Intro to Cajun Culture and Miusic

Cajun Hugenot has a great post with a sort of intro to Cajun culture , the persecution, and on a positive note has great links to some You Tube vids of Cajun music at My Music and Culture.

It is depressing how the language has been on decimated. When I went to Louisiana Tech we had a substantial amount of South Louisiana folks that were descended from Cajuns. I had two Friends whose grandmothers pretty much only spoke Cajun French. There has been quite an aggressive attempt to keep the culture and language alive since the 70's. It has had mixed results but much good as come from it.

However, the economic state of Louisiana and now the threats of Coastal Erosion are in my view the some of the biggest foes. After a while when peoples kids migrate to Houston and else where for jobs it becomes a losing battle. That is why many of us hope Jindal can turn things around. What is at stake is far more than economic numbers I often rant that we have to do something about Coastal erosion . We no longer can afford to do another study and wait twenty years. Much of Cajun life is related to the land. Even in the wonderful Urban center of Lafayette this rural outlook mixes well in City life. If the coast goes away so does many of the jobs that have linked cajuns to the land and their culture. It is far more than fishing. Much of Cajun land is farming especially rice. Chances are you eat a great deal of Louisiana rice each year. Coastal erosion is producing a crisis of salt water infusion. Needless to say Rice is a very fresh water heavy dependent crop.

Of interest is in Cajuns post's is that mentions all the cultures that combined to ccreate the Cajun culture. It is not only French. As he mentions the German influence in many places of South Louisiana was significant as well as the Spanish. Our past Governor, Mrs Blanco last name is from our Spanish tradition.

Until I had "Cajun" friends and started travelling South Louisiana , I had no idea that at one time being viewed as a Cajun was not a good thing. Cajuns were viewed as stupid etc and often. Even some Cajuns tried to shed their ID. This was a foreign concept to me because as I was growing up being Cajun had transitioned to be some thing of a point of pride.

It is not often noted but the people that the Cajuns descended from also have a lot of relatives up in New England. The persecution of these people were horrific. Many were put into a severe kind of Indentured Servitude. Yet these descendants of the great expulsion and their story is one that is hardly known.