Funding to Remember Exile of Lepers on Miramichi River Island

A dark part of New Brunswick’s past is being preserved. The story of lepers being forced to live on an island in the middle of the Miramichi River is being remembered as part of the Canada 150 Lost Stories Project. For five years starting in 1844, locals , mostly Acadians, suffering from leprosy were forced to live in isolation on Sheldrake Island on the Miramichi with little access to food or heat. Some escaped only to be forcibly returned. As part of the Lost Stories Project celebrating Canada’s 150th Anniversary the Sheldrake Commemorative Committee has been awarded a fifty thousand dollar grant to film a documentary on the story and commission commemorative artwork.