 13 and has already been drawing major attention from locals and visitors looking for fresh seafood and fun summer vibes.
What Makes Ladyfish Stand Out From Other Restaurants?
What makes Ladyfish stand out is how playful and exciting the menu feels while still keeping Maine seafood at the center of everything. The scallops in a blanket are already becoming one of the must-order dishes, balancing buttery richness with fresh coastal flavor. The eggplant dip is unbelievably good and adds a unique twist to the menu, while the steamed buns are soft, flavorful, and honestly addictive. On top of all that, the seafood is incredibly fresh, which is exactly what you want from a summer restaurant in Portland.
Since opening, Ladyfish has quickly become one of the hottest new dining spots in the city, proving that Portland’s restaurant scene continues to thrive with creative concepts and unforgettable seafood experiences.
22 Seasonal Maine Restaurants Worth Visiting for a Delicious Meal
Gallery Credit: Sean McKenna
10 Maine Lobster Pounds You Need to Try This Summer 🦞
Summer plans = eating your way through these 10 Maine lobster pounds!
Gallery Credit: Arlen Jameson
Teenagers are known for dishing out the dirt, but not quite like this.
Students at a high school in Maine were fed potting soil at a community service event raising money to fight hunger, in a bizarre incident the school called “an unfortunate accident.”
Students at Medomack Valley High School in Waldoboro had baked a batch of potting soil earlier that day during a science class experiment to determine the effect of sterilized soil on plant growth, according to a statement from the school.
“The soil had been placed in a baking dish covered with foil and set off to the side of the stove area, separate from the Empty Bowl Supper food items,” the statement signed by principal Linda Pease read.
Later, in the mad dash to serve guests at the charity dinner, the oven-roasted dirt got mixed in with other food items meant for the meal and was brought out for service.
“Three students briefly put some of the soil in their mouths, believing it to be a dessert item, before immediately realizing what it was,” the school said, adding they “promptly” had the unwanted earthen confection removed from the serving tables.
“This was a completely accidental situation and absolutely not a prank,” the school assured.
The parents of the involved students were contacted by administrators, and the students were spoken with at school.
“Those involved in organizing the Empty Bowl Supper, a longstanding community service event that means a great deal to our school and community, are deeply sorry that this occurred.”
Ellie Mason is habitat restoration project manager and Alice Hotopp is fisheries assessment and science communication specialist for the Downeast Salmon Federation.
On May 23, communities around the world will celebrate World Fish Migration Day, as sea-run fish begin their remarkable journeys from the ocean into rivers, lakes and streams to spawn. The theme of this year’s celebration is “We Are River People,” a phrase that resonates deeply here in Maine.
Maine is home to over 5,000 rivers and streams, and communities have long depended on the health of these ecosystems. But over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, the push to harness rivers for industrial power fundamentally reshaped them. The construction of dams and road crossings to support sawmills, grain mills and textile factories blocked the natural migration of sea-run fish, which include river herring, brook trout, American eels, striped bass, sturgeon, American shad and endangered Atlantic salmon.
Restoring river systems is complicated work. It requires not only engineering and ecological expertise, but community trust. On the Narraguagus River in Cherryfield, that trust has been carefully built over more than a decade, and we’re now beginning to see the results.
This summer, the Downeast Salmon Federation is leading the Cherryfield Fish Passage Improvement Project in partnership with the town of Cherryfield, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, The Nature Conservancy and Atlantic Salmon Federation, to replace the river’s last remaining mainstem dam with a nature-like fishway. By November, sea-run fish will encounter fewer barriers to their migrations on the Narraguagus River than at any point in the past two centuries.
The Cherryfield Ice Dam, owned by the town of Cherryfield, was built in 1961 to address the problem of ice floating downriver and flooding downtown Cherryfield. But the 7-foot structure also blocks or delays fish migrations.
The new fishway in Cherryfield has been carefully designed to address both challenges. Engineered to mimic a free-flowing river, part of the fishway will consist of a series of step pools made out of boulders. Fish will scale the same elevation they always have, but more gradually, with resting pools along the way.
Importantly, the existing headpond above the dam will be maintained at its current level, preserving the flood and ice control the town has relied on for decades. Instead of choosing between fish passage and flood protection, the engineering solution delivers both.
Dam removal and river restoration can be deeply divisive. And yet, Cherryfield residents voted unanimously to support this project. This overwhelming support was the result of years of conversations between conservation partners, town officials and residents to discuss the community’s needs, which included flood control, continued alewife harvesting and enhanced public access to the river.
Then, the project was designed to meet those needs, while also restoring a critical pathway for sea-run fish. With funding secured through a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Restoration Center award, the project will be completed at no cost to the town.
“We had many meetings with the Downeast Salmon Federation and Maine Coast Heritage Trust before this vote ever went into place,” said Cherryfield Selectman Corey Smith. “The town voted unanimously. They were well prepared because of the information that was given to the townspeople who attended the meetings.”
The nature-like fishway is expected to boost sea-run fish population recovery by improving access to their natural habitat. Upon project completion, over 500 miles of upstream habitat will once again be open to sea-run fish, reconnecting a river that remains an important stronghold for these species.
The project also includes significant enhancements to a park adjacent to the fishway, including a new play area, restrooms, an amphitheater, a gazebo and a floating dock that will expand public access and strengthen the community’s connection to the river. It serves as a model for community-based conservation, bringing together local government, residents, land trusts, fisheries organizations and federal agencies to design environmental solutions that address community priorities.
On May 23, as community members and conservation partners gather on the Narraguagus River to mark World Fish Migration Day, they will also celebrate the project’s progress: a major milestone in a decades-long effort to restore fish passage, reconnect habitat and strengthen community. Their story offers powerful lessons that can inform the conservation of sea-run fish in Maine and beyond.
“Nature Connects” is a monthly column showcasing conservation stories from people and organizations across Maine. To learn more or suggest story ideas, email [email protected].
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