Cajun "tribe"

[Grey]

I find the Acadian/Cajun culture as you 3 described so much similar to the real old fashion Boers in South Africa(KZN-Freestate)Their culture is so much different than the Afrikaner.
I am still a bit at a loss as to the pre_Nova Scotia ancestors and what was the reason they were banned from Nova_Scotia.
How exactly does Spain fit in during a time of tribulation between France and Spain???

I have gone through Wiki,but Wiki is not the ideal site to find the soul of the Cajun.
How did the name Cajun came into being.?
Any famous Cajun writers and artists ?

I'm ashamed to say I don't know anything about any of the colonists of South Afrika. I'll have to remedy that soon. If you can recommend any articles I'd appreciate it.

I'm not an expert on what went on in Canada, and I won't pretend to be. What I do know is that a great deal of us left and wandered down into the shittiest location we could find . This was a time when Louisiana was owned by the Spanish, and they helped the Cajuns relocate there, so that's where the Spanish tie in. We later overthrew the Spanish governor with the help of the Germans though, but I'm not sure what prompted that.

As for where the name Cajun comes from, it's just a phonetic spelling of how people tend to pronounce "Acadian". The "A" is dropped and and "dian" ends up jumbled together as "jun". It's sort of like the American use of Injun rather than Indian. I don't know truly how to define the soul of a Cajun and I'll leave your other questions to the more knowledgeable posters.

[Psychonaut]

I find the Acadian/Cajun culture as you 3 described so much similar to the real old fashion Boers in South Africa(KZN-Freestate)Their culture is so much different than the Afrikaner.

Tight knit minority ethnic groups that manage to distinguish themselves not only from Africans, but also from other European-derived ethnic groups do have a bit of the same spirit, I think.

I am still a bit at a loss as to the pre_Nova Scotia ancestors and what was the reason they were banned from Nova_Scotia.

How exactly does Spain fit in during a time of tribulation between France and Spain???

Both instances seem to've been both political and religious. The conflict with the Anglo-Protestants and alliance with the Catholics was definitely a continuation of the age old divide between the two that spilled over into the Americas.

How did the name Cajun came into being.?

It's a corruption of Acadian.

I have gone through Wiki,but Wiki is not the ideal site to find the [B]soul of the Cajun.

Any famous Cajun writers and artists ?

I don't know of any notable authors or visual artists, but there are many, many well known musicians. The Cajun spirit has always seemed to me to be intimately tied to our music; and it's through music that you'll really get a sense of what we're all about. One of the things that's always stood out in my mind about my family is the prominence of music. There are more musicians in my family in the last four generations than I can count; and, I don't think this is at all uncommon in Acadiana.

[Grey]

Good Cajun music :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fs12...eature=related

Lyrics as translated by some guy on youtube:

Let's talk of drinking, not of marriage,
Always regretting those beautiful days gone by.

If you marry a pretty girl,
They all want to steal her away from you.
If you marry an ugly girl,
You've got to live with her your whole life long.

Let's talk of drinking, not of marriage,
Always regretting those beautiful days gone by.

If you marry a poor girl,
You'll spend all your life working.
But if you marry a rich girl,
Nobody respects you.

Let's talk of drinking, not of marriage,
Always regretting those beautiful days gone by.

(wife nagging)
"Tell me about it, you big good - for nothing;
You've used up all my wealth!"

[Grumpy Cat]

I find the Acadian/Cajun culture as you 3 described so much similar to the real old fashion Boers in South Africa(KZN-Freestate)Their culture is so much different than the Afrikaner.

Interestingly, I have met several Afrikaners who say that. Also, the Afrikaans language seems to be to Dutch what Acadian is to French: an older form of the language... I actually think Acadian and French should be considered separate languages like Afrikaans and Dutch are because they're not exactly 100% mutually intelligable: French people would have trouble understanding me if I spoke like how I speak among Acadians, so when I dealt with clients from Quebec in my old job, I always made a concerted effort to speak français standard.

I am still a bit at a loss as to the pre_Nova Scotia ancestors and what was the reason they were banned from Nova_Scotia.

