

Finding Cajun
Season 2021 Episode 2 | 59m 13sVideo has Closed Captions
Filmmaker Nathan Rabalais presents a critical and historically informed perspective.
Look at how Cajuns compare to the present-day Acadians in maritime Canada, a community that is supposedly at the historical root of Cajun ethnicity. It also explores how cultural and racial labels in Louisiana have shifted, especially over the past 70 years, and considers the stakes of maintaining (or losing) heritage languages in the United States.
Louisiana Public Broadcasting Presents is a local public television program presented by LPB
The Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting

Finding Cajun
Season 2021 Episode 2 | 59m 13sVideo has Closed Captions
Look at how Cajuns compare to the present-day Acadians in maritime Canada, a community that is supposedly at the historical root of Cajun ethnicity. It also explores how cultural and racial labels in Louisiana have shifted, especially over the past 70 years, and considers the stakes of maintaining (or losing) heritage languages in the United States.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipA SMALL BUT HARDY PEOPLE THAT CAME INTO BEING IN THE NEW WORLD WAS CRUELLY REMOVED FROM THEIR HOMELAND, SCATTERED TO THE WINDS AND REGROUND IN LOUISIANA.
MANY NOBLE STORIES TO TELL.
I'M NOT SURE WHY THE WORD CAJUN HAS BECOME THE WORD OF CHOICE FOR PRACTICALLY ANYONE FROM LOUISIANA WITH A FRENCH-SPEAKING BACKGROUND INCLUDING SOMETIMES AFRICAN-AMERICANS.
FOR THE FIRST TIME PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT NONTHINK LO PHONE PROTESTANT FAMILIES FELT THAT THEY COULD CREATE THEIR OWN.
CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT.
I MADE T. THIS IS MY TRUCK.
THIS IS MY RICE AND GRAVY.
THIS IS MY BOAT.
THIS IS WHAT I LIKE AND I'M GOING TO WEAR THE CAJUN.
THAT WOULD BE ME.
SOUTH LOUISIANA, CAJUN COUNTRY.
BAYOU COUNTRY, ACADIA.
THERE'S NO SHORTAGE OF LABELS FOR THIS UNIQUE REGION OF THE U.S.
I GUESS I'M CAJUN BUT THAT DEPENDS ON YOUR DEFINITION.
A LOT OF PEOPLE I KNOW, FONTENOTS, BORDELONS, MY NAME IS FRENCH BUT NOT ACADIAN.
HOW WORDS LIKE CAJUN, CREOLE HAVE SHIFTED AND YET STILL HAVE PROFOUND IMPACT ON HOW WE VIEW OURSELVES.
AND HOW OTHERS VIEW US.
THIS IS A FILM ABOUT LABELS AND THE STORIES THEY TELL.
THE WORD CAJUN IS OFTEN OR HAS OFTEN BEEN DEFINED AS DESCENDANTS OF FRENCH SPEAKING ACADE YAPS THAT CELTSED IN LOUISIANA.
I ADD, AND ALL OF THE OTHER ETHNIC GROPS WITH WHOM THEY ENTER MARRIED ON THE SOUTH LOUISIANA FRONTIER.
CAJUN TO ME FIRST HAS TO BE A DESCENDANT OF ACADIE, YOU KNOW, BUT THEY SAY YOU CAN COME IN THROUGH THE BACK DOOR, BY WEDDING BAND.
THE WORD CAJUN COMES FROM ACADIEN, A SORT OF ENGLISH SPELLING OF THE WAY NONFRENCH SPEAKERS IN LOUISIANA INTERPRETED THE AFFRICATED PRONUNCIATION OF ACADIEN.
PEOPLE KNOW CAJUN COMES FROM ACADIAN, AND THEY KNOW IF THERE ARE PEOPLE CALLED CAJUNS IN LOUISIANA IT IS BECAUSE THERE WERE ACADIANS WHO CAME HERE.
BUT THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD IS NOT WHAT EVERYONE SEEMS TO AGREE ON.
ACADIE WAS FRANCE'S FIRST MAJOR COLONY IN THE NEW WORLD, THE EASTERN MARITIME PROVENNENSES OF CANADA.
SEVERAL GENERATIONS OF ACADIANS PROSPERED THERE.
IN 1713 FLANS LOST POSSESSION OF THIS REGION TO THE BRITISH AND ACADIANS REFUSED TO BECOME BRITISH AND LOSE THEIR WAY OF LIFE.
THE BRITISH SOUGHT A SOLUTION TO WHAT THEY CALLED THE ACADIAN PROBLEM AND IN 1755 BEGAN ONE OF THE MOST BRUTAL AND VIOLENT EXAMPLES OF ETHNIC CLEANSING.
THEY DEPORTED ABOUT 10,000 ACADIANS FROM THE REGION, BURNING THEIR PROPERTY AND INTENTIONALLY SEPARATING FAMILIES IN AN EFFORT TO KEEP THEM FROM REFORMING A COMMUNITY.
THE RESULT WAS AN ACADIAN DIASPORO.
THEY SCATTERED IN ALL DIRECTION, AS FAR SOUTH AS GEORGIA IN NORTH AMERICA BUT NEVER DIRECTLY TO LOUISIANA AS MANY PEOPLE THINK.
THE FIRST 20 ACADIANS ARRIVED IN 1784, NINE YEARS AFTER THE START OF THE GRAND DERANGEMENT.
