1632 - 300 colonists arrive in Acadia and begin developing distinct Acadian culture

In September 1632, Isaac de Razilly arrived in Acadia with a group of 300 colonists. Among these were not only sailors and soldiers, but also workmen, craftsmen, noblemen, and monks, as well as 12-15 families. Unlike the French settlers who would continue further down the St. Lawrence River to found New France (now Quebec), these new arrivals in Acadia developed close alliances with their Mi’kmaw and Maliseet neighbours, exchanging goods and knowledge, intermarrying, and eventually developing shared traditions and a distinct Acadian identity. The cooperative alliance and friendship between Acadian communities and surrounding Indigenous peoples steadily deepened and grew through the decades that followed, as the struggle between the French and the British for control of Acadia continued.