Brayons (/breɪˈjɒ̃/; French pronunciation: [bʁɛjɔ̃]), also called Madawaskayens, are a Francophone people inhabiting the area in and around Madawaska County, New Brunswick, Canada, and some parts of northern Maine.
Therefore, Brayons formed a distinctive culture with a history and heritage linked to farming and forestry in the Madawaska area.
[3] Historically, the formal borders between New Brunswick and Quebec, and to some extent Maine, did not matter much to the people of the area.
This Madawaska region was part of a border dispute and was claimed by Quebec when it was called Lower Canada.
The view of uniqueness led (at least jokingly) to the founding of the République du Madawaska during the Aroostook War of 1838, wherein some Brayons, disgusted with the actions of both British and American interlopers on their historical lands, declared themselves allied with neither and independent.