Beyond the class textbook, I used six sources to further my knowledge on Acadiana as a region and to develop conclusions on what defined an Acadian region. The first being The Place with No Edge (Mandelman 2020), which discusses the role of Cajuns in the Louisiana oil and gas industry and defines their relationship to the environment through their livelihoods. This is important for discussing the role the industry played in bringing Cajuns into a modern Louisiana. In A New Acadia: The Acadian Migrations to South Louisiana (Brasseaux 1985), I found information on the gradual acceptance of the label "Cajun" within the Acadian community and the factors that defined the name over the years. I used "Acadiana and the Cajun Cultural Landscape" (McKernan 2010) to define the commonly interpreted Acadiana region; this source is also used to see the role of Cajun culture in music, festivals, food, and more. "The Cajunization of French Louisiana: Foraging a Regional Identity history of Acadians in Louisiana" (Trépanier 1991) and "From Grand Dérangement to Acadiana: History and Identity in the Landscape of South Louisiana" (Rees 2008) were used to reveal the history of Acadians in Louisiana. Finally, I used the 64 Parishes web article, "Cajuns" (Bernard 2021), to gain an overview of Acadians' forced migration from Nova Scotia and their revival in Louisiana as Cajuns. Combined these sources permit me to define what a vernacular region is and the characteristics of Acadiana that make it a well-defined region.
Regions make up a large portion of our everyday interpretation of understanding place and the people who come from them. Our course addresses three types of regions: vernacular, formal, and functional. The United States' south makes up one of the largest vernacular regions in the country, and within it are many subregions. Louisiana's Acadiana is one that is recognized by its inhabitants and others for its cultural and historical features. Elements like a collective memory, historical language, and cultural identity all aided in the recognition of this region. Below I will discuss the regionality of Acadiana by comparing information found in my sources. I also utilized Google Earth to find and pin businesses that include the words "Acadian" or "Cajun" in their names. This is to allows me have a visual representation of where people see themselves as Acadian today.
When the Americas were first colonized, many European groups began establishing themselves across the North American landscape. In South Louisiana, one group of French speaking individuals has appeared to last culturally to the present day, unlike many others that have integrated into a single American "melting pot." This group is the French Acadians who first began establishing themselves in the region following their deportation from Nova Scotia due to the Treaty of Paris. In 1755, Acadians were deported from Nova Scotia in what would be called Le Grand Derangement. In 1764, the first of these Acadian refugees arrived in South Louisiana. The first Acadian settlement was established at Poste des Attakapas, present day St. Martinville. Over the coming years, more Acadians filtered into the then Spanish colony (Brasseaux 1985, 126-27). The early arrivals to Louisiana did not set out to land in the colony, with many wanting to settle in French Haiti. However, Haiti's tropical conditions were found unsuitable and the fertile soil of the Mississippi Delta, along with the prominence of Catholicism and history of the French in the area, made Louisiana a probable substitute (Brasseaux 1985, 124-25). Following the initial success in the region, many wrote to friends and family, inviting and encouraging them to come and also settle the land. This was eventually supported by the Spanish colonial government, and over the decades following Le Grand Derangement more Acadians came and settled, spreading their ideas and culture (Bernard 2021). This relocation diffusion allowed for the appearance of an Acadian region to occur, dubbed Acadiana. This project determines what makes Acadiana a region.
In 1971, Acadiana was recognized as a distinct region by the Louisiana government. Their recognition included 22 southern parishes stretching as far west as the Texas border, east to the Mississippi River, and included Avoyelles Parish as its northern point (McKernan 2010, 17-19). The heart of this region is Lafayette and its surrounding parishes, which is the area most people will faithfully declare Acadiana. On the above map, some of the locations of Acadian settlements and present day areas of high concentrations of Cajuns are marked by blue pinpoints within the perceived Acadian region (marked in orange). For the most part the 22 recognized parishes seem appropriate, however the exclusion of East Baton Rouge Parish leaves a gap in the region. Geographically, East Baton Rouge lines the border of the Mississippi River. There are also reports of two ships of exiled Acadians that were initially deported back to France and made their way to Louisiana, eventually settling around Baton Rouge in 1785 (Brasseaux 1985, 130-31). The inclusion of the western half of East Baton Rouge would recognize this area along the Mississippi where early Acadians settled and where many people presently still self identify as Cajun.
Today, Acadiana can be interpreted as a vernacular region, more than a formal or functional region. A vernacular region is a region that is perceived by its residents and, in the case of Acadiana, based on historical characteristics and shared cultural identity. Firstly, the region can be identified based on where Acadians settled from 1764 to around 1803. The earliest settlements were along waterways; more specifically, the Mississippi River, Bayou Teche, Bayou Lafourche, and the Atchafalaya River. The blue lines seen on the above map mark waterways where large numbers of settlement occurred, including on the previously mentioned waterways. It is important to note the clusters found along these waterways to understand their importance to early Acadian settlers. At the time of Acadian arrival in Louisiana much of the present-day state was remote and uninhabited, so by living on waterways Acadians were able to remain connected to cities, transport goods, and have means of agricultural production (Rees 2008). The waterways and secluded areas that Acadians inhabited are partially a reason for Cajun culture remaining separate from the rest of Louisiana and America as the years went on. In essence waterways became permeable barriers allowing for new inventions and advancements in without diluting culture and ideology of Acadians. Additionally, many Acadians fished and hunted off the land near waterways which provided them with many of the necessary means of daily life. Many present-day descendants of these Acadians, in some form, share a close relationship with hunting and fishing as well. Secondly, the collective memory of exiled Acadians of Nova Scotia and their trauma induced by the English, created a unifying factor for early settlers. Their trauma created a narrative of resiliency and strength among Acadians that had further unified them (Rees 2008). Along with this their shared Catholic religion and Cajun French language, further provided the group with characteristics that separated them from other groups for centuries. Acadians also typically had large families and tended to marry other Acadians instead of branching out to other ethnic groups in the area. This practice helped maintain the prevalence of Acadian culture and belonging in the region. However, this, in part, is due to the negative notions creoles forced onto Acadians/Cajuns leading up to the Civil War (Trepanier 1991, 163-64).