OVER ABOUT A 20-YEAR PERIOD AND FIVE WAVES OF IMMIGRATION ABOUT 3,000 IN ALL CHOSE TO COME TO LOUISIANA.
THEY CHOSE TO COME, RIGHT?
IT WAS A LAND WHERE THEY COULD REBUILD THEIR LIFE.
SO THERE WAS A MOVEMENT.
THERE REALLY WAS A MOVEMENT OF EXILES SCATTERED FROM THE CARIBBEAN TO FRANCE.
NEARLY TWO GENERATIONS OF ACADIANS LIVED IN FRANCE 20, 30 YEARS AND CHOSE TO COME TO LOUISIANA.
LOUISIANA WAS AN ATTRACTIVE PLACE BECAUSE FRENCH WAS THE DOMINANT LANGUAGE HERE.
THE NEW ACADIA PROJECT HAS REALLY BEEN AN IDEA THAT'S BEEN AROUND A LONG TIME.
WE WOULD LIKE TO FIND A COLONY WHERE THEY SETTLED IN 1765.
WHAT DID THEY HAVE WITH THEM?
WHAT SORT OF MATERIAL CULTURE DID THEY HAVE?
QUESTIONS LIKE THIS ARE NOT ANSWERED IN THE DOCUMENTARY RECORD.
THERE WERE ALL SORTS OF COLONISTS IN LOUISIANA BY THE TIME THE ACADIANS FIRST ARRIVED HERE IN 1764, '65.
A REMARKABLE MIX OF PEOPLE.
THE OLD WORLD AND THE NEW CAME TOGETHER TO CREATE SOMETHING.
IT'S NOT ANSWERS AND IN THE PAST A COLLECTION OF TWO, THREE MAJOR GROUPS TALKING ABOUT DOZENS OF GROUPS THAT HAVE COALESCED HERE TO CREATE SOMETHING NEW.
EVEN WHEN ACADIANS ARRIVED IN LOUISIANA IN ALL THESE DIFFERENT WAVES, THERE WERE NO MORE THAN 3,000 OF THEM, BUT IN A COLONY THAT HAD OVER 40,000 PEOPLE, HALF OF WHOM WERE SLAVES AT THE TIME.
BUT WHETHER OR NOT 3,000 ACADIANS SEEMS LIKE A LOT IT'S ALSO A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE.
3,000, THE 21st CENTURY SOUNDS LIKE A DROP IN THE BUCKET POPULATION-WISE, BUT AT THE TIME THAT THEY ARRIVED IN LOUISIANA, 3,000 IMMIGRANTS JUST ABOUT EQUAL THE SIZE OF THE POPULATION IN NEW ORLEANS.
ALL OF THESE PEOPLE REALLY ECLIPSED AND SUCKED IN THE ACADIANS WHEN THEY ARRIVED IN LOUISIANA.
MOST PEOPLE DON'T THINK OF LOUISIANA HISTORY ANY MORE LIKE THAT.
EVEN LARGER BUT OFTEN FORGOTTEN MIGRATION OCCURRED DURING AND AFTER THE REVOLUTION OF PRESENT DAY HAITI.
WE HAVE JUST A LITTLE UNDER 10,000 WHO COME HERE, ABOUT 9050 WHO COME TO NEW ORLEANS ESPECIALLY SINCE THE CONCENTRATED POPULATION OF URBAN NEW ORLEANS WITH ONLY 3,000 HERE AT THE TIME EFFECTIVELY THAT MIGRATION PUSHED BACK THE PROCESS OF ANGELO AMERICANIZATION BY AT LEAST A GENERATION.
IT HELPED TO SUSTAIN THE FRENCH LANGUAGE AND CULTURE CAJUN BECAME A GENERIC TERM FOR POOR FRENCH SPEAKING.
IF YOU REFER BACK TO THOSE WITH NO ACADIAN HISTORY THE OUTSIDE WORLD BEGAN TO IDENTIFY YOU AS CAJUN WHETHER OR NOT YOU HAVE ANY CONTACT OR ANY GENETIC LINK WHATSOEVER WITH THE COMMUNITY.
OUTSIDERS OFTEN THINK THEY ARE ACADIAN AND THAT MEANS THEY ARE FRENCH IF THEY SPEAK FRENCH IS THE DIRECT DESCENDANT OF ACADIAN FRENCH.
THAT LEAVES ASIDE THE FRENCH SPEAKERS OF OTHER ORIGINS.
THROUGH THE 1970s THROUGH THE 1990s YOU LITERALLY SEE THE CHANGES IN HOW CREOLE ALMOST VAN YINCHES OVER TIME.
ONE EXAMPLE OF IS THE CHARISMATIC STATE SENATOR WHO BECAME FAMOUS THROUGH HIS BOOK AND CURE ALL MEDICINE.
HOW DID YOU MAKE $5,000 IN ONE YEAR?
I OWN THE MAKER OF HATACOL.
WE MANUFACTURE IT.
WHAT'S THAT FOR?
IT'S WORTH $5 MILLION FOR ME.
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA HE SORT OF HELPED CREATE THIS CLASS SEGREGATED MOVEMENT, THE LOUISIANA ACADIAN MOVEMENT, IN THE '20s, WHICH EXCLUDED POOR WHITE FRENCH SPEAKERS.
HE BROUGHT THESE MAIDS TO ACADIE HOPING THEY COULD GRAFT ON AND MARRY AND KEEP IT GOING.
