Cajun Culture

1104 Words3 Pages

Nous sommes Acadiens. (We are Acadians.) Some outsiders see us as a quaint, virtuous people, spending a great deal of time singing, dancing, praying, and visiting? (Conrad, 1978, p.14). Others see us as independent and unsophisticated. We see ourselves as fun-loving, carefree, happy, proud people who have a great love for our culture. The Acadians were French settlers of eastern Canada who were exiled from their land in the 1750?s. The Acadians are known to have settled in the southern bayou lands of Louisiana around that time. The Acadiana people acquired their nickname, ?Cajuns,? from those people who could not pronounce Acadians correctly. Due to the opinion that Cajuns were ?different?, they lived close together and became isolated from others in Louisiana. They have since developed their own distinct characteristics which make them unique and unlike no others in the bayou state. Family, music, housing, food, marriages, and ?traiteurs? were all a part of the simple but challenging lifestyle of the Cajuns.

The early Cajuns did not have a social life as we know it today. Occasionally, they would attend dances, but family and friends were their main source of fun and relaxation. Because of the hardships of not being able to travel long distances, the Cajuns would gather with family for Sunday dinners and special occasions such as birthdays and holidays. One of their favorite pastimes was to gather, play cards, and sing. The families spent an extreme amount of time together. They shared their thoughts, feelings, and experiences with each other. Most importantly, they needed each other. The desire to be with family is one of the unique factors that has kept the Cajun identity so strong through time and troubles (Hebert, 1997).
...

... middle of paper ...

... ?gris-gris? or hex existed as a common belief and no one questioned their abilities. The ones who practiced this were known as ?traiteurs?. Traiteurs were greatly respected and thought to be very reliable. They were used for minor ailments when doctors were not available. The term ?traiteurs? means ?treator? and originated from the French (Post, 1974). As long as Cajuns lived in Louisiana so have these ?traiteurs? and they will forever be a part of Cajun culture.

The challenging and interesting life of a Cajun is characterized by family, music, housing, food, wedding, and ?traiteurs?, just to name a few. Cajun life began in the 1700?s and still exists today. Though a bit has changed since the early Cajuns arrived, the culture is still thriving. Acadiana is the best place to have a taste of the true Cajun culture and forever will be a colorful part of history.

Show More
Related

  • Black, White, and Indian:Race and the Unmaking of an American, by Claudio Saunt

    1111 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Tracing a single Native American family from the 1780’s through the 1920’s posed a number of challenges,” for Claudio Saunt, author of Black, White, and Indian: Race and the Unmaking of an American Family. (pg. 217) A family tree is comprised of genealogical data that has many branches that take form by twisting, turning, and attempting to accurately represent descendants from the oldest to the youngest. “The Grayson family of the Creek Nation traces its origins to the late 1700’s, when Robert Grierson, a Scotsman, and Sinnugee, a Creek woman, settled down together in what is now north-central Alabama. Today, their descendants number in the thousands and have scores of surnames.” (pg. 3)

    Read More

  • Symbiotic Relationships In Kingsolver's The Bean Trees

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    Taylor and Lou Ann demonstrate a symbiotic relationship between the roles and characteristics in a family. Edna Poppy and Virgie Mae replaces the missing physical and emotional traits in a stable household. The examples tie into the fact that not all families in this book match “the norms” and expectations, but are equally valued, blood or

    Read More

  • Phillipa's Fox Hunt by Somerville Ross

    1110 Words  | 3 Pages

    Family was a place of gathering where people met to eat, drink and socialize. The people in the story were also religious as shown by Mrs. Knox as she prayed for her family. The narrator described th...

    Read More

  • Kinship In Waterlily

    920 Words  | 2 Pages

    With her attention to the kinship practices of Waterlily’s family, Deloria shows that the Dakota society uses these practices to honor and grace the members of their family. She allows readers to see that members of the Dakota society valued the interconnectedness of their society and aimed to extend it through kinship practices. In the quest to insure that all people in the Dakota community received honor, the members of Waterlily’s tiyospaye used these kinship practices properly insure that respect follows them for all of their

    Read More

  • The Cajun and Creole Culture of Lousiana

    1204 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1784, the King of Spain consented to allowing the Acadians to settle in Southern Louisiana. However, when the Acadians arrived, they had some issues with the French aristocracy who didn’t really want them there, so this caused the Acadians to head west of the city of New Orleans into unsettled territory.... ... middle of paper ... ... Southern Quarterly 44.3 (2007): 68-84.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Two Fold Thought Of Deleuze And Guattari

    1529 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...o his attempt to bridge over the conceptual gap between the "local" and the "global" within cultural studies with Deleuze-Guattarian concepts.  His point-of-view of cultural studies, especially, is valuable in terms that he recognizes the danger within its becoming-discipline: "These geopolitical negotiations of 'forms and feelings' [in Cajun dance] are precisely the proper focus of a 'cultural studies' understood not in a limited, 'territorialized' sense of dueling disciplines between adjoining theoretical and conceptual articulations and strategies" (186-7).  If one can keep his/her own distance in reading this book, it will serve as a great source book for further research on cultural studies.