The Acadians were expelled from Nova Scotia for refusing to sign an oath of allegiance to the British Crown. The British viewed them as a threat because of this, although the Acadians did not want to associate with the French either, they remained neutral.

The story of the Expulsion of the Acadians is told in the Longfellow poem Evangeline.

How exactly does Spain fit in during a time of tribulation between France and Spain???

You mean Great Britain? Or perhaps Portugal?

How did the name Cajun came into being.?

As people mentioned, it was a corruption of the term acadien.

Any famous Cajun writers and artists ?

For Cajun I would really recommend the musician from Louisiana Zachary Richard. Love his stuff. You can also check out the bands Suroît and Grand Dérangement. Also, for writers, Antonine Maillet who is the most popular.

[Grey]

No, that would be North Americans of Anglo-Saxon extraction. The closest thing they have to a culture is when they leave yogurt in the refrigerator too long.

Well unfortunately, that is the "culture" more and more Cajuns seem to be adopting. For all my life "Cajun" children have identified as "rednecks" as much as anything and they pretty much act the same, but with a French accent.


By the way, thanks to the OP for making this thread. I've been researching this more and more when I realized how little I knew of my own history.

[Grumpy Cat]

Well unfortunately, that is the "culture" more and more Cajuns seem to be adopting. For all my life "Cajun" children have identified as "rednecks" as much as anything and they pretty much act the same, but with a French accent.


By the way, thanks to the OP for making this thread. I've been researching this more and more when I realized how little I knew of my own history.

Well, they have programs to teach the culture to Cajuns in Louisiana now. They are actually asking Acadians from Nova Scotia to go down there and specifically teach that dialect of French to youth. I thought of going down, I have a green card and everything.

Here's some Cajun rap from Louisiana, in Cajun French. It sounds a lot like the dialect spoken in my neighbourhood, actually.


http://www.myspace.com/labrisedubayou

... and there can't be a Cajun thread without posting some Zachary Richard

[youtube]qpY-SKIjReI[/youtube]

[Lulletje Rozewater]

At least I know now more than of my Dutch history

[Grumpy Cat]

At least I know now more than of my Dutch history

OK. I got a question for you then. What is the difference between a Boer and an Afrikaner? You said the cultures were different, I always thought modern Afrikaners were descendants of Boers.

As for your question about Britain: Pretty much Britain fits in because they had ruled Acadia at the time. The British and French were fighting over that land. the French had an outpost in Louisbourg, the British had an outpost in Halifax, and the Acadians lived around what is now the Annapolis Valley. The order to expel the Acadians from Nova Scotia was drawn up by the British Governor Charles Lawrence because, as I said before, the Acadians did not want to sign an oath of allegiance to the British Crown.

[Grey]

Just thought I'd post this link in case you're interested:

"Evangeline" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It's not too long and reads well.

[Peachy Carnahan]

OK. I got a question for you then. What is the difference between a Boer and an Afrikaner? You said the cultures were different, I always thought modern Afrikaners were descendants of Boers.

Where i was brought up in Rhodesia a south african farmer or descendant of one of the voortrekkers was a Boer.They came from mostly Dutch/German stock....kept very much to themselves.Very rural people.

An Afrikaaner though was still a south african but could have ancestors from any European country but still considered himself south african but not a Boer.( a good example of their mixed blood and also mixed allegiance's is of an Afrikaaner family i know of....during the second world war one son was a fighter pilot in the RAF and the other son was a fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe....they both survived the war)

Afrikaaners are by the large quite an easy going bunch....Boers on the other hand are very taciturn and surly.Its hard to explain unless you have experienced it but basically Boers are rednecks.

When i went to a new boarding school in the bush the first thing i had to do was find the biggest Boer kid in the school and go and punch him in the face and have a fight straight away.If you didnt the Boer kids would make your life a misery.They hated the British (with good reason i might add)
The Afrikaaners on the other hand were ok...most of them were anglos anyway.

I might also add that although there was much animosity between the Boers and Anglos the Boers had the upmoast regard for a white mans life........they didnt care too much for the kaffirs though.