DUDLEY STARTED THIS MOVEMENT THAT BEGAN TO LOOK MORE TOWARDS ACADIA AND ACADIANIZEING THINGS THAT HAD BEEN CALLED CREOLE FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
THE THOUGHT IN GENERAL WAS SIMPLY A REGION OF THE COUNTRY WITH A LOT OF HARD POVERTY.
YOU WANT A STORY THAT UPLIFTS.
IT'S ALSO A BEAUTIFUL AMERICAN STORY.
IT MENTION MESHES WONDERFULLY WITH OUR LARGER IMMIGRATION MYTH.
DON'T FORGET MANY OF THEM THEN BECAME CREOLE AND THEY BECAME AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE SLAVE HOLDING SOCIETY.
15 YEARS AFTER THE ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST ACADIAN SETTLERS 41% OF HOUSEHOLDS HAD SLAVES.
WOW!
FOR THEM THAT WAS A WAY OF HAVING HELP, BEING UPWARDLY MOBILE AND BECOMING CREOLE AT THAT POINT.
AND LATER BECOMING REGULAR SOUTHERNERS.
THE TERM CREOLE IS ONE THAT CAN ENGENDER DISCUSSION AMONGST DIFFERENT PEOPLE.
DIFFERENT PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT UNDERSTANDING OF IT.
WHILE TODAY PEOPLE USE CAJUN AND CREOLE AS A DICHOTOMY THIS WASN'T ALWAYS THE CASE.
THEY ARE ASSUMING THAT CREOLE MEANS TO BE A COMBINATION OF AFRICAN DECEMBER SCENT AND EUROPEAN.
THAT IS POSSIBLE HOWEVER THE EARLIEST UNDERSTANDINGS WERE REGARDLESS OF RACE.
CREOLE HERE MET 2345EU9IVE OR INDIGENOUS TO THIS AREA AND IT WAS APPLIED TO VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING NATIVE TO THIS AREA.
AFRICANS, CHILDREN OF AFRICAN SLAVES BORN IN LOUISIANA WERE CALLED CREOLE.
CHILDREN OF EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS BORN IN LOUISIANA WERE CALLED CREOLE.
VARIETIES OF TOMATOES PLANTED HERE WERE CALLED CREOLE.
YOU CAN STILL BUY CREOLE ONIONS AND TOMATOES ALONG SOUTH LOUISIANA HIGHWAYS.
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT NOT ONLY CREOLE IDENTITY WHICH IN THE 19th CENTURY IS A NATIONAL IDENTITY.
WE TALKED ABOUT CREOLE CULTURE, THIS BLENDING OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS.
WE ALSO BEGAN TO SEE CREOLE USED AS AN ADJECTIVE NOT ONLY FOR RACE HORSES AND TOMATOES BUT FOR PEOPLE.
WE CAN SEE CLEAR EVIDENCE OF THAT IN THIS 1808 SLAVE REGISTRY FROM LAURA PLANTATION.
A MAN NAMED JAILED JEAN PIERRE IS A CREOLE MU LA TO.
HALF AFRICAN, HALF EUROPEAN.
CREOLE MEANS HE'S BORN IN LOUISIANA.
HE SPEAKS CREOLE OR FRENCH.
HE'S FULLY ACCULTURATED INTO EVERYTHING HERE IN LOUISIANA.
THE FIRST RECONSTRUCTION ERA BECOMES DEADLY SERIOUS WHETHER ONE IS PERCEIVED AS BEING RACIALLY MIXED OR NOT.
SO AT THAT POINT THEN WHITE CREOLES HAVE TO VERY QUICKLY REDEFINE THINGS, NO, CREOLE IS PURE WOULD WHITE.
WE'RE ONLY WHITE AND WE DON'T HAVE ANY KIND OF MIXTURE.
THERE'S A STRUGGLE OVER TIME TO TRY TO CLAIM THIS LABEL CREOLE FOR THEMSELVES.
THEY ULTIMATELY LOSE THAT BATTLE AND YOU FIND THROUGHOUT THE EARLY INTO MID 20th CENTURY GRADUALLY WHITE LOUISIANANS STOPPED THINKING OF THEMSELVES AS CREOLE AND STOPPED REFERRING TO THEM AS CREOLE IN PUBLIC.
THEY MAY TALK PRIVATELY AS CREOLE, BUMETINIDE FOR THOSE OUTSIDE THE CIRCLES THEY WOULD JUST CALL THEMSELVES WHITE.
CREOLE IS THE CULTURE THAT'S PRESENT.
THAT WAY YOU HAVE ROOM FOR EVERYONE.
THAT'S A BIT OF A SHOCKER FOR PEOPLE TO HEAR TODAY BECAUSE THERE'S BEEN SORT OF REEDUCATION, SO WE SORT OF ASSUME THAT BECAUSE TODAY PEOPLE IDENTIFY AS CAJUN AND THEREFORE SAY THEY SPEAK CAINL UNION THAT THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE WHEN THAT'S NOT REALLY TRUE IN LOUISIANA A STORY OF THE ACADIANS IS INSEPARABLE FROM THE FICTIONAL CHARACTER OF EVAN JE LINE.
I RECALL WHEN I WAS VERY YOUNG WE DIDN'T HEAR ABOUT CAGEUS.
WE HEARD MORE ABOUT EVAN JE LINE.
IT WAS EVAN JE LINE COUNTRY.
TELLS THE STORY OF A YOUNG WOMAN SEPARATED FROM HER HOME DURING THE DEPORTATION.
SHE BECAME, FOR BETTER OR WORSE, AN EMBLEM OF ACADIAN CULTURE BOTH IN LOUISIANA AND IN CANADA.
EVANGELINE BECOMES AN INTERNATIONAL LITERALLY PHENOMENON OF THE 19th CENTURY AND IT'S TAUGHT IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
IT'S SOMETHING EVERY CHILD READS.
SHE WAS INVENTED BY A WELL-KNOWN ANGELO-AMERICAN POET, LONGFELLOW, WHO WAS FROM THAT BASTION OF ANGELO-AMERICANISM, NEW ENGLAND.
ENGLAND NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN CAJUN WAS ON THE NATIONAL RADAR.
EVANGELINE IS MORE A VICTORIAN PROTESTANT WOMAN,@/ AMERICAN WOMAN, THAN SHE IS ACADIAN SO ALL OF THESE THINGS COMBINED AND SOMEHOW SHE'S BECOME THIS ICON OF ACADIAN CULTURE, ACADIANS BEING THIS PASSIVE PEOPLE THAT CAME FROM THIS PARADISE.
IT WAS THE FRONTIER.
IT WAS NOT A PARADISE.
DO YOU KNOW ANY ACADIANS OR CAJUN WHO ARE PASSIVE?
IF YOU GO TO ST. MAARTENVILLE AND LOOK AT THE STATUE THE STATUE IS ACTUALLY A MEXICAN ACTRESS.
SHE PUT UP THE MONEY HERSELF SO THE STATUE WOULD BE MADE IN HER ELF EOGY.
EVANTAGE LYNN PRINCESS IS ACTUALLY A MEXICAN WOMAN.
THE CHARACTER OF EVANGELINE APPEALED TO MIDDLE CLASS AND UPPER CLASS CAJUNS WHO HAD BROKEN AWAY FROM THEIR SUBSISTENCE FARMING HERITAGE.
FOR THOSE WHO ARE HOPEFUL OF GAINING ACCESS TO THE MAINSTREAM, THIS IS THE BRASS RAIL ASSOCIATION WE HAVE VANTAGE LINE AS AN ICON.
IT APPEALED TO THEM BECAUSE IT WAS AN ALTERNATIVE TO REAL LIFE ACTUAL CAJUN CULTURE.
ODDLY ENOUGH THEY WERE DENIGRATING THEIR OWN ACTUAL CULTURE IN FAVOR OF THIS MAKE BELIEVE CULTURE FOUND IN EVANGELINE.
THESE SORTS OF IDENTITIES ARE CONNECTED TO STORIES.
THAT'S WHAT'S IMPORTANT ABOUT THEM ARE THE STORIES FOR LOUISIANA FRANCO PHONES LONG MARGINALIZED EVEN IN EVANGELINE THE KIND OF ORIGIN MYTH.
FIXATION ON CERTAIN BRANCHES OF YOUR FAMILY BEGINS IN THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION.
IN 1924 YOU HAVE THE ANTI-IMMIGRATION ACT BUT THAT WAS NOT OVERTURNED UNTIL NIXON CAME AROUND, 1968, 1969.
THE REACTION TO THAT WAS THE RISE OF THESE ETHNIC MOVEMENTS BECAUSE IT WAS A POINT WHEN FOR THE FIRST TIME PEOPLE FROM THESE DIFFERENT NONANGELO PHONE PROTESTANT FAMILIES FELT THEY COULD CREATE THEIR OWN NARRATIVE.
THESE ETHNIC MOVEMENTS MADE IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO THINK ABOUT THESE NEW IDENTITIES BY CONSOLIDATING ALL THESE THINGS.
SO A POWWOW COMES TO CHARACTERIZE ALL THESE NATIVE AMERICANS.
LEGRAND DERANGEMENT COMES TO CHARACTERIZE LOUISIANA WHICH I THINK EXPLAINS WHY EVANGELINE PARISH, WHERE THERE WERE HARDLY ANY ACADIAN SETTLERS, HAS THE NAME THAT IT DOES.
ACADIAN IS ALSO AT THE ROOT OF ACADIANYA, A 22-PARISH REGION NOW OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED BY THE GOVERNMENT AS THE HISTORICALLY FRENCH SPEAKING PART OF THE STATE.
THE TERM ACADIANYA CAME ABOUT BY ACCIDENT.
A TV STATION IN LAFAYETTE, KATC, WAS ALREADY LOOKING FOR A TERM TO APPLY TO THE STATION'S VIEWING AREA AND THOUGHT ABOUT USING EVANGELINE COUNTRY, AND ONE DAY THIS PIECE OF SOUND OR VIDEO EQUIPMENT SHOWED UP FROM UP NORTH AND A CLERICAL SECRETARY HAD MADE A MISTAKE TYPING UP ACADIAN TELEVISION CORPORATION, ADDING AN EXTRA A, MADE IT ACADIANYA.
THE GENERAL MANAGER LOOKED AT THAT AND IT DAWNED ON HIM, THAT'S A GREAT NAME.
BUSINESSES BEGAN TO USE IT, THE STATE OF LOUISIANA BEGAN TO USE IT FOR POLITICAL AND TOURIST REASONS.
IT JUST SNOWBALLED.
THIS SHIFT WAS THROUGHOUT LOUISIANA, WHAT ONE CALLED ACADIANIZATION.
TECHNICALLY CAJUNS ARE CREOLES IN ONE SENSE BUT NOBODY MAKES THAT DISTINCTION BECAUSE IT'S JUST EASIER TO CONSIDER CAJUNS A SEPARATE GROUP.