Cajun is what many people identify as today when describing their heritage, and there is a tendency to use the terms Acadian and Cajun interchangeably. Cajuns are in a sense the descendants of Acadian settlers in many cases, but it was not until the Civil War ended that the idea of being called Cajun was beginning to be accepted. Before the Civil War, the word "Cajun" was used as a slur to mock poor white people, specifically Acadians (Bernard 2021). This stirred resentment between Acadians and Creoles and it also encouraged negative stereotypes. It was not until the 1970s that a resurgence and the outward acceptance of declaring oneself Cajun occurred (Trepanier 1991, 164). This was brought on by the election of Governor Edwin Edwards who marketed his Cajun ancestry while running for office (Trepanier 1991, 164). From there, Cajun culture has become widely accepted in south Louisiana and Cajun food, music, festivals, and art have grown in popularity (McKernan 2010, 4, 22-48). Today, these are some of the defining features of what it means to be Cajun and aide in defining the region.
One of the reasons Acadian region cannot be defined as a formal region is the lack of a unifying characteristic like a language in current society. In the early 19th century, one would likely have considered this region as a formal region due to the prevalence of Cajun French among residents and their shared religion. Many of the Acadians were farmers or worked the land for a living, so similar livelihood would have unified them as a formal region as well. However, the end of the Civil War marked the beginning of assimilation of Acadians into the rest of Louisiana and the United States (Bernard 2021). Even further, World War I and World War II caused a definitive shift away from the traditional Cajun livelihood. When men went off to war and brought back with them knowledge of the outside world, the need for English as a dominate language became apparent. Around this time Acadian children were also being forced into schools where they had to solely speak the English language. From the 1920's onwards the number of Cajun children speaking French was declining (Bernard 2021). Personally, the last of anyone to speak Cajun French in my family was my Great Grandfather (b. 1925); my Great Grandma (b. 1933) only understood the language but could not speak it. As we moved forward, younger generations continued to fail to pick up on Acadian languages and traditions. Additionally, the introduction of the gas and petroleum industry in the region resulted in the active seeking of Cajun individuals to aid in navigation of the wetlands. This actually resulted in many Cajuns relocating to cities that caused them to become more prominent in Acadian identity, like Lafayette (Mandelman 2020, 123-27). Early twentieth-century relocations and the time since initial settlment caused time-distance decay to occur, where the spread and continuation of Acadian identity diminshed over time. Together all of this brought about the change from a formal region to a vernacular one.
As seen below, across South Louisiana there are many businesses that feature the names "Acadian" or "Cajun" in their name. This is a good representation of where there is a prevalence of acceptance of a culture and those that identify with it. Within the map you can see a prevalence of Cajun-named businesses (green pinpoints) in Lafayette, specifically, but there are also a large number of businesses scattered across the Acadian region. You can also see outliers that exist outside of the region that typically consists of cuisine-oriented businesses. Alternatively, there is a prevalence of Acadian-named businesses (yellow pinpoints) in Baton Rouge. Many of these businesses are oriented on a street named Acadian Thruway. However, there are businesses dubbed "Acadian" away from that street-oriented cluster. Additionally, there are Acadian-named businesses across the region with clusters in Lafayette and Metairie. This map reveals how the assumed Acadian region matches the locations of Acadian and Cajun named businesses.
In conclusion, over the course of Acadians living in South Louisiana the sense of region has changed. The initial settlement of Acadians allowed for a proper formal region to occur within the Spanish colony. As Acadians integrated and the acceptance of the "Cajun individual" occurred the region shifted from formal to vernacular which allowed for the wider celebration of Cajun cuisine, culture, art, music, and people within and around the region.
Works Cited
Bernard, Shane K. “Cajuns,” 64 Parishes, 5 April 2021, 64parishes.org/entry/cajuns.
Brasseaux, Carl A. “A New Acadia: The Acadian Migrations to South Louisiana, 1764-1803,” Acadiensis: Journal of the History of the Atlantic Region, vol. 15, no. 1 (1985), pp. 123-32.
McKernan, Joseph J. “Acadiana and the Cajun Cultural Landscape: Adaption, [Sic] Accommodation Authenticity,” thesis, LSU Digital Commons, Louisiana State University, 2010.
Mandelman, Adam. The Place with No Edge: an Intimate History of People, Technology, and the Mississippi River Delta (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2020).
Rees, Mark A. “From Grand Dérangement to Acadiana: History and Identity in the Landscape of South Louisiana.” International Journal of Historical Archaeology vol. 12 (2008), pp. 338–59.
Trépanier, Cécyle. “The Cajunization of French Louisiana: Forging a Regional Identity,” The Geographical Journal, vol. 157, no. 2 (July 1991), pp. 161-71.
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