Cajuns (ethnic group)

Cajuns are an ethnic group found predominantly in southern Louisiana and parts of Texas. They are descendants of eighteenth-century French Canadians who were driven from the French colony of Acadia by the British. After eventually settling in the Louisiana Bayou region, the Cajuns formed numerous thriving communities. Despite being small and self-contained, these vibrant communities significantly influenced the local culture. Modern Cajun culture is best known for its unique culinary contributions—including such popular dishes such as jambalaya, alligator stew, and étouffée—and colorful musical traditions. While the term “Cajun” is sometimes used interchangeably with “Creole,” these are actually people of different ethnicities. Whereas Cajuns descended from Acadians, Creoles are the descendants of Europeans born in the French and Spanish colonies.

Background

The ethnic group that became known as Cajuns originated in the Centre-Ouest on France’s Atlantic coast. In the early seventeenth century, Centre-Ouest was struggling with poverty, famine, drought, and disease. The region’s inhabitants were also forced to endure heavy feudal taxation and a rising tide of religious violence. In response to these hardships—and because they strongly believed that land ownership was a crucial element of personal liberty—several families from Centre-Ouest decided to relocate to the French colony of Acadia in what is now known as Nova Scotia.

Upon arriving in their new home in 1632, the Acadians formed a small settlement along the Bay of Fundy and began building a dike system that provided them with enough fertile land to create a thriving agricultural economy. By 1755, the colony’s population grew to include about fifteen thousand people.

While the Acadians excelled in building successful settlements, their fate was ultimately determined by forces outside their control. Because France and Great Britain both viewed Acadia as a strategically important land, the two nations fought over and traded control of the region numerous times over the years. The struggle for Acadia eventually ended with Britain gaining permanent control of the colony with the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1710. Under the terms of this treaty, the Acadians were allowed to remain in the colony if they chose to do so and were permitted to continue practicing their Roman Catholic faith. A later decree even granted them full property rights. However, this advantageous situation came with a price. In return for their generosity, the British asked the Acadians to swear an unconditional oath of allegiance to the crown. The Acadians were not opposed to taking such an oath but were only willing to do so on the condition that they would be granted wartime neutrality. This created an impasse that left the Acadians and the British at odds for decades. In 1755, the colony’s lieutenant governor, Colonel Charles Lawrence, used the Acadians’ refusal to assent to an unconditional oath as a pretext for expelling them all from Nova Scotia.

Overview

After their expulsion from Acadia in what became known as Le Grand Dérangement, the Acadians scattered to other parts of North America. This Acadian diaspora continued for almost a decade until a group of wandering Acadians arrived in Louisiana around 1764. Welcomed by Louisiana’s colonial government and provided with all the land and necessities they needed to start a settlement, the Acadians thrived in their new surroundings as subsistence farmers, fishers, and hunters. Before long, they reached out to Acadians living elsewhere and invited them to come to Louisiana as well. About three thousand other Acadian exiles heeded the call and joined their former neighbors. Over time, Louisiana’s growing Acadian population diverged into three separate groups, including a wealthy, slave-owning upper class; a small middle class composed of farmers and artisans; and a large working class that continued the Acadian tradition of subsistence farming. As the poorer working-class Acadians gradually adopted the customs of local French Creoles and the area’s Anglo-American settlers, they evolved into a new cultural group that came to be called Cajuns.

In the early nineteenth century, France took possession of Louisiana from Spain and soon sold the region to the United States. At that time, the region where the Cajuns lived became known as the Territory of Orleans. Before long, a deluge of American settlers came to the territory in hopes of starting new lives. Taking advantage of this situation, the Cajuns sold the fertile land they owned along the Mississippi River to these settlers and moved to south-central Louisiana and cleared the lands there to grow crops such as rice and cotton. The Cajuns’ new home subsequently became known as Acadiana.

The collapse of the southern economy after the Civil War profoundly affected the Cajun identity in Louisiana. The economic devastation wrought by the war forced many formerly wealthy Louisianans into poverty and all but erased the region’s previous social strata. This, in turn, led to the absorption of many non-Acadians into the Cajun community and the further evolution of Cajun culture.

Modern Cajun culture has many unique features. Cajuns are traditionally Francophone, with many speaking a unique Cajun French dialect that can generally be understood by standard French and French Canadian speakers. Interestingly, Cajun French nearly died out in the mid-twentieth century but was preserved thanks to the efforts of the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana and other similar organizations. Many Cajun traditions and festivals stem from the cultures Catholic roots. Cajun's have special traditions for Mardi Gras, Holy Week, and Lent. Cajun culture is also recognized for its distinct culinary tradition, which includes many smoked and stewed meats and seafood dishes. Many of these dishes, including famous Cajun entrees like jambalaya and Creole-inspired gumbo, are mildly spicy and often feature andouille sausage or a Choctaw pork shoulder preparation called tasso. Another of the most recognizable features of Cajun culture is its music. Based on traditional Acadian music, Cajun music combines accordions and fiddles with a heavy backbeat to create a distinct sound similar to the Creole-created Zydeco genre.

Bibliography

“A Guide to Cajun Culture in Southern Louisiana.” All Roads North, www.allroadsnorth.com/a-guide-to-cajun-culture-in-southern-louisiana/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2024.

Bernard, Shane K. “Cajuns.” 64 Parishes, 2020, 64parishes.org/entry/cajuns. Accessed 27 Dec. 2024.

“Cajun Culture.” Vacations Made Easy, 2020, www.vacationsmadeeasy.com/NewOrleansLA/articles/CajunCulture.cfm. Accessed 27 Dec. 2024.

“Cajun Influence in New Orleans.” New Orleans, 2020, www.neworleans.com/things-to-do/multicultural/cultures/cajuns. Accessed 27 Dec. 2024.

“From Acadian to Cajun.” National Park Service, 2020, www.nps.gov/jela/learn/historyculture/from-acadian-to-cajun.htm. Accessed 27 Dec. 2024.

“What Is a ‘Cajun’?” Acadian.org, 2020, www.acadian.org/culture/louisiana/what-is-a-cajun. Accessed 27 Dec. 2024.

“What Is Cajun?.” Lafayette Travel, 2020, www.lafayettetravel.com/explore/what-is-cajun. Accessed 27 Dec. 2024.