I HAVE INTERVIEWED THOSE WHO TELL ME, WHEN WE WERE GROWING UP WE WERE CREOLES.
CONSIDER SO YOU GET ALL THESE LOUISIANA CREOLES FROM ST. JAMES, ALL OVER LOUISIANA WHO START TO IDENTIFY AS CAJUN BECAUSE IT'S THE POPULAR ONE, THE ONE YOU CAN GO TO CHURCH AS AND BUY IT AT POPEYE'S.
IT'S EVERYWHERE.
THERE'S THIS NATURAL NEED FOR PEOPLE TO WANT TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH WHAT IS POPULAR.
WE ALL KNOW IT'S BEEN A MARKETING TOOL.
EVERYTHING THAT WAS RIGHTFULLY CREOLE HAS BEEN RELABELED CAJUN AND NOW THAT LOUISIANA IS FOR ALL INTENDED PURPOSES CAJUN -- OKAY, WE'RE OKAY WITH SAYING WE'RE ADDING CREOLE.
NOW LET'S BE A LITTLE MORE INCLUSIVE.
AND IT'S JUST -- IT'S A DISCREDIT TO HISTORY.
THE TURNING POINT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE LATE '70s, EARLY 1980s.
THE TERM CAJUN BECAME A STAND-IN FOR LOUISIANA CULTURE THAT HAD FLAIR AND SPICE.
A NEW CAJUN SPICE RUFFLES POTATO CHIP.
RIDGES FULL OF CAYENNE PEPPER, ONION, GARLIC, PAPRIKA, THIS IS CAJUN SPICE.
AIN'T NOTHING FLAT ABOUT IT!
MMM!
AND EARLIER THE TERM WAS A BIT MORE COMMON THAN THAT.
IT'S WEIRD BECAUSE THEY PRACTICE THE EXACT SAME CULTURE AS PEOPLE WHO IDENTIFY AS CREOLE.
THEY HAVE SHARED CULTURE, EXPERIENCE, LAND, GENEALOGY, ALL FOUR THINGS THAT DEFINE COMMUNITIES FOR SOCIAL SCIENCES, BUT THEY ARE APPROPRIATING AND RELABELING IT CAJUN.
I'M SORRY THE CAJUNS HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED I'M SORRY THAT THE CAJUNS DISCOVERED THEMSELVES.
THE TIME WAS RIPE FOR LOCALS TO GRASP ON TO SOLID IT THAT WAS BEING THROWN OUT THERE AND SAYING, WHAT DO YOU THINK?
DOES IT FIT?
IT WENT FROM SOMETHING BEING PEJORATIVE TO, YOU KNOW, WE HAD THE BUMPER STICKER THAT SAID, YOU KNOW, PROUD TO BE OIL FIELD TRASH.
IT BECAME MONETIZED, SOMETHING THAT YOU COULD EVEN SLAP A LABEL ON A PRODUCT.
IN CAPITALIST SOCIETIES ANYWAY IF YOU CAN PURCHASE STUFF, IF YOU CAN CONSUME YOUR IDENTITY, THEN IT MAKES IT POPULAR.
EVERYONE WANTS TO BE A PART OF IT.
THAT IS SORT OF WHEN THE DELINEATION BETWEEN CAJUN BECAME WHITE AND CREOLE BECAME BLACK IT WAS NEVER MEANT TO INCLUDE BLACK PEOPLE.
NEVER.
WHEN I WAS GOING THROUGH THE HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF FILES I CAME ACROSS SOME SORT OF REFERENCE THAT HAD TO DO WITH HAVING TO REASSURE THE POLITICIANS IN LOUISIANA AND IN WASHINGTON THAT LOUISIANA WOULD NOT BECOME ANOTHER QUEBEC.
BECAUSE THERE WAS REAL, REAL ANGST THAT LOUISIANA COULD BECOME ANOTHER QUEBEC, THAT LOUISIANA WOULD BE A LINGUISTIC GROUP APART THAT WOULD HAVE CONSIDERABLE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL FORCE, AND I CAN'T PROVE IT, BUT I HAVE TO BELIEVE THAT THERE WAS SOMEWHERE IN THAT WHOLE ENVIRONMENT MORE EFFORTS PUT TO RACIAL SEGREGATION TO PREVENT THAT FROM HAPPENING.
BECAUSE THIS MOVEMENT TENDED TO REVOLVE AROUND CAJUN ETHNICITY, NOT SPECIFICALLY FRENCH LANGUAGE THERE WAS NO UNIFIED PUSH FROM ALL GROUPS TO DEFEND THE FRENCH LANGUAGE.
THE HOMA INDIANS ARE STILL THE MOST FRENCH SPEAKING GROUP OF LOUISIANA BUT LARGELY ABSENT FROM THE IMAGE OF FRENCH LOUISIANA.
THEY HAVE HISTORICALLY BEEN EVEN MORE MARGINALIZED BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T FIT INTO THE BLACK AND WHITE BINARY.
THE FRENCH LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL REVIVAL THAT WE STARTED SEEING IN THE '60s, THAT KEPT GOING IN THE '70s, AND '80s, AND UP UNTIL TODAY WAS LARGELY A WHITE PHENOMENON THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT WE WERE STILL FIGHTING FOR EQUALITY.
WE WERE STILL -- WE STILL HAD ECONOMIC ISSUES, NOT HAVING OPPORTUNITIES AFFORDED TO US.