    Read More

  • Cajun Culture Essay

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    Southern culture is based upon three main things. The south is known for its hospitality, language, and food. Here is a bit of an overview on the history and background of the Cajun culture and language. Cajun culture began with the arrival of French Acadians who migrated to and settled in what is now Louisiana mainly between 1765 and 1785 (Cajuns, 1996). Cajun French is a variety of the French language spoken primarily in Louisiana, specifically in the southern parishes (Cajun French, 2016). The Cajuns spoke French almost exclusively until the 20th century. Many would learn English get along in an increasingly Anglo society as the 19th century progressed, but their main language was Cajun French. The basics of the language is their Acadian

    Read More

  • Nathan Abshire's Influence On American Culture

    288 Words  | 1 Pages

    To better understand how Cajun music was invented we need to know the history of the culture and its people. To start, the word Cajun originates from Acadian who were the original settlers of the area that is now known as Nova Scotia and Quebec. In 1604, Acadia was a colony of New France in northeastern North America and the people who lived there were known as Acadians. Eventually they were conquered by the British but were allowed to keep their lands through

    Read More

  • Southern Culture

    382 Words  | 1 Pages

    Southern hospitality is the best in the world. People that live in the South are very nice and are always willing to help another person in any way they can. If someone is from out of town and needs directions to a certain place southerners will make sure he or she knows how to get there before he or she leaves them. Southerners are very polite. Every time we pass someone on the rode, we are going to wave at him or her. Towns in the South have fewer people and everyone knows everyone. The people in the South are nicer than anywhere else in the United States.

    Read More

  • A Real Cajun Experience

    505 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imagine you’re in the Deep South, crocodiles, Creole, and the flavor of Cajun America. New Orleans, Louisiana, it’s spring, and it’s time for Mardi Gras. If you want the true Cajun experience, then take a trip down to Broussard’s Cajun Cuisine in Cape Girardeau and they’ll show you what it’s like.

    Read More

  • Texas Culture

    1324 Words  | 3 Pages

    When the three of us decided to use Texas as our micro-culture, I thought it was a great idea. I am not a Texan, since by definition to be a Texan, you must have been born in Texas, no exceptions (http://www.texas-best.com), but do consider myself an honorary Texan.

    Read More

  • Cajun Food Research Paper

    450 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Cajun American culinary originated from Louisiana and started to flourish through its French roots and also British roots also creole. The word “Cajun” was not always as is, it came from the word “Acacadien” according to Manythings.org. Cajun came from settlers who were named Cajuns and really had influential spices and ways of cooking their food. There are many states and countries in where Cajun cuisine is a delicious meal and highly sought for. For instance, when people think of Cajun culinary, they think New Orleans. They think Mardigras festivities. Cajun cooking is highly used in gumbo and as a spice with crawfish and also jambalaya with rice. It has been used in many diverse ways, shapes, and with diverse meats. Just like Manythigns.org “When a Cajun cook is planning a meal, he or she simply opens the kitchen door and whatever is flying, swimming, walking by or growing in their gardens may well end up in the pot”. Cajun cooking has been a form of unity between family and friends.

    Read More

  • Cajun Food History

    2240 Words  | 5 Pages

    Which are simply the areas that are not Baton Rouge or New Orleans or any other big city that may occur in Louisiana. Speaking of New Orleans, Kevin Gotham talks about how New Orleans even has a culture of its own due to tourism. The south alone already has their own culture and a distinct way of doing things so it only makes sense that something unique arises from it. New Orleans has two cultures thriving within one city, Cajun and tourism, a former LSU basketball player, Aaron Dotson, once said in a casual conversation, “There is no way you can go to Louisiana and not come back with meat on your bones, my little sister gained ten pounds in seven days!” He also said that he “he had to move because he was eating too well.” Even if you’re visiting for a short while for educational purposes, such as school, or even as a tourist, if you visit Louisiana you will be living to eat, depending on how full one’s wallet might be. Perhaps, it may it be because of the assorted spices and blends that are used to make something so unique or

    Read More

  • Evolution Of Jazz Music: The Evolution Of Jazz

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    Before I take this class, the jazz music is familiar as well as unfamiliar to me. I am pretty sure that I heard jazz performance at many times, but I cannot tell what jazz is. And there was a time when I thought jazz music was belong to the upper class, however I understand the jazz music is regardless of class and race, so much even it more tends to lower middle class. In the early of 19th century, the New Orleans was owned by the French, and due to the lax management, lots of African-Americans got away from slaveholder from America’s south. They got married with French under the “mixed marriages”, therefore there were huge amount of mixed-race know as Creoles. The Creoles had the same rights with white people, they got

    Read More

  • Essay On Creole Language

    1327 Words  | 3 Pages

    As a native of Louisiana, I have had the pleasure to enjoy the benefits of living in a state with various cultures that blend cohesively with one another. The words that I have learned as a child reflect what the culture that I live. I may not speak a creole language, but I have experienced the culture just the same. Words like, boudin or andouille, are not familiar to visitors or tourists to the state, but it’s something that feeds into the culture’s heritage. I have spoken with my fair share of people across the parishes, from New Orleans to Shreveport, and each place has their own style of language.

    Read More

More about Cajun Culture

Open Document