Acadians predominantly came from the Poitou and SainteOnge areas of western France. They came to what is now Nova Scotia in waves throughout the first half of the 17th century. Many of the first settlers who established the first permanent establishment at Port Royal are not descendants of Acadians. Most of thedirect descendants would have come a little later, like in the 1630s when they established LeHave.

Acadians had close ties to the local Mik'ma and all Acadians today have a little bit of Mik'ma in their family tree (even though it might be difficult to pinpoint because genealogy records would have charged many of the Mik'ma names to Christian ones).

Acadian French still bears some resemblance to the Poitou-Sainteongeait dialect that you hear among in that older generations in that part of France. The "j collectif" for example is a commonality between both regions that still exist. For example, instead of saying "Nous avons" (we have) you'll hear Acadians say "j'avons". "Je" or "J'" in standard French is only used for the first person singular.

Nova Scotia Acadians share a lot in common with the large Acadian population in New Brunswick and the smaller population in Prince Edward Island, but they're also quite unique in a number of ways. The 4 or 5 communities that still speak French are separated from each other so they've developed independently. The south west region of Clare for example has one of the most distinct and mutually unintelligible dialects in the Maritime provinces. The hard "j" sound you hear in all other French dialects is an "h" sound in Clare, like in Spanish.

For more information on the first Acadian settlements, I highly recommend Naomi Griffiths' From Migrant to Acadian: a North American border people, 1604–1755.