NOT ONLY THAT BUT OF COURSE THE NOTION OF CREOLENESS AND THE LABEL CREOLE COULD BE DIVISIVE DURING THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND AFTER THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT BECAUSE WITHIN THE BLACK COMMUNITY, CREOLES WERE OFTEN SEEN TO BE PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT OF THEMSELVES AS BETTER THAN NONCREOLES, DESCENDANTS OF FREE PEOPLE IN MANY CASES, BETTER THAN THE DESCENDANTS OF SLAVES.
KEEPING THAT CREOLE IDENTIFICATION PRODUCED SOMEWHAT OF A KIND OF SOCIAL BUFFER, A BUFFER IN TERMS OF SOCIAL STATUS.
THE CREOLE IDENTIFICATION AND SOCIAL AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS GAVE THEM STRENGTH AND DISTINGUISHED THEM FROM BLACK AMERICANS.
THESE GROUPS WHO HAVE BEEN DOWNTROD DEN, MARGINALIZED, FELT ONCE AGAIN WE HAVE BEEN OVERLOOKED, SWEPT UNDER THE RUG, AND NOT BASICALLY ACKNOWLEDGED AS BEING A VALUABLE PART OF THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE.
THERE WERE 1 MILLION PEOPLE SPEAKING FRENCH IN LOUISIANA IN 1970.
IMAGINE IF THEY HAD BEEN ABLE TO PUT ASIDE ALL OF THE RACIAL -- WE ALL SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE.
TOGETHER WE ARE AN ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL POWERHOUSE.
BUT BY THAT POINT EVERYONE HAD BECOME SO NOT ONLY ASSIMILATED BUT RACIALLY SEGREGATED THAT THEY COULDN'T PUT THOSE THINGS ASIDE.
AS ACADIAN IDENTITY BEGAN TO PLAY A BIGGER ROLE IN HOW LOUISIANA IN GENERAL PORTRAYED ITSELF, THE TRUE MEANINGS BEGAN TO GROW FARTHER APART.
THERE'S SUCH A GAP BETWEEN THE EVOLUTION OF OF THE TWO GROUPS THAT IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THE INTERACTIONS ARE SOMEWHAT LIMITED TO THE GENEALOGY AND THE HISTORY.
THAT NOT AS MUCH IN EVOLVING TOGETHER AS A REUNITED FAMILY.
FOR ME THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ACADIAN CULTURE OF CANADA AND OF LOUISIANA IS THE AFRICAN INFLUENCE.
BECAUSE THERE'S A BIG CHUNK OF WHAT WE KNOW IS A CAJUN THAT'S ACTUALLY AFRICAN.
AFRICAN IF YOU LOOK AT CAJUNS IN GENERAL THERE'S A TENDENCY NOT TO MAKE WAVES, TO SORT OF ACCEPT THINGS AS FATE.
I OFTEN WONDER IF THE EMPHASIS ON GENEALOGY IS AN ATTEMPT TO WRITE A SELF-HISTORY, THAT WE HAVE A HISTORY.
YOU SEE?
I CAN CLAIM THIS HISTORY.
THERE'S TWO ASPECTS TO THIS EMPHASIS ON GENEALOGY.
ONE OF THEM IS PROVING THAT YOU'RE AUTHENTIC.
NOT EVERYBODY DOES IT FOR THAT REASON BUT TO SAY YOU'RE AUTHENTIC ACADIAN BECAUSE YOU HAVE ANCESTORS FROM HERE.
ALL SORTS OF WAYS IN WHICH THIS PLAYS OUT, WHO IS IN, WHO IS OUT, RIGHT?
WHO IS AUTHENTIC AND WHO IS NOT.
IN MANY WAYS WE HAVE LOST TOUCH WITH WHAT ARE CONSIDERED TRADITIONAL FORMS OF BEING A COMMUNITY SO WE WANT TO FILL THAT IN BY LEARNING MORE ABOUT OUR HISTORY.
EVEN THE PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE -- EVEN IF THEY HAVE ONE LINE OF ACADIAN THEY ARE OBSESSED WITH IT AND THEY TALK ABOUT IT, EVEN IF THEY DON'T HAVE ANY AND THEY ARE CAJUN THEY TALK LIKE IT'S THEIR BLOOD.
I THINK THAT'S THE CASE FOR MOST YOUNGER CAJUNS TODAY BECAUSE FOR GOOD OR BAD, THAT'S PRETTY MUCH ALL THAT THEY HAVE LEFT.
WE DON'T HAVE THE SAME ATTITUDE AS, SAY, CANADA WITH TWO OFFICIAL LANGUAGES.
IF YOU WANT TO WORK FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT YOU JUST HAVE TO SPEAK BOTH LANGUAGES.
WE DON'T HAVE THAT MINDSET.
THERE IS NOT THE CONCEPT OF LINGUISTIC IDENTITY OR LINGUISTIC RIGHTS IN LOUISIANA.
I HAVE HEARD FRENCH CANADIANS EXPRESS SURPRISE AND I HAVE HEARD CAJUN ACTIVISTS EXPRESS DISAPPOINTMENT THAT CAJUNS DON'T HAVE, IN GENERAL, A MORE POLITICAL OR ACTIVIST VIEW ABOUT PRESERVING THEIR LANGUAGE AND CULTURE.
BECAUSE ACADIANS OVERWHELMINGLY CAME OUT OF THE FRENCH PETS AN TRY THERE WAS AN INHERIT DISTRUST OF FIGURES OF AUTHORITY AND THAT REMAINS ALIVE AND WELL AND HAS BEEN THROUGHOUT THEIR HIS TOGETHER.
WHEN I WAS A KID THE BIGGEST INSULT YOU COULD LAY AT SOMEONE'S FEET, IL SE CROIT, YOU KNOW, HE THINKS A LOT OF HIMSELF.
HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN?
IN THE MID 20th CENTURY FRENCH WAS STILL VERY PRESENT IN LOUISIANA WITH OVER HALF OF RESIDENTS SPEAKING FRENCH IN MANY PLACES.
FRENCH WAS PRESENT ON THE RADIO, TELEVISION, AND EVEN IN THEATER.
BUT DESPITE THIS LINGUISTIC AND CONSOLIDATE RECALL REVIVAL THERE WAS AN UNDERLYING PROBLEM.
IN THE EARLY PART OF THE 20th CENTURY NEARLY AN ENTIRE GENERATION STOPPED TRANSMITTING FRENCH TO THEIR CHILDREN.
IT STRUCK ME AS ODD THAT MY FAMILY HAD BEEN IN THE NEW WORLD FOR WELL OVER 300 YEARS YET WE JUST STOPPED SPEAKING FRENCH ONLY ONE GENERATION BEFORE, MY FATHER'S GENERATION.
AS A NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKER WHO GREW UP WITH AN ENGLISH SPEAKING ANCESTOR, TO NEVER HAVE TO QUESTION MY LANGUAGE, RIGHT, IT'S JUST THE LANGUAGE WE SPEAK.
WHY WOULD THERE BE A PROBLEM TRANSMITTING THAT.
THAT SEEMS VERY STRANGE TO ME AND I WANTED TO UNDERSTAND WHY WOULD ANY COMMUNITY JUST THROW AWAY THEIR LANGUAGE.
THE PUN CHIMENT FOR CHILDREN IN SCHOOL SPEAKING FRENCH WAS WIDESPREAD.
THAT CERTAINLY WAS AN EXAMPLE OF A CAJUN AT RIB UTE, BEING FORCED OUT OF THE CULTURE.
IT WAS FORBIDDEN AS A MANNER OF INSTRUCTION.
I THINK THAT PROBABLY INCREASED THEIR INSECURITY.
BROKEN FRENCH, CORRUPT KIND OF LANGUAGE, SOMETHING THAT IS NOT A FULL-FLEDGED LANGUAGE.
IN 1968, JAMES FOUNDED CODAFIL, COUNCIL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF FRENCH IN LOUISIANA, A STATE AGENCY CHARGED WITH INCREASING THE PRESENCE AND STATUS OF FRENCH IN LOUISIANA AND IN MANY WAYS TRYING UNDO THE DAMAGE DONE THROUGH THE SCHOOL SYSTEM DECADES EARLIER YOU CAN KIND OF UNDERSTAND WHERE HE WAS GOING WITH THIS BECAUSE HE WAS THINKING IN TERMS OF ECONOMICS, HOW CAN WE USE THE LANGUAGE TO CREATE THE SORT OF ECOLOGY OF FRANK OPHONE AND HE KNEW THAT WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF THE FRENCH AND THE CANADIANS WHO WERE FRANKOPHONES IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO DO IT.
YOU HAD TO PARTNER WITH ALL THESE DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS SO THAT THEY WOULD MAYBE TRAIN OUR LOUISIANANS HOW TO BECOME A NURSE IN FRENCH OR TRAIN OUR MECHANICS HOW TO BECOME A MECHANIC IN FRENCH.
WE CAN HELP TO EXPLAIN THE UNITED STATES VIEWPOINT OF WORLD AFFAIRS TO OUR FRENCH-SPEAKING FRIENDS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
CODOFIL WAS NEVER OFFICIALLY OR FORMAL LISSETTE UP TO ASSIST CAJUN CULTURE.
THAT PHRASING DOES NOT APPEAR ANYWHERE IN ITS CHARTER OR THE BILL THAT ESTABLISHED IT BACK IN 1968.
STARTING IN THE '60s AND '70s THERE IS THIS VERY REAL PHENOMENON WHERE EUROPEAN FRANK OPHONES, PARTICULARLY THE FRENCH, WOULD TELL LOCAL FRANCO PHONES WHO HAD ALWAYS SPOKEN FRENCH AT HOME THAT THEY WERE SPEAKING GRAMMATICALLY INCORRECTLY AND I THINK THAT HAD A PROFOUND EFFECT ON THE WAY LOCALS SAW THEMSELVES.
I BELIEVE YOU HAVE SOMETHING LIKE FOUR OR 5 THOUSAND DOLLARS STUDENTS STATEWIDE INVOLVED IN IMMERSION.
I DON'T THINK NECESSARY THE CRITICAL MASS NEEDED TO SAVE CAJUN CULTURE.
YOU KNOW, SO THE TEACHER IS FROM BELGIUM OR FROM MANITOBA OR HAITI OR MALI OR FROM SENEGAL, FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE.
AND IS HAVING TO TRANSLATE THIS AMERICAN CURRICULUM INTO FRENCH TO THIS KID WHO IS FULLY ASSIMILATED AMERICAN.
WHERE'S THE IDENTITY BUILDING IN THAT?
SO I ASKED VU SPECIFICALLY WHAT'S THE PURPOSE?
IT IS, IS IMMERSION FOR CREATING BETTER TEST SCORES.
ALTHOUGH MANY LOOK TO IT THEY OPERATE WITH VERY LIMITED RESOURCES AND DEVASTATING BUDGET CUTS IN 2012.
ANOTHER PROBLEM IS THAT IMMERSION IS NOT OFFERED IN HIGH SCHOOL.
SO MANY STUDENTS AT THE AGE OF 13 OR 14 ARE BILINGUAL, BUT THERE'S NO BRIDGE TO ANY KIND OF PROFESSIONIZATION IN FRENCH.
WE HAVE YET TO ARTICULATE SCHOOL TO WORK IN A FASHION THAT MAKES IT PALPABLE FOR LOCAL COMMUNITIES, AND EVEN, I DARESAY, SOME OF OUR LEGISLATORS TO UNDERSTAND THAT, YOU KNOW, FRENCH EQUALS JOBS.
BASICALLY FRENCH EQUALS JOBS.
SO WE ARE PREPARING A WORK FORCE, A BILINGUAL WORK FORCE, AND UNTIL WE MAKE THOSE ECONOMIC APPLICATIONS, THEY REMAIN ALL DRESSED UP AND NO PLACE TO GO.
THERE IS NOT A SINGLE SOLITARY COURSE WITHIN THE HOTEL, RESTAURANT, TOURISM PROGRAMS OF THE UNIVERSITIES THAT'S TAUGHT IN FRENCH.
IMAGINE THE ECONOMIC IMPACTING THAT COULD HAVE NOT ONLY FOR BUSINESSES BUT ALSO FOR THE STATE AND ALSO FOR INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE WHO SPEAK FRENCH IF THEY COULD WORK IN THAT LANGUAGE.
I MEAN WE HERE AT LAURA PLANTATION FRENCH LANGUAGE VISITATION IS AROUND 15% A YEAR, UPWARDS OF A QUARTER MILLIONS DOLLARS OF DIRECT ECONOMIC IMPACT.
IMAGINE THE ECONOMIC CAPACITY IF WE HAD A WHOLE NETWORK THAT EXISTED IN FRENCH.
TOURISM IS A BUSINESS.
IT'S A SELL IT, WE SELL THINGS.
WE MARKET THINGS.
YOU CAN TRY TO MARKET A CULTURE BUT YOU REALLY CAN'T.
LOUISIANA TOURISM IS PREDICATED IN NO SMALL PART ON THE PERCEPTION OF THE FRENCH REALITY OF LOUISIANA.
THAT'S OUR BRAND FROM THE SAINTS HELMET TO FESTIVALS AND EVERYTHING ELSE.
CAJUN PRIDE SEEMS TO BE SOARING RIGHT NOW.
SEEMS TO BE STRONGER THAN EVER.
THAT'S THE GOOD NEWS.
THE BAD NEWS TO SOME PEOPLE IS THAT THE CAINL UNPEOPLE THEMSELVES SEEM TO HAVE DETERMINED THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO SPEAK FRENCH TO BE CAJUN OR TO BE PROUD OF BEING A CAJUN.
CAJUN AMERICANS ARE ABSOLUTELY AMERICANS.
THERE'S NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OF.
THERE'S NOTHING TO BE -- THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT AS LONG AS YOU RECOGNIZE THE FACT THAT FOR MANY OF LADS FRENCH SPEAKERS GREAT GRANDPARENTS WERE OTHERS.
THEY DIDN'T FULLY IDENTIFY WITH.
YOU CAN TELL SOMEONE, I'M FROM OKLAHOMA CITY BUT I HAVE BEEN LIVING IN LAFAYETTE FOR 30 YEARS, YOU KNOW, SO I CONSIDER MYSELF A CAJUN.
SURE, YOU CAN BE A CAJUN.
EVERYONE WANTS TO BE A CAJUN BUT LET'S NOT JUST STOP WITH THE T-SHIRT THAT SAYS KISS ME, I'M CAJUN.
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THAT?
HOW DO YOU HONOR YOUR CAJUN ROOTS, YOUR CREOLE ROOTS?
HOW CAN THAT HELP YOU BECOME SELF-ACTUALIZED AND AT THE SAME TIME IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME?
IF SPEAKING FRENCH IS NO LONGER NECESSARY FOR SOMEONE TO BE CAJUN CAN IT BE SOMETHING THAT REACHES ACROSS ALL OF LOUISIANA'S COMMUNITIES TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER?
WE WERE RACIALLY SEGREGATED AND FORCIBLY DISTANCED FROM LINGUISTIC IDENTITY THEN PEOPLE HAVE A VERY DIFFICULT TIME COMING BACK TO THE SAME TABLE AND SAYING, OKAY, YOU'RE INDIAN, YOU'RE BLACK, YOU'RE MIXED RACE, YOU'RE WHITE, WE SHARE THE SAME LANGUAGE SO LET'S USE THAT AS A POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC TOOL.
I DON'T THINK IT'S ADVANTAGEOUS TO DIVIDE AND SPLIT AND CROSS-SECTION WHAT WE ARE.
THE WHOLE IS WHAT MAKES US SPECIAL.
I THINK THAT THE CAJUN PEOPLE, THE MASS OF AVERAGE, ORDINARY CAJUN PEOPLE, WILL HAVE TO DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES, AND WILL DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES, WHAT IT MEANS TO BE CAJUNS.
I DON'T THINK THAT SCHOLARS OR ACTIVISTS HAVE ANY CONTROL OR SAY-SO OVER THAT